TOWING again !

[knockdolian]

Hi all. I thought I would share this with you lot across the pond. A
A time back made a tow hitch. Well Ive been trying to find out what I can leagaly tow. A simple enough question you would think. Not at all. Ive asked on every forum I can think of. Every one has an opinion but no legislation to be found. A leagle web site called ask a policeman said " an unlaben weight of 558Lbs" Then I asked VOSA these are the vehicle inspectorate who legislate vehic. Roadworthiness. I emailed twice. The first reply was a max weight of 330Lbs and 3ft wide. The second said it was down to the manufacturer to decide ?
I emailed BH but got no reply. The manual says they dont avise towing but the sell tow hiches. I read somewhere that BH dont advise towing because people were towing huge loads and burning out clutches and making warrantee clames. So any pictures of what you tow and what is the load infomation on a BH Tow hich.

[gangstaboy1]

One of the back issues of Boss Hoss Country Magazine featured a story about a guy with a coupe trike that towed an enclosed trailer behind him he had build for his two dogs. Good size dogs. Maybe u can refer to that article and find answers.

[CanuckHoss]

The manual says they dont avise towing but the sell tow hiches. I read somewhere that BH dont advise towing because people were towing huge loads and burning out clutches and making warrantee clames. So any pictures of what you tow and what is the load infomation on a BH Tow hich.

Same motor and transmission as a lot of Chevy cars and trucks ran quite a while ago...can't tow with a trike?? I call BS as nothing will get hurt if everything is in working order. Of course this is my PERSONAL opinion....

[Puff]

I have a trailer hitch on my BH bike.
I towed a very small, light trailer only
AFTER my warranty ran out.
I have American Flags in this trailer, that I will
only tow to PGR missions. I will only tow
in 1st gear. Almost no weight to this trailer.
This tranny has about 64,000 miles on it, so I
believe I haven't hurt it.
I would NOT tow in 2nd gear !

[knockdolian]

Thanks for the reply. Barry I agree fully a trike should be able to pull a house. I did email BH to ask why they sell tow hitches but advise against towing. Had no reply. The only thing I can do is carry on towing my trailer tent and see what happens. Is I said before I did boil the transmission on a long run in the summer but that was before I fitted a cooler and gauge.

[Jack]

Motor and tranny on the trike will handle anything, but your suspension, brakes, missing 4th wheel, and short wheelbase will be your limiting factors.

For a bike, I don't know if the hitch is sprung weight or unsprung. But that needs to be taken into consideration. You only have enough braking power for a bike, 2-up, full of fluids and maybe a little cargo... you will not have trailer brakes (unless you get creative)... so the answer is probably what you are comfortable towing. For recreational use, see not commercial, a lot of rules don't actually apply to you. I've read time and time again that your GCWR and GVWR are simply MFR recommendations and NOT legally binding. A change to your registration nullifies that sticker and you are bound to your registration by DOT and nothing else. So, if you're towing for recreational use, the DOT officer would have to have a case against you, they won't find one for a Boss Hoss. They may be able to cite the GVWR on your VIN tag and hit you with that for a motorcycle, but I do not know. Maybe I'm spreading misinformation like the people before me, but I'm a regular on a lot of the towing sites as I have often been curious what laws I may or may not be breaking.

[knockdolian]

Thanks Jack. It's 32 coupe I have. U.K. DOT have informed me that what I can to will be down to the manufacturer. BH haven't replied to my email. I have modified my suspension and upgraded the rear brakes. The front brakes are in the pipeline. M4 Brembo. BH sell tow hiches so there must be a recommended max weight. I'm not talking about towing a house I just want to quote facts should I be pulled.

[Jack]

Take the weight of you and your passenger/cargo and add it to the weight of the bike. Subtract it from the GVWR of the vin plate. Assume that the answer is 15% of the trailer weight. Stay below that.
You'll love the new brakes!

[knockdolian]

Well after asking 4 times to VOSA, which is the vehicle inspectorate. The ones that stop and weigh you at the road side. I got 4 different answers from 4 different people. After complaining, pointing out that if they didnt know the rules how the hell am I supposed to. I got an email from a VOSA "Senior technical officer who stated.
Because of the weight of your trike its technically a car. To that end I can tow a combind weight, trike and trailer up to 3500kgs (7700Lbs)
If the trailer weighs more than750kgs (1650Lbs) it must be braked.
Got there in the end. Bet you lot are glad you dont have any idiots in government.

[rocketsteve]

Just found this, you might already be familiar with it...

I wasn't

http://www.wimp.com/why-you-should-alwa ... -up-front/

[CanuckHoss]

Just found this, you might already be familiar with it...

I wasn't

http://www.wimp.com/why-you-should-alwa ... -up-front/

Always, always have positive tongue weight...even a bit. For motorcycle trailers we sell we tell guys to have around 25 to 30 lbs tongue weight...

I have pulled a trailer behind a motorcycle for about 30,000 miles in total over the past 25 years...never an issue. BUT i never overloaded the hitch either.

For your trike Paul..I would not have more than 50 lbs tongue weight which can be achieved by proper packing of the trailer. Your frame is not designed for 150 or 200 lb tongue weight...and is not necessary.

[knockdolian]

Thanks for the link steve, I have seen it before. Barry, I got my first goldwing in 84 and towed a trailer up and down the uk for many years. Ive been towing a motorcycle solo size trailer tent with my Harley trike foe at least 10 years. This was more about finding out what I coyld leagally tow in the UK. I dont intend to tow much morethan I have been. The ttrailer tent is 5' ×7' with a draw bar of about 3' with a max weight of about 1000Lbs. I didnt know it was there when towed. You can bet your last $, if a police officer doesnt like the look of it he will pull you and give you a ticket. I just wanted to know he will be wrong.
Im greatfull for all the infomation and advice. I can fully appreciate why BH stopped towing. Check out youtube. Put in pickup pulling large load . Priceless

[Jack]

Tongue weight should be 15% of the trailer weight... so 30lbs doesn't give you much trailer.

You should load a trailer - not to avoid tongue weight - but to distribute 10-15% of the trailer weight to the ball.

[CanuckHoss]

Tongue weight should be 15% of the trailer weight... so 30lbs doesn't give you much trailer.

You should load a trailer - not to avoid tongue weight - but to distribute 10-15% of the trailer weight to the ball.

Jack..

On a regular car SUV or truck I agree...motorcycles are a bit different I like to think as far as how much weight to load on the hitch..

[Jack]

It isn't the tow vehicle, it is the towing dynamics of the load on the trailer. I've done 0 research on towing with a motorcycle, but I've done TONS of research on loading a trailer. It doesn't matter if it is a 1 TON diesel or a Honda Civic, the trailer needs to behave, and to do that the tongue weight needs to be proportionate to the total trailer load. You end up with porpoising, tail wagging the dog, horrible braking dynamics, and all sorts of other problems if you've placed your load in such a way that you're putting too much on the tongue, or not enough.
Again though, no research on motorcycle towing specifically, but the trailer is the trailer - regardless of what it is hooked up to.
Towing a 5th wheel or a gooseneck is 20%.
Just my $0.02 guys.

[CanuckHoss]

Jack...it is all good...we agree to disagree or at least have differing opinions when it comes to motorcycles and trailers...not a problem..IT IS ALL GOOD!!

Have a great evening.

[Jack]

Right on man, at the very least it gives the OP 2 different opinions and experiences to base his own research or actions on.

[V8Norm]

This cooler rack worked great

[Jack]

When I had my Jeep SRT8 and the exhaust came out at the trailer tongue, there were turn-downs that I could have attached to the tips to force the exhaust down towards the road instead of into my trailer or cargo. For those of you who think your load might get a little warm in the direct path of your exhaust, might be something worth looking into.