Vaquero Weight Limitations

[glwilson]

Originally Posted by robjob

Good point on the braking. Just out of curiosity, do you mind stating what the limit is on your HD Ultra?

2014 Ultra-Limited

Wet Weight: 901 lbs.
Load Capacity: 459 lbs.
GVWR: 1,360 lbs.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by glwilson

One issue not mentioned here on over-weighting a bike is how it is going to handle when you have an emergency stop.

Most might think since they have never had to brake extremely hard, they can handle the bike when they need to.

One way to learn what over-weighting does, try a hard stop sometime and see what happens. You might be shocked.

And do not forget, a awful lot of that over-weighting transfers to the front tire. How is it going to handle that? Will it lose traction or blow-out? You better hope not.

Just a thought some might want to think about before being too cavalier about any weight concerns.

Well, ABS helps in terms of the skid, but more weight mean longer stopping distances too. It'll also mean shorter brake pad and rotor life.

[toxictavrn]

Originally Posted by glwilson

One issue not mentioned here on over-weighting a bike is how it is going to handle when you have an emergency stop.

Most might think since they have never had to brake extremely hard, they can handle the bike when they need to.

One way to learn what over-weighting does, try a hard stop sometime and see what happens. You might be shocked.

And do not forget, a awful lot of that over-weighting transfers to the front tire. How is it going to handle that? Wil it lose traction or blow-out? You better hope not.

Just a thought some might want to think about before being too cavelier about any weight concerns.

yes i agree, however i didnt mention it specifically because after riding more miles than i care to count on newer bikes, overloaded, riding hard and fast and i ve never had any bad experience with the brakes on my bikes, my Nomad and Vaq handle and stop fine, under all conditions, always, never any adverse effects that i ever felt, brakes lasted a long time as well, so to me it really is a non issue unless you are a less experienced rider and have to ride overloaded because of your size and passenger size then yes overloading a bike can be a factor, i have full and complete confidence in both machines, but thats me, and doesnt mean that riding overloaded is a good idea! for me its something i ve had to live with so i have my own insight into it, nothing more!

[Snake Ranch]

Originally Posted by ponch

Apples and oranges. Goldwings are shaft drive and the final drive has two crown bearings. It's a heavy duty bike. I don't know what the capacity of the axle bearing on the voyager, as that would have the biggest impact on the load capacity. Anyone can put E rated tires on a half ton pick up, but that doesn't mean it'll handle 5000 lb loads in the bed or if that's a good idea. My guess is that the Voyager has some buffer and the capacity is understated. It is on the goldwing. The thing is, the only people that know the real figures are the manufacturers. May be an engineer could figure it out based on the bearings, axles, materials and tires. Probably a safe bet is to keep it within 10-15% of stated maximum over listed capacity.

About two months ago I went to the darkside. I put a YOKOHAMA 205/60/16 LRR on my skoot. The tire is rated for 1356 pds @ 51psi. So that will take care of overloading the rear tire.

When I had the tire and wheel off I wrote the bearing numbers down. There are two of the same bearing, according to my parts picture. The bearing # is 6204 LU NTN. I called a local bearing house and a single bearing is rated to carry 3,034 pounds. So two bearings will really be good. I think the weak link would be the rim the tire is mounted on.

There are three bearings in the parts picture, but the third bearing is bigger and is used in the belt drive shock or impulse assembly and does not carry the wheel load.

[ponch]

Originally Posted by Snake Ranch

About two months ago I went to the darkside. I put a YOKOHAMA 205/60/16 LRR on my skoot. The tire is rated for 1356 pds @ 51psi. So that will take care of overloading the rear tire.

When I had the tire and wheel off I wrote the bearing numbers down. There are two of the same bearing, according to my parts picture. The bearing # is 6204 LU NTN. I called a local bearing house and a single bearing is rated to carry 3,034 pounds. So two bearings will really be good. I think the weak link would be the rim the tire is mounted on.

There are three bearings in the parts picture, but the third bearing is bigger and is used in the belt drive shock or impulse assembly and does not carry the wheel load.

With those numbers the weak like is probably the tire. As long as that has a load capacity beyond the load you'll carry and bike weight, don't worry about it. Sounds like that's so.