[LYCOMING]

Was curious to know if anyone has experience towing with your car or truck any single cycle trailers. , I am looking at the "Ace Single Motorcycle Trailer" by USA Trailer, in Greenville SC, cost $895. I can see us wanting to travel out of state to interesting places to ride and stay for a few days or other far points instate but not necessarily wanting to ride the bike all the way there and back, especially in the Florida summer. I heard there were some overseas knockoffs of the USA model that were terrible, bad tires that would blow over 55 mph, metal structural members that broke and plastic that fell off, but I have not seen any independent feed back on this trailer or others like it. Many thanks for all comments, especially tips for towing motorcycles. I have towed boats all over the place, this would be alot lighter. Thanks again

 

[simplesam]

Was curious to know if anyone has experience towing with your car or truck any single cycle trailers. , I am looking at the "Ace Single Motorcycle Trailer" by USA Trailer, in Greenville SC, cost $895. I can see us wanting to travel out of state to interesting places to ride and stay for a few days or other far points instate but not necessarily wanting to ride the bike all the way there and back, especially in the Florida summer. I heard there were some overseas knockoffs of the USA model that were terrible, bad tires that would blow over 55 mph, metal structural members that broke and plastic that fell off, but I have not seen any independent feed back on this trailer or others like it. Many thanks for all comments, especially tips for towing motorcycles. I have towed boats all over the place, this would be alot lighter. Thanks again

im personally going to buy probably a 6x10 or 12 v nose enclosed trailer. heard stories of road debris damaging bike., plus can sleep in it if you want. better thean a tent. around 3000 here

 

[chiefwannabe1]

I prefer a trailer with 15" wheels as the bearings on the smaller wheeled trailer tend to run hot and are subject to failure, because they spin faster than the larger wheels. Good luck.........

 

[LYCOMING]

Thanks, a little more research and I found a couple of places that sell fully enclosed trailers, with the bigger tires too, for a few hundred bucks more, and also alot closer to hime Having a fully enclosed trailer is something I can use for alot of things besides hauling a motorcycle, and it does seem a more secure and protective of content .

 

[jdmatthew]

Thanks, a little more research and I found a couple of places that sell fully enclosed trailers, with the bigger tires too, for a few hundred bucks more, and also alot closer to hime Having a fully enclosed trailer is something I can use for alot of things besides hauling a motorcycle, and it does seem a more secure and protective of content .

If you can get a quality enclosed trailer for a price only a few hundred more than the $895 you mentioned, I would jump all over that. There are so many good uses for a covered trailer.

 

[aussiekeeper]

Enclosed for sure, only another days work...............

 

[Captain steve]

I currently have a Kendon single and have towed my Harley {Dyna Super Glide} more than 12K miles over the last two years with great success. Just replaced the Dyna with my new 17 Springfield and look to continue the towing tradition. We tow behind our 24' Class C motorhome so we have all of the comforts of home everywhere we go.

Another big advantage to towing with the Class C is that the long overhang {159" WB} along with the dually mudflaps protect the bike completely from any road debris, not a single nick or scratch in 12K+ miles. The fact that the bike/trailer sit low and centered behind the coach also helps.

As you can see the bulk of the weight sits forward of the axle and the trailer is low enough to making loading a piece of cake. {the purple towel was quickly placed to protect the paint from some pretty serious hail up in the White Mountains {at 9,200'} last summer during a monsoon thunderstorm}.

Another huge advantage that comes with owning a Kendon is its storability. The rear half of the deck folds forward and you can easily lift the entire trailer up into a vertical position where it rides on three heavy rubber casters. Once vertical you can just roll it up against the wall storing it with a minimum footprint. The trailer weighs about 200# so raising and moving it is very doable.

The downside to this rig is that the biket is out in the open, vulnerable to weather and prying eyes. With some even longer trips planned I am in the market for a nice enclosed trailer {10' would be perfect} which would give me some additional storage for gear that I don't want to load into the coach. I'll look forward to following this thread with a new trailer in mind. When it is time to make the change the Kendon will disappear like a virgin on prom night off of Craigslist as they are very hard to find - got this one there for $1,450}

{That is a bicycle rack stored up against the wall behind the trailer]

 

[JeremyB]

I can second the Kendon. I recently towed my scout with a Kendon SRL 2,000 miles during a vacation to Indiana. The trailer pulled very straight, and I lost less than 2 MPG on the highway with my Ram 1500. The SRL is not inexpensive, but I couldn’t be happier with it.

 

[LYCOMING]

Many thanks for the post and photos of the Kendon. and especially the information about how well it tows and durability. I can see your RV provides alot of protection from road hazard for whatever is right behind it. I would be towing behind a pickup and unless I put some mudflaps on it I think the exposure would be greater. At the moment though I am looking at enclosed trailers because of the multi use one get out of them, can haul one or bikes, or other stuff. I even see where people have gotten real creative and made space efficient camper type spaces inside, which is an intriguing idea. Craigslist: I had not thought of that, but after checking there are tons of utility trailers on there locally, condition ranges from hardly ever used to complete junk. Something not so bad and not so big can be head for under $1000.

 

[jdmatthew]

Many thanks for the post and photos of the Kendon. and especially the information about how well it tows and durability. I can see your RV provides alot of protection from road hazard for whatever is right behind it. I would be towing behind a pickup and unless I put some mudflaps on it I think the exposure would be greater. At the moment though I am looking at enclosed trailers because of the multi use one get out of them, can haul one or bikes, or other stuff. I even see where people have gotten real creative and made space efficient camper type spaces inside, which is an intriguing idea. Craigslist: I had not thought of that, but after checking there are tons of utility trailers on there locally, condition ranges from hardly ever used to complete junk. Something not so bad and not so big can be head for under $1000.

Used might be the way to go. Lots of people buy trailers that they almost never use. I see a lot of trailers sitting in people's yards with weeds growing up around them. You might be able to find a bargain.

 

[Scootin Missouri]

My preference is for a used trailer, and one that I can use for more than just towing a motorcycle.

Right now, I have a homemade 5x10 homemade tilt trailer. I tow it with my minivan, cuz I’m cool like that.

I’ve never towed a motorcycle with it, but I would if I needed to.

If I had a cool truck, I’d want an enclosed trailer.

But it’s not necessary.

I ride my bike outside.

So, trailering it outside is probably no big deal.

That is all I know.

 

[Caprock]

I previously owned a Kendon single rail and a couple of years ago made the mistake of selling it. For not much more than you are looking at spending on the Ace trailer, you should be able to find a clean used Kendon.

Comparing it to the Ace, I believe that it is much more solid (too many folding, bolt together pieces on the Ace), it is much easier to load your bike because you can actually ride up on it (can't do that on the ace), It like the Ace doesn't take up much storage room (much easier to fold up the Kendon than the Ace). You can add a rock guard to the Kendon (highly recommended, and I don't see how you would do that with the Ace).

The Kendon pulls great, with or without a bike. The only negative I have about the Kendon or any trailer like this is that they are very short which makes backing up a little more tricky than with a bigger trailer. In addition, without a bike on the trailer, it is hard to see the trailer behind you when backing up. This of course is not an issue now that most cars / trucks have backup cameras.

 

[Caprock]

Another option to possibly consider is just renting one from U-haul when you need it. They have 2 models that have a cutout in the front rail for motorcycle hauling. The smaller of the two rents for about $16 a day and works fine. Although, I tried using the smaller trailer to haul my Springfield and found that with the shorter tailgate that my pipes wanted to hit where the tailgate met the trailer due to the angle. This of course was avoided by lowering the ramp on a higher piece of ground.

 

[Captchip40]

U-hall is a great deal we used them twice. After trailering west and driving through snow in Chicago and then blistering heat we decided towing the bike was a great way to get where we wanted to go. We purchased en enclosed trailer and plan on using that as a garage at our hotel base and it will protect the bike when towing it. Our maiden voyage with the trailer will be to Americade in a couple of weeks just as out test flight for some longer destinations later this year.

 

[Captain steve]

Just finished loading for our early morning departure and thought you folks might like to see the results...

The 2 X 12's on either side of the load ramp give me a nice wide place for my boots as I drive/walk the bike up onto the trailer. Unloading is even easier as I just feather the front brake as I roll back off. Four ratchet straps might be overkill but 4 is better than 2. You can grab the handlebars and rock the trailer as the bike is seriously married to it. The load ramp stores underneath the trailer and the 2 X 12's go into the storage bay of the motorhome.

I took the windshield off {too easy not to} and that will just go into the coach for safe keeping. We will drive to Gallup NM tomorrow and on to Angel Fire on Tuesday. A couple of days of fun at my buddies place and then we will leave the coach and trailer and hit the road for Colorado. We have a hotel reserved in Creede for Thursday night and will be in Durango with friends on Friday. Saturday we ride from Durango back to Angel Fire for even more fun, at least one {?} lap around the "Enchanted Circle" to include a stop at Shotgun Willy's in Red River for their world famous Smoked Brisket breakfast burrito smothered in hatch green chile sauce... life is good!

 

[gilroychief]

Just curious, but why do you have all of the ratchet straps hooked to the front of the trailer, rather than the two rear straps hooked to the rear?

 

[Captain steve]

The two primary straps run from the handlebars to the forward tie down rings. The other two straps run from the rear highway bars forward to the same tie down rings, which helps snug/secure the front tire into the chock. No need to tension the bike to the rear as the majority of the weight is well forward of the axle.

I've towed my HD over 12K miles like this and it works just fine. As noted, just grab the handlebars {at the grips} and you can rock the entire trailer.

 

[chiefwannabe1]

I've been to "Trailer Week" a time or two........

 

[work2fish]

I purchased a used Kendon dual trailer like this one in excellent shape for $1600 via craigslist. I think you are looking at more like $2000-2500 for an enclosed trailer (at least in my area), but the quality can vary. I did see a nice Haulmark 10'X6' on the Denver craigslist for $1800 that sold in about 30 minutes . You've got to look at the listings on craigslist very frequently as the good, low priced ones get snapped up very fast.

I really like the fact that the Kendon stores so easily and that the suspension allows for a heavy bike to be on one side while there is nothing on the other side. I plan to tow the bike behind my truck (with a popup truck camper) for use at campsites in the mountains where parking and storage may be tight. This is one reason I went with a Kendon instead of a fully enclosed trailer. The Kendon I bought also came with the optional center rail and a wider ramp which works great; I am not comfortable using one of those skinny ramps that I can't put my feet down on with an 800+ pound bike. Be aware that the crashbars on a bike like a Springfield can create issues with loading the bike on the side rails since the trailer fenders are in the way. I installed the center rail and load my bike by itself on the trailer. It can accommodate two large bikes for a total weight of 2000 lbs.

Hope this helps,
Mike

 

[LongRoadHome]

Was curious to know if anyone has experience towing with your car or truck any single cycle trailers. , I am looking at the "Ace Single Motorcycle Trailer" by USA Trailer, in Greenville SC, cost $895. I can see us wanting to travel out of state to interesting places to ride and stay for a few days or other far points instate but not necessarily wanting to ride the bike all the way there and back, especially in the Florida summer.

I bought an old stock Lowe's utility trailer with ramp/gate on sale for half that price, but I sure wouldn't recommend it for anything more than local towing. It's got treated lumber floor and is heavy even though only 5' X 8'.
And I doubt many of the larger motorcycles could fit on it. I added a Harbor Freight wheel chock too.

I looked at those rail type trailers and decided if I was going to get a trailer I would just get something I could use for other things too. I like those Kenda's though, just cost more than my bargain trailer. Same thought about the enclosed trailers, I wouldn't get much use for the money out of one anyhow.

South Carolina, where you are, still doesn't have trailer tags/plates do they? Wish I didn't have to replace decals every year on mine here in Alabama.