On the Road
On the Road
Here is an inexpensive folding trailer
that can be used to carry one or two bikes or one sidecar outfit. It
is Item 35966-3VGA from Harbor
Freight,
and is a 4-foot by 8-foot trailer with 12-inch tires, a capacity of
1000 lbs, and a weight of only 250 lbs including the plywood deck.
The cost of the trailer kit was $270 from the local Harbor Freight
store, but the completed trailer as shown here with all accessories
was about $500. Assembling the kit and making the deck is easy but
very time-consuming. |
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The deck is 3/4-inch marine plywood with three coats of urethane spar varnish and one coat of flat black paint. The trailer folds and rolls on casters, and the tongue folds down, so it can be stored in very little space. This was a prime requirement, as I had no place to keep a trailer. It takes some physical effort to raise the trailer, which is best done by not folding the bed first, but letting it hit the ground and hinge itself. Lifting the weight of the front of the trailer with the bed folded on it is too hard, but after the trailer is vertical on its casters, the rear bed can then be raised easily. |  |
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To get a bike into the truck or onto the trailer, I use a wood ramp with raised sides to guide the wheels. I stand beside the bike and drive it up the ramp in 1st gear. For the truck, I use a milk crate to step up onto the tailgate. To hold the bike in the truck, I made a large wooden wheel holder. This grabs the wheel so securely that the truck can even be moved without the bike falling, and makes it easy to attach the ties. (This holder is also useful on the garage floor for holding the bike upright while removing or attaching the sidecar.) |  |
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The two eyes on the bed are for securing the rear wheel of a sidecar bike. The wheel is tied to the eyes so it cannot hop out. The rear edge of the deck is protected with an aluminum angle, and a strip of DOT-approved reflective tape is applied across the end of the steel frame. A trailer jack and spare tire were bought separately from Harbor Freight. |  |
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A Pingel WC550 chock is used from JC Whitney Co. with an extra set of deck anchors. One set of anchors is located for the sidecar bike and the other set is located for a solo bike, with the chock moved between the anchors as needed. The 5-1/2 inch chock is used because it allows a solo bike to be leaned over onto its side stand. The left front tie is attached tautly first, then the bike is pulled upright with the right front tie, which compresses the shocks. The rear ties are just to restrain the back end from hopping to one side. |  |
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Each end of the bike ramp is drilled to receive tent stakes. For loading a bike into the truck, the lower end of the ramp is pegged into sod. For loading anything onto the trailer, the upper end of the ramp is pegged into the deck. The ramp for the sidecar wheel is a 2x8 with an aluminum tip, which is pegged onto the sidecar platform. The sidecar outfit is driven up onto the trailer same as the bike is. |  |
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A removable plywood windshield of 1/2-inch plywood is used to protect the bike from road dirt and rain spray behind the truck. It slips into the stake holes on the front of the trailer frame. |  |
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For carrying a sidecar outfit, a wood platform made of 2x4s and a 2x8 is bolted to the deck with thumbscrews for easy removal. The sidecar wheel is carried on this outrigger, and secured against hopping by a strap identical to the one used for the motorcycle’s wheel. |  |
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A compact 4-cylinder truck can easily carry a bike in the bed and pull a sidecar outfit on the trailer. The trailer tracks well and clears the tailgate on sharp turns. |  |
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When carrying a sidecar outfit, the limber trailer is flexed by the 350 lbs of motorcycle toward the left front and the 130 lbs of sidecar toward the right rear. To improve the balance, I made a box to carry the sidecar ballast on the right front of the trailer. This box holds two pants legs filled with pea gravel and two bags of lead shot, a total of almost 100 lbs. The box was higher than needed, and contacted the nose of the sidecar, so I cut it down about 3 inches after these photos were taken. |  |