How do you trailer your motorcycle ?

[cassecou]

There are times when its needed to trailer your FZ-07. Its broken down, it just too far to ride it to destination, or like me, I picked it up at an out of state dealer when the temperature was 25 degrees F. in November 2014.
The easiest way, if you own a truck, its to load it up and you are done.
But, like many people in this world, I don't own a truck. Never needed one. A car has enough room for my daily stuff, with much better gas mileage and maneuverability than a truck, and that's all good, until I need to carry something large and heavy.
Here comes the all practical trailer. A 400lb to 600lb trailer can carry almost any motorcycle and most of all, can be pulled by most cars.
So, here is how I trailer my FZ, with a 400lb Tractor supply trailer, pulled by a Mazda 3.
What truck, or car and trailer combination, do you use to trailer your bike?
 

 
 
 
 

[mike6116]

Im not so shure if any patrol car on road or highway will pull you over due the risk on the wheels attachments to loose down?
 
Im corious to know how much times have you tralied your bike as the picture is? had any bad time with cops?
 
 
In my country it is illegal to trailer a motorcycle and or any other on a trailer that has no fixed locking system at a wheel level to prevent the bike to get loose
 
dont get me bad, im not making any critic on you, im just sharing a personal comment
 
Cheers
Mike

[pineappleunderthesea]

U-Haul rents a motorcycle trailer, has a wheel chuck in front. Nice and cheap rental. Too cheap to buy a trailer.

[username]

How much you pay for that trailer and what are the dimensions? I'm in the same situation but I have the CX-5 same engine as your Mazda 3. That looks like the perfect little trailer

[bmwpowere36m3]

Advice… get a motorcycle chock to secure the front wheel. I use one from Harbor Freight in both trailers and only use two tie-downs off the front forks or handlebar (with a short soft strap at the fork or handlebar).  Pitbull makes a really nice locking one as well, but its $$$ and I don't haul too often… maybe 3-4 times a year (usually vacations).
 
The bikes are rock-steady and I've hauled them as far as Blue Ridge Parkway ~600 miles and my folks down to the Keys ~1500 miles.
 
I've used our pickup as well, nice in that you don't have to pull a trailer…. downside is loading the bike up. Usually I'll park on an incline or back into a hill so the angle is less steep for the ramp. I'll throw the chock into the pickup bed as well.
 
We also have an enclosed trailer, pulled behind our motorhome for taking the bikes on vacations and an all-purpose utility trailer. I don't haul my FZ, I just ride it. I haul my dirt bike on the utility trailer when I want to go riding off-road. I pull the utility trailer with beater/DD wagon (Mercedes E320).

[bmwpowere36m3]

U-Haul rents a motorcycle trailer, has a wheel chuck in front. Nice and cheap rental. Too cheap to buy a trailer.

Depends on how often you use it… plus the convenience of not having to go out of your way to a U-Haul.  Then again, you need a place to keep the trailer…. registration and obviously upfront cost. 
I bought 5x9' utility trailer a few years ago, for I think $1k… maybe $700.  It had a cheap metal grate floor, which I covered with plywood (painted with floor epoxy and sand), added some tie-downs and welded on a mount for bicycle rack.   I use it to haul the bike on short vacations with the GF, haul dirt bike to local riding spot, go to dump, pickup a tractor, etc…  Its handy.

[ducttapewd40]

I did pretty much the same thing as bmw with the utility trailer. I only paid about $600 for it new and added a few tie down points. I've used it for everything from hauling two bikes from Michigan to Arizona and back to taking leaves to the dump. I do feel more comfortable with my bikes in the bed of my truck, but it is a lot easier to load one onto a trailer that's a foot off the ground than it is a pickup bed that's three feet off the ground.

[cassecou]

Im not so shure if any patrol car on road or highway will pull you over due the risk on the wheels attachments to loose down? 
Im corious to know how much times have you tralied your bike as the picture is? had any bad time with cops?
 
 
In my country it is illegal to trailer a motorcycle and or any other on a trailer that has no fixed locking system at a wheel level to prevent the bike to get loose
 
dont get me bad, im not making any critic on you, im just sharing a personal comment
 
Cheers
Mike

There are no specific attachment rules or laws in the US. But of course, if you don't tie up your bike correctly, you have the risk of loosing it, and maybe loosing a lot more with it. 

[cassecou]

How much you pay for that trailer and what are the dimensions? I'm in the same situation but I have the CX-5 same engine as your Mazda 3. That looks like the perfect little trailer

Its a 4x6 trailer that weight about 400lb, and I paid around $500 at Tractor Supply, next door to where I bought the bike. I used to pull a 5x7 trailer, but at 700lb and loaded with the bike (1100lb) felt a bit too heavy going up hills.

 
The FZ-07 fits perfectly on this trailer, but not enough to install a wheel chock.
Many states do not require a trailer registration if used in your own state, but check with your state. When the trailer is not registered, its a lot easier to buy and of course resale.
The other advantages of having a trailer is that you can keep it with you for many years. You just have to add a hitch when buying a new vehicle. I also use it from time to time to carry bags of fertilizer, plants and large home supplies.
 

[twowheeladdict]

I prefer to use a soft tie around the lower triple tree. I mount a wheel chock in the back of my truck. Then strap the bike to it, and the 4 corners of the truck bed. I bought this bike to haul places when the weather looked to iffy to ride one of my touring bikes.  My wife and I both have trucks.  Hers is a 2500HD GMC.

[rick]

PA is one of those states where the trailer must be registered/licensed. For registration, that means it must have a "title". Buy a cheepie trailer from Harbor Freight or weld one up yourself, and it will need to be safety inspected before it can be titled and registered. Many inspection stations will not go near this for fear something will fail down thread and they will lose their inspection license.
 
There's an aluminum Triton Trailer http://www.tritontrailers.com/motorcycle/open/ somewhere in my future

[ornery]

If you have a 2" receiver, a motorcycle carrier is an inexpensive solution.  I already owned a hitch mount cargo carrier, so I cobbled it into a carrier for my bike when I retrieved it from PA after I bought it.
 
      
 
It REALLY needs a solid "anti-rattle clamp" to keep it from teetering from side to side.
 

[cassecou]

If you have a 2" receiver, a motorcycle carrier is an inexpensive solution.  I already owned a hitch mount cargo carrier, so I cobbled it into a carrier for my bike when I retrieved it from PA after I bought it. 
      
 
It REALLY needs a solid "anti-rattle clamp" to keep it from teetering from side to side.

Can you really put 400lb on that thing??? 

[ornery]

Some of those hitch carriers are rated at 600 pounds, and I'm sure that's conservative for safety reasons.  Mine has a 2"x8"x7' fir board attached and boxed on the sides.  The bike is balanced over the center, so all that weight isn't at one end or the other, except when loading.  I guess the weakest link in the construction would be the welds on the 2" square tube.  I imagine it would twist before breaking them.  It is disconcerting to see it teeter, though!  If I ever use it again, I'll add a serious hitch clamp to it.
 

[rick]

Maybe more important than the carrier's capacity is the tongue weight capacity of the hitch. A class 3 hitch is rated to 600 lbs. so that's OK. But what the tongue sees in weight while pulling a trailer and having dead weight like that right on the hitch are not quite the same. The trailer's suspension will soak up some of the up/down forces that happen when the pulling vehicle hits bumps.
 
Keep speeds down, watch out for big dips in the road, and get the bike as close to the car as possible, the FZ's 400 lbs on that thing is possible. But those things were probably designed for dirt bikes and mopeds.

[ornery]

In my 175 mile trip home, the two things I was worried most about was taking a turn too quickly, and the fact that my tail lights were obstructed. It was raining hard, and the bike was covered with visqueen, which shredded in the wind.

[cassecou]

In my 175 mile trip home, the two things I was worried most about was taking a turn too quickly, and the fact that my tail lights were obstructed. It was raining hard, and the bike was covered with visqueen, which shredded in the wind.

Can you post a picture? I think its really cool. 

[ornery]

Sorry, it's not cool, it's ghetto.  I've been blue collar my whole life.  Wanted to start my own carpentry business after high school, but my wife talked me out of it.  Been a machinist ever since.  It paid well enough for her to quit working 7 years after we got married, and stayed at home to raise two boys for 11 years.  It made me VERY frugal.  Worked a helluva lot of overtime to make ends meet.  Always do my own home and auto repairs as much as possible.
 
I borrowed against my 401K to buy the FZ07.  Spending more on top of that was over the top.  Hell, the cost of insurance almost made me gag!  So, I finagled the carrier out of the luggage carrier I already owned, and some inexpensive lumber.  Here's the luggage carrier in the corner of the shed:
 
    
 
The "box" in storage with ramp inside:
 
    
 
Ramp removed:
 
    
 
The block on the right is not fastened in.  Once the bike is loaded, I use a cordless screwdriver to screw the block in place:
 
Here it is on the floor.  Needless to say, it's bolted to the luggage carrier after that's mounted on the Explorer:
 
    
 
Closeup of the hinge:
 
    
 
The luggage carrier has holes drilled in the angle iron around the perimeter to hook the ratcheting straps to.
 
Within the last year, my wife got a much better job.  It pays fantastic, with great benefits.  I've been able to buy tools and such on a whim, without hurting the budget.  If I had it to do over, at this point (with a little more disposable income), I'd just cough up the $250 for a halfway decent carrier.  Since I already own this thing, I'll make do with it.
 
Edit:  Forgot to mention,  when I finished the paperwork on the bike, and got the introduction to the bike by their mechanic, I got my first big surprise.  The mechanic asked if I wanted to ride the bike to the car, or just push it the 200'.  I opted to push it, since I'd never ridden before.  Grabbed the handlebars and put the kickstand up... Then, the surprise.  The weight!  You think of this bike as light, but my first impression was, OMG, this is heavy!  I was NOT ready for that, and getting it secured was a little more effort than I expected.  Of course, as my luck would have it, it just started to rain as I got it up the ramp.  Spent about 1 half hour putting visqeen on, and tying it down in a steady rain.  I can do it in about ten minutes now, but that first time was a real learning experience!
 

[bmwpowere36m3]

I've seen those hitch carriers, but personally wouldn't use it for more than a 200 lb dirt bike, scooter or moped. Granted a class III-IV hitch has a tongue weight capacity of 350-500 lb. However "cargo" is always bouncing around, a little unsettling.
 
Its important to note that you'd need at least a Class III if not IV hitch to use a carrier to support the 400 lb FZ-07... which rules out those, I think, you are interested in them (with small cars/SUVs). You basically need a full-frame truck/SUV. If you already have a pickup, then just put it in the bed.... and if you have an SUV, well not much to say there... sell it and get a real truck

[rick]

Yep, you can put a 2" receiver on some "crossover" with a unit-body/frame and pretend, but w/o a full separate frame, it can't be rated like a class III hitch. Even the Ford Explorer is no longer body on frame. Have to go up to the Expedition for a full zoot tow capacity.
 
Trailer accidents are expensive, sometimes deadly so. Always best to be way on the plus side of the safety margin.

[ParticleCannon]

For reference the "tongue weight" for my Impreza is max 200lbs, so this bikerack thing wouldn't work.  That and it would bottom out on speedbumps when the front tire lifts!

[rick]

For reference the "tongue weight" for my Impreza is max 200lbs, so this bikerack thing wouldn't work.  That and it would bottom out on speedbumps when the front tire lifts!

All Subies are rated as class 2. Wouldn't dream of trying to hang that off the back of my 3600 lb Outback. Those aluminum trailers are pricey, but only weigh about 350 lbs. Some the steel utility trailers weigh close to 1000 lbs empty.