Building a Motorcycle Trailer

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Looking to build a single motorcycle trailer from stuff I have laylng around the shop. Trailer would be used mainly for hauling my HD Road King.

Will 8" tires handle 1,000 lbs (old snowmobile trailersprinys & axels)?

What dimensions would you make the bed?

Any tips would be appreciated.


Thank you,
Glenn F.
 
I would look in the Northern catalog for axel stubs and springs. They are reasonable in cost and have several sizes.
 
While the smaller tires may work since many are used on boat trailers and boats can be pretty heavy if I where you I would use a 14 or 15 inch tire and rim and make a more universal trailer that way you can haul the bike but also haul lumber and what ever else you would need in the future
 
I am reading your responses with interest. I sure get the safety concerns. It seems like a project can never be free no matter how much well organized inventory one has.

If I were to put 6 ply tires (rated at 745 lbs each) I could build the trailer for just under $100. I'll have no problem building a strong frame/bed. Not sure what my springs & axels are rated at. I'l have to do some research.

Glenn
 
Do yourself a favor and buy a 2000lb torflex axle. It will be easier to mount and more reliable and give a better ride. Get 5 on 4 1/2 bolt circle so you can easily get replacement wheels when you blow a tire. The small tires will haul your load fine but turn several times faster going down the road so tires and bearings don't last as long. You can help that by checking the air in the tires frequently. Those small tires don't need a big leak to loose a large % of their air and low air pressure is the leading cause of tire failure. Also the biggest reason for bearing failure is sitting time. If you leave your trailer sit for several months the bearings rust where the grease is rubbed off then when you start driving they fail. If the trailer is sitting for a long time just go out and push it around a bit from time to time to move the grease around, that will help.
 
OOPS, I guess I didn't read you post clearly. Most snowmobile axles are 2000 lb. so yes it will work. If it's a solid square axle it's most likely a 1500 lb. and still plenty.
 
If you had enough money to buy the road king you probably got enough to buy a decent trailer.
 
if you are building a trailer, take a look at the link for condor products. in the cycle recovery section i have a condor cycle loader for recovering motorcycles with our flat bed tow trucks. you strap the bike to the condor, hook the winch line up to the front of the condor, and winch up on the truck. i have loaded ultra classics by myself with this with no problems. there ara a number of different anchoring options you can look at and fabricate something to hold the bike down. go back to the home page and watch the video too.
poke here
 
I bought my Harley to ride, but if i were going to trailer it, I believe I would buy a used trailer off craigslist. There's plenty of them out there cheap from the "hardcore" guys. You know the type, spend 30k drag it to Daytona, idle up and down the strip a couple times then sell it.
 
I remember on the way to Daytona seeing those small trailer failures on the roadside . Sometimes the bike was smashed up too. Always looked like they lost a wheel. I would get a larger trailer but when you get to the parking lots guys always try to stack the trailers to free up more parking spaces, so a large one gets on the bottom and then you have to wait for everyone else to leave. I never left until Monday because I wanted to see the race Sunday. Buy used get new wheel bearings.
 
I made a utility trailer out of a 3 place motorcycle trailer. Has 13 inch automotive wheels, tires. They were popular back in the '70s. This was a THREE place trailer. Made a 5 foot x 7 foot deck out of 3/4 plywood heavily supported by the inverted troughs the cycles were to sit on. Surrounded by 1 inch angle iron frame. Have had over 1000 pounds on it many times. No worry about overloading.
What you're talking is marginal, and may let you down at the worst time. Over engineer!
 
glenn,
7x10 or 8x12 bed. like mentioned go to a full size tire vs snowmobile trailer tire.....bigger the tire less revalution and will not get as hot as quick....you can buy a trailor axle through tractor supply with reg spring set up vs the snowmobile style spring that's in my triton trailer..... make shure you weld it good and you measure it across in a x corner to corner....making shure its square.....mark everything well and even so it runs straite down the road not sideways....

kelly
 

I don't care for 8" tires on a trailer for the stated reasons(rotational speeds of tires and bearings).However I see very few snowmobile guys with tire/bearing failures in NNY state.These guys, when they find a good stretch of bare road don't waste any time.Still I'd go with a 15" tire.I moved my brother's Harley on a utility trailer useing soft straps and tie down straps.Worked fine.
 
What are your welding skills? I've seen some home made trailers that I sure wouldn't want to be following. A trailer, especially for an expensive bike, isn't a project to try out your new welder. If you're trying to build it on the cheap with scrap you have laying around, you're setting yourself up for failure. If you have the skill and want to build it, don't cut corners and build it right.
 
Well I guess the jury is in and it's "thumbs down" on 8" wheels. Building a strong/attractive bed would be no poblem. I really don't need the trailer but it would come in handy once in a while.

Glenn F.
 
I've seen scrap piles that would allow for several trailers that size to be built. Just because it's the scrap pile, doesn't mean there isn't good material in it.
 
Then they aren't really scrap piles are they? I've seen some stuff built from scrap piles and it makes you shake your head. If I wanted to build a trailer, I would use the right materials to build what I wanted rather than use what I had laying around. You might have some materials you could use but substituting smaller and weaker material isn't a good idea.
 
All too often the case when someone wants to build something for cheap with what they have laying around. Instead of spending $50 or $100 on new steel, it's more of a this will be good enough attitude. You are talking about a building a complete trailer out of old materials for $100 and it won't be smaller or weaker? Good luck with that. Decent tires and rims will cost over $100.
 
Many people just add channels or angle irons to a regular utility trailer for hauling motorcycles. If the trailer has a low loading ramp it works well.
 

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