Minimum Trailering Requirements

[Kevinch]

Hello all! New member here with question on trailering. My wife is considering a move from her 1100 VStar to a trike, probably the HD Freewheeler. I currently ride a Harley Ultra Limited.

To travel any distance, we need to haul the bikes. We just returned from a trip to South Dakota (we live in Ohio) & had a great time. I rented an enclosed 7' x 12' V-nose to pull the bikes. Had plenty of room (inside width was 6'8") for the bikes, luggage, etc.

If we instead want to trailer my Limited & a Freewheeler, what size of enclosed trailer would we need? Also, how would the bikes be oriented? It seems a lot of folks who trailer go with a V-nose, pulling the trike in first with the front wheel in the V. Would a square nosed trailer be better, placing the trike to one side? Also, I would think backing the trike in would allow some extra room to pull the Limited in - is that possible?


Any advice is truly appreciated. We like to travel with our bikes, but also enjoy having a cage for inclement weather, fatigue, etc. I know there are gonzo trailers that will easily fit multiple bikes & trikes, but I'd like to keep it as small as reasonably comfortable.

In the trip we just returned from, the trailer was just under 14' long with the nose included but not including the hitch assembly. We rented a truck, it was an F250 Super Duty with a crew cab - a full 4 door - with a full 8' bed. Combined, we were something over 36' long. If & when we purchase a truck, I would go with the same crew cab but a short bed & would like to keep the trailer at about 7' wide.

Thanks!

[Gold Rush]

Hello all! New member here with question on trailering. My wife is considering a move from her 1100 VStar to a trike, probably the HD Freewheeler. I currently ride a Harley Ultra Limited.

To travel any distance, we need to haul the bikes. We just returned from a trip to South Dakota (we live in Ohio) & had a great time. I rented an enclosed 7' x 12' V-nose to pull the bikes. Had plenty of room (inside width was 6'8") for the bikes, luggage, etc.

If we instead want to trailer my Limited & a Freewheeler, what size of enclosed trailer would we need? Also, how would the bikes be oriented? It seems a lot of folks who trailer go with a V-nose, pulling the trike in first with the front wheel in the V. Would a square nosed trailer be better, placing the trike to one side? Also, I would think backing the trike in would allow some extra room to pull the Limited in - is that possible?


Any advice is truly appreciated. We like to travel with our bikes, but also enjoy having a cage for inclement weather, fatigue, etc. I know there are gonzo trailers that will easily fit multiple bikes & trikes, but I'd like to keep it as small as reasonably comfortable.

In the trip we just returned from, the trailer was just under 14' long with the nose included but not including the hitch assembly. We rented a truck, it was an F250 Super Duty with a crew cab - a full 4 door - with a full 8' bed. Combined, we were something over 36' long. If & when we purchase a truck, I would go with the same crew cab but a short bed & would like to keep the trailer at about 7' wide.

Thanks!

First of all, WELCOME to Trike Talk Kevin. Great place to hang out and a ton of awesome information here...

You know you have opened a bucket of worms. I'm not trying to sway you away from the trike at all. In fact I highly recommend them. The worms come in when you try to haul a trike and any other bike while staying with a smaller trailer. Two things that are hugely important when considering trailers and load is weight and balance. You must not exceed the trailer gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and you must not over load the weight your tow vehicle hitch is rated to carry; while at the same time making sure you do place between 10 and 12.5 percent of the actual trailer and load weight on that hitch. You see what I mean about worms??

For sure you are going to have to go with a tandem axle trailer. V Nose reduces wind drag so I recommend that. You might be able to put your Ultra front wheel right in the nose and then position the Freewheeler to the rear of it (keeping in my the 10 - 12.5 % tongue weight parameters). By cantering the rear of your Ultra off to the side just enough to the FW front wheel along side your Ultra rear wheel, you could save a little trailer length. Securing the Ultra might be tricky but I bet it is doable. Anyway you shake it, a longer trailer will be needed and some creative load/unload techniques.

I sure hope I didn't rain on your parade Kevin. Sounds like you and your bride really are enjoying life. RIDE SAFE....

[Kevinch]

First of all, WELCOME to Trike Talk Kevin. Great place to hang out and a ton of awesome information here...

Thank you!

You know you have opened a bucket of worms. I'm not trying to sway you away from the trike at all. In fact I highly recommend them. The worms come in when you try to haul a trike and any other bike while staying with a smaller trailer. Two things that are hugely important when considering trailers and load is weight and balance. You must not exceed the trailer gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and you must not over load the weight your tow vehicle hitch is rated to carry; while at the same time making sure you do place between 10 and 12.5 percent of the actual trailer and load weight on that hitch. You see what I mean about worms??

For sure you are going to have to go with a tandem axle trailer. V Nose reduces wind drag so I recommend that. You might be able to put your Ultra front wheel right in the nose and then position the Freewheeler to the rear of it (keeping in my the 10 - 12.5 % tongue weight parameters). By cantering the rear of your Ultra off to the side just enough to the FW front wheel along side your Ultra rear wheel, you could save a little trailer length. Securing the Ultra might be tricky but I bet it is doable. Anyway you shake it, a longer trailer will be needed and some creative load/unload techniques.

I appreciate the detailed explanation! I did take a lot of this into consideration before our trip out to South Dakota. The truck had a trailer towing capacity (not GVWR) of 14,000 pounds; I knew we were covered there. The bikes combined were a little under 1,600 pounds & the trailer I believe was 2,275 pounds. I deduced that from the plates on the trailer:


It says here the trailer GVWR is 7,000 Lbs.


It says here the cargo should not exceed 4,725 Lbs. Subtracting the max cargo wgt from the GVWR should, I believe, equal the trailer weight - am I correct?

So - a Freewheeler is just under 1100 Lbs wet, my Limited is about 900 for a combined 2000 Lbs. Although I don't think they would fit into the trailer I just rented (but I would love to hear differently!), they would be well within the weight capacity of the trailer & the tow vehicle.

I sure hope I didn't rain on your parade Kevin. Sounds like you and your bride really are enjoying life. RIDE SAFE....

You didn't rain on anything! I also realize the importance of tongue weight, although I didn't check it with a scale for this trip. I tried to load ~60% of the weight in the front half of the trailer, which I read will result in 10-15% of the weight on the tongue - by eyeballing it. I must have had it pretty close as it towed beautifully: this is fully loaded, but it looked about the same as it did when empty.



Anyway, I would love to hear opinions on what is needed for a Freewheeler & my Ultra!

[Gold Rush]

Keep us posted Kevin. We'd all like to see what you finally end up with. I can't remember anyone posting of their experience with that combination so it just may help someone else thinking of doing what you guys are. Sounds like you have a pretty good grasp on the numbers so now all you have to do is find a trailer that will accommodate the rides and work the numbers.