trailer hitch

[operater]

Hello all...... I've noticed that many riders on this board pull trailers of some sort or another.......I just purchased a tent trailer from timeout trailers and I need a hitch to pull it with.....Any recommendations? Any help would be greatly appreciated.....

[justbrian]

I got my hitch from hitchdoc.com. i think it was 249 plus shipping. bolted right on in less than 20 mins work. I like it and it seems study. There is also a fellow who i think advertises on here with a hitch that he makes for nomads.
Brian

[dragon57]

I use a Denray; recently pulled my Piggybacker 2200 miles, no problems at all!
http://www.produits-denray.com/eng/hitches.html

[samkjr]

That's a pretty cool website. Lots of god trike pics. I want one of those when I am older and calmer. Right now I enjoy carving it up. NIce trailers on there too.
Speaking of trailers. I knw there is a weight limit for the bike as far as suspension and tire load goes. But is there GVWR for towing a trailer?

[coacha]

A member of our board, chuckster, manufactures a nice hitch. It runs around $160 and is hidden under the rear fender. Simple to install and is a nice deal. I posted pics of my set up a while back.

[macmac]

Coacha, where are the pics please?

I bought one for a 1500 and used it til the bike was stolen. A seller on E -Bay mades them. I don't do E-Bay but used it to track the guy down. He goes by "Wings" If I recall his hitches run about 180.

Soon I hope to be in the market for a hitch, to fit a 1600 Nomad.

[rewindgy]

I got the Denray hitch. It was good for the stock tire size on they 1600 until I changed the rear tire to the same size as the 1500 Goldwing. Then the tire rubbed when two up and fully loaded! Am curious about the other hitches also as Hitch Doc won't fit if you have Fender tips or rails and there is no way in He-- I can put a care tire in there with the hitch supports inside the fender! There must be a different hitch that doesn't interfere with the tire cavity?

[coacha]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v39/CoachA/Saturday3-29003.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v39/CoachA/Saturday3-29001.jpg

[misunderstood]

I'll 2nd a vote for Chucksters hitch. I actually sold my one from MCHitch to get chucksters because of the design being unique. Only one that has taken advantage of the crossmember connection point instead of the fender rails (which will limit aftermarket addons) and also connects to the saddlebag bracket where the exhaust connects. It has 3 attachment points on both sides and looks more factory then anything else out there. After putting on the chucksters, I was able to get a rear chrome bumper on again. You won't get a better one then his and it was $166 shipped. http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif

[oldbikers]

I asked chuckster and he didn't make one for the 1600 so I made my own looks almost like the one coacha has Wings84 has one that looks the same on e-bay for $235.00 that includes shipping, I have about $100.00 + labor in mine and have some steel left over

[chuckster131]

If you have a 1500, I have all the parts ready to make another hitch. Let me know and I can hook you up.


Hello all...... I've noticed that many riders on this board pull trailers of some sort or another.......I just purchased a tent trailer from timeout trailers and I need a hitch to pull it with.....Any recommendations? Any help would be greatly appreciated.....

[coacha]

If you have a 1500, I have all the parts ready to make another hitch. Let me know and I can hook you up.


Hello all...... I've noticed that many riders on this board pull trailers of some sort or another.......I just purchased a tent trailer from timeout trailers and I need a hitch to pull it with.....Any recommendations? Any help would be greatly appreciated.....



I want to be your official spokes person chuckster

[misunderstood]

If you have a 1500, I have all the parts ready to make another hitch. Let me know and I can hook you up.



I want to be your official spokes person chuckster

coacha, we'll be a tag team. I love the hitch design. Only thing I changed was using a bolt, nut and lock washer for the reciever so it would cut down on the rattle from the clevis pin. http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif

[cactusjack]

If you have a 1500, I have all the parts ready to make another hitch. Let me know and I can hook you up.


Hello all...... I've noticed that many riders on this board pull trailers of some sort or another.......I just purchased a tent trailer from timeout trailers and I need a hitch to pull it with.....Any recommendations? Any help would be greatly appreciated.....



How about a 1600 Nomad hitch, Joe? Any plans?

I'd rather give you my money for a quality product than some nameless, faceless company. I've been very pleased with everything I've bought from you thus far.

[chuckster131]

I will see if I can get a 1600 over here and check it out. I'm guessing that maybe the 1500 would indeed fit..

[oldbikers]

Joe I don't know what the 1500 looks like but the 1600 was a piece of cake I only wish I had built a gig when I built mine because when they mounted the baggers on my bike they were not turned right to line up with the mounting so I had to slot the bolt holes in my mounting plate for the hitch and I will not take them off again. If it would help I could send you some pictures of mine mounted on the bike with some dimensions.

[cactusjack]

I will see if I can get a 1600 over here and check it out. I'm guessing that maybe the 1500 would indeed fit..


There's someone selling hitches for a 1500 Nomad on eBay and in his description it states "will not fit the 1600 Nomad". I have no clue what the difference is.

[phatnomad]

Oldbikers. I would like to see some pictures of the hitch you made for your 1600 and dimensions. I have been thinking about making one for mine. A friend of mine has a nice motorcycle trailer that he said I can use when ever I want. He has 2 bikes but neither of them has a hitch. My e-mail address is glholder@hotmail.com Thanks.

[chuckster131]

Will be prototyping tomorrow....... Have a 06 coming into the shop, so I can make a hitch for it. http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif

[cactusjack]

Will be prototyping tomorrow....... Have a 06 coming into the shop, so I can make a hitch for it. http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif

Let us know how it goes.

[chuckster131]

Will do ;)



Will be prototyping tomorrow....... Have a 06 coming into the shop, so I can make a hitch for it. http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif

Let us know how it goes.

[macmac]

Chuckster, The 1600 is a couple inches wider... Nice work...

Wings is slightly different.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll275/Mac_Muz/Coast-tocoast/3584.jpg

This is for the 1500 Nomad as well.

I am torn.. Might build my own, with T6160 alloy, but am not sure that is a solid idea or not..

I had timing issues and bought Wings back in 05 mainly because i could not find any other. His work was nice, but the way he made the draw bar the angles went up. That wasn't a good mix with my trailer, and so I ended up grinding the taper on the bar to flop it over.

You can't see that in the pic, but the removable draw bar went in just one way, and mated with a taper on the hitch.


My bike is a 1600 and I had a 1500, and KNOW the 1600 is wider... Also the rear wheel is larger. So you would need a 1600 right there for a pattern.

Is the black paint or powdercoat?

Thanks for the pics Cocha.

[coacha]

No problem on the pics. Chuckster is a stand up guy and makes quality stuff. Heck, I just hope that some time I will actually get to meet up with him and ride.

[macmac]

Cocha, I have no doubt that is true about Chuckster. I am into do it myself big time. In a way I am hoping he replies to my post. I am not sure alloy is a way to go, but that stuff seems rugged enough to me. On the other hand I am no engineer, and don't want to build something that might make me dead.

I have suffered 1 crash, that I can not explain, and can not close questions on.

I can't even prove what happened. What I believe is that some how my trailer jumped the ball.

The evidence is there was a big enough hole in the left side bag, and the tonge was wedged hard between that saddle bag frame and the fender. I think what happened is the hitched jumped the ball, then fell on crossed cables, bounced up and rammed the left bag. During this I was in a low spped apx 15 mph rear tank slapper. The sensation stopped a moment. I think that mean the trailer was embedded in the left side bag..

Then it pulled out, and the bike was thrown down on the right, and sometime between landing in the dirt the trailer was once more yanked forward, where it wedged, and was where I found it.

I checked the hitch that day. It had been paddalocked for 3 days before, an I never took it off.
There was no damage to the socket ball retainer and no adjustment was needed to put the reciever on the ball and lock it again.

SO you can see I have concerns, and can't address them all. My theory seems plausible, but I can't prove a word of it.

Steel will bend a long way before it breaks, where alloy can crack and snap pretty quickly. I just have access to a tig welder and tons of this alloy for free.

[reloader]

Will be prototyping tomorrow....... Have a 06 coming into the shop, so I can make a hitch for it. http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif


Don't make just one...keep the production line running...I'll order one once done.

[rewindgy]

On a trip down the Oregon coast a buddy of mine lost his trailer almost the same way. Everything was tight and locked but the trailer still popped off the ball in one of those really tight twisty corners - I think it bound and pried the hitch off the ball! Good thing was he was going real slow and the trailer just kinda dropped onto the chains and he came to a halt. There was some nervousness when I heard him remark over the C.B. - my damn trailer fell off and then silence! Turned around as soon as possible and went back and there he was sitting on his Voyager wife standing there and he's got a beer in his hand to calm his nerves shakin his head!

[bigjohn]

Cocha, I have no doubt that is true about Chuckster. I am into do it myself big time. In a way I am hoping he replies to my post. I am not sure alloy is a way to go, but that stuff seems rugged enough to me. On the other hand I am no engineer, and don't want to build something that might make me dead.

I have suffered 1 crash, that I can not explain, and can not close questions on.

I can't even prove what happened. What I believe is that some how my trailer jumped the ball.

The evidence is there was a big enough hole in the left side bag, and the tonge was wedged hard between that saddle bag frame and the fender. I think what happened is the hitched jumped the ball, then fell on crossed cables, bounced up and rammed the left bag. During this I was in a low spped apx 15 mph rear tank slapper. The sensation stopped a moment. I think that mean the trailer was embedded in the left side bag..

Then it pulled out, and the bike was thrown down on the right, and sometime between landing in the dirt the trailer was once more yanked forward, where it wedged, and was where I found it.

I checked the hitch that day. It had been paddalocked for 3 days before, an I never took it off.
There was no damage to the socket ball retainer and no adjustment was needed to put the reciever on the ball and lock it again.

SO you can see I have concerns, and can't address them all. My theory seems plausible, but I can't prove a word of it.

Steel will bend a long way before it breaks, where alloy can crack and snap pretty quickly. I just have access to a tig welder and tons of this alloy for free.

Mac - Did you have a swivel receiver? That's two or three bikes that I've heard of recently that have gone down in a turn. My trailer has a swivel, so twisting out of the socket shouldn't be a problem. I hope.

[macmac]

No I didn't have a swivel but I was going dead straight. The road was hard pack dirt and then deep and loose gravel on the Pine Ridge Res. I should have taken note as the name of the road was Goosebreakneck all one word. The date was Aug 9th 05. I was a foreign car mech for a very long time. I'ld like to think I know my chit with this sort of thing. What exactly went wrong I will never know. Once I was able to ride again, which was pretty fast since I got the trailer towed my wife in a car, and me on the bike from the scene although I wasn't thrilled with3 broken ribs, with no adjustments I rode to Cadds on a long and winding road like to Montana , Idaho, Utah, crossing on Rt 50 in Nevada, to Cal. No adjustements...

If it makes any difference I was using cable as a safety over chain. My feeling tells me a swivel is nice, ok even, but it must be snugged up tight. You don't want it adjusted loose, as a hard bump on one side will flip it, and towing a turtle isn't going to be fun.
The square section was not damaged in the slightest.. No hint of a twist.

Not even after Cadd stepped on the pedal bike side stand and mashed it! I thoiught he was going to have a bad fall and die from a heart attack... Poor guy went and bought me a new one for 7 bux..

I flipped a boat trailer once, behind my car. The padlock stayed on but the coupler & claw just came right off the ball. Same type of coupler as Mac had, which is the most typical type you see on light trailers.

When I examined the hitch carefully, the little bar that pulls the claw up under the ball had stretched under pressure. In fact it stretched right through the lock hole where you put the padlock. That was the weak spot. The steel stretched so far, in fact, that after I righted the trailer and put the coupler back on the ball, I wacked the lever down with my fist and the steel bar snapped in two through that hole.

It was the type of hitch coupler shown here, BTW, only 1 7/8":

http://www.nationalwholesaletools.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=272

[unwind2]

Will be prototyping tomorrow....... Have a 06 coming into the shop, so I can make a hitch for it. http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif

Let us know how it goes.

chuckster - I'm intersted in 1600 hitch too.

[chainsaw]

Chuckster, count me in, I'd be interested in a 1600 hitch also.

[aj]

Hey Chuckster, do you flog these to suppliers outside the US. I haven't seen anything as well made anywhere. OR is there a blueprint that I can get a local engineer to manufacture?

[misunderstood]

I haven't seen anything as well made anywhere.

He's got THE BEST out there. I love mine !!! Can you tell. http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

[chuckster131]

Hitch update !!
I have made all the changes on paper and will be changing my CAD program today I hope and then start by making one for the prototype to fit the 1600 I have in the shop for a few more days.
Give a week or two to get everything in order, and then I can make some more.

[operater]

I'm looking forward to hearing your progress Chuckster and I am holding off until you come up with a design......I have a friend who does high quality metal fabrication work and would even buy a copy of the design if that is the easier.....Whatever you think......

[oldbikers]

Here are some pictures of the one I made http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm125/oldbikers/hitch/

[ponch]

That looks like the hitch from the guy in Canada. http://nomad.eurekaboy.com/hitch.htm



Here are some pictures of the one I made http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm125/oldbikers/hitch/

[oldbikers]

wish I had seen those pictures before I built mine it sure would have saved a lot of trial and error and a lot of time. http://s2.images.proboards.com/tongue.gif

[cactusjack]

Bump!

I looked at those photos and Mac had a hitch just like that. He got the lower bag rails to work like this:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Nomad/HITCH.jpg

I forget whether he tapped the tube or used a thru-bolt.

BTW, my sketch shows the u-clamp fits around the new tube, but it didn't quite & had to be cut off.

You really couldn't tell when you looked at the bike, unless you already knew.

[cactusjack]

Thanks for posting your little drawing. Everything I've read says the bag guards have to go, but I paid too much for them and want to keep them.

I'm just waiting for Chuckster to come up with a product.

[mcloven]

Chuckster I would also be interested http://s2.images.proboards.com/cheesy.gif

[chuckster131]

Almost done !!
I will have pics ready next week of the hitch before and after it is on the bike.

[reloader]

Hitch update !!
I have made all the changes on paper and will be changing my CAD program today I hope and then start by making one for the prototype to fit the 1600 I have in the shop for a few more days.
Give a week or two to get everything in order, and then I can make some more.

Chuckster
Just got to thinking about tire clearance for trailer hitch. Lots of us 1600 Nomad owners have long ago wore out the OEM tires and changed out the rear tire with a slightly larger one (helped with speedo error). For me a Metzeler 880 (180/70R-16). Might want to take this into consideration for design specifications.

[cactusjack]

Hitch update !!
I have made all the changes on paper and will be changing my CAD program today I hope and then start by making one for the prototype to fit the 1600 I have in the shop for a few more days.
Give a week or two to get everything in order, and then I can make some more.

Chuckster
Just got to thinking about tire clearance for trailer hitch. Lots of us 1600 Nomad owners have long ago wore out the OEM tires and changed out the rear tire with a slightly larger one (helped with speedo error). For me a Metzeler 880 (180/70R-16). Might want to take this into consideration for design specifications.

I'm glad you brought this up, I was thinking it should be mentioned to him. You beat me to it.

Thanks for posting your little drawing. Everything I've read says the bag guards have to go...

Nope. I got photographic proof. There is one other thing. I think you have to push them back a little, where the front bolt hole goes to the rear of the two bolts on the rear crash bar.

Here's the hitch Mac installed, and his bike with the hitch & modded chrome rails installed.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Nomad/3584.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Nomad/35aa.jpg

Here's Mac & Gwyn on the road:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh269/caddmannq/Nomad/roadhawg.jpg

[chuckster131]

Yuppers I have gave that thought when I figured the end spacers that weld on, giving about a 1 1/2" to the rear tire. Which should be good for any size other than stock we put on the bike.

Thanks for looing out for me

[cactusjack]

BA-DA-BUMP!

[mrfuni]

cactus Jack..

We'll get this worked out before the National Rally.. :)