Let's go adventuring. pulling a trailer. 2006 dr650 "the tropical terradactyl"

Nice work fella, that thing looks crisp. Once it's finished fill that thing with ice and a load of beers and you'll never walk alone. Ride alone.
 
Thanks fellas. Nick, anytime. Come up to ohio and you have a free lesson on me haha


I put what I have so far on the scale. The tub, main frame, box and what I have of the hitch that attaches to the bike comes in at 47 lbs. I guess its not as bad as I thought, but im guessing ill have almost that again by the time I finish the trailer (rear suspension and rear wheel)

I still need to weigh what the second wheel set weighs and then cargo in the box. Im guessing if I end up sub 150 by the time she is all said and done loaded, I will be doing well. I doubt that happens though.

This may have to be attempt #1, and end up making a second one out of lighter wall tubing.
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I think you'll be fine with the weight, no worse than riding around with a big boned lady on the back :D
And the CG will be low and no force anywhere but the swing arm pivot, I wouldn't be worried but you never know I suppose!

Do you plan on pulling it offroad or just to the campsite and then unload and ride? I'd go option b
 
SONIC. said:
I think you'll be fine with the weight, no worse than riding around with a big boned lady on the back :D
And the CG will be low and no force anywhere but the swing arm pivot, I wouldn't be worried but you never know I suppose!

Do you plan on pulling it offroad or just to the campsite and then unload and ride? I'd go option b

That's what I figured. Im guessing that people have loaded 200lbs of gear on the subframe of the dr (granted that is ALOT of gear)

plus the wheel in the back will be holding up half the weight (well hopefully more) so im guessing itll be fine.

The whole point of this is to haul my gear and a second wheelset to the single trak ohv areas, drop the trailer and fit the knobbies and go ride with the trailer left at "base camp"

The part that made it seem like a good idea is that you pull one pin and you have a light bike again, no panniers or anything.
 
Sonreir said:
47.5 lbs is big boned these days?

If that's the case, someone sign me up for some BBWs.

LOL nope, but once he adds the axles and tires and wheels and beer, and ice, and beer it will then maybe be up to BBW level :D
 
Hurco550 said:
Thanks fellas. Nick, anytime. Come up to ohio and you have a free lesson on me haha


I put what I have so far on the scale. The tub, main frame, box and what I have of the hitch that attaches to the bike comes in at 47 lbs. I guess its not as bad as I thought, but im guessing ill have almost that again by the time I finish the trailer (rear suspension and rear wheel)

I still need to weigh what the second wheel set weighs and then cargo in the box. Im guessing if I end up sub 150 by the time she is all said and done loaded, I will be doing well. I doubt that happens though.

This may have to be attempt #1, and end up making a second one out of lighter wall tubing.
f03f2c103721ddd92e9ee7f3f9f8308d.jpg
720acf1d8c376b89cc71e5ef7f183160.jpg
00aecf39b98ceba19960c1a9398319be.jpg

Nice wheeled purse
 
Re: Let's go adventuring. pulling a trailer. 2006 dr650 "the tropical terradactyl"

Mr.E said:
Nice wheeled purse
.
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Looking at this again...

Aren't you planning to attach the hitch to the swinger? I was thinking about this and started having little alarm bells go off in my head. If you are pulling along 150 to 200 pounds of extra weight that wouldn't be much different than having a rider and the DR should handle that with no problems. AND it's at a much lower center of gravity than a rider or pannier. However, a rider or normal pannier baggage is sprung weight and if you are going to put that hitch connection hanging off your swing arm all your tongue weight as unsprung weight directly on your rear wheel. Is that a good thing? I'm wondering what that could do to your stability and control on rough pavement.
 
Re: Let's go adventuring. pulling a trailer. 2006 dr650 "the tropical terradactyl"

ridesolo said:
Looking at this again...

Aren't you planning to attach the hitch to the swinger? I was thinking about this and started having little alarm bells go off in my head. If you are pulling along 150 to 200 pounds of extra weight that wouldn't be much different than having a rider and the DR should handle that with no problems. AND it's at a much lower center of gravity than a rider or pannier. However, a rider or normal pannier baggage is sprung weight and if you are going to put that hitch connection hanging off your swing arm all your tongue weight as unsprung weight directly on your rear wheel. Is that a good thing? I'm wondering what that could do to your stability and control on rough pavement.
I've done a good bit of reading and research on subframe mounted hitches versus swing arm mounted hitches. One thing I can tell you is the parties seem to be as divided as the Ford versus Chevy guys. From the most sensible posts that I have found, they definitely address the unsprung weight issue but generally say that it is the lesser of two evils. There are guys that have set swing arm mounted trailers up and pulled them acrossed big parts of the transatlantic Trail which is largely off road. Now granted they likely didn't have 200 lb in a trailer setup, but the only difference is I don't plan on riding much of any off-road with a trailer hooked on the back. I can't say that it would not be an issue , but I'm guessing at this point I'm going to have to just finish the trailer and test it out. Most of the posts I've read from people with first-hand experience generally say that they forget the trailer is even back there but I think I will just have to find out for myself. There is a pretty good chance that this will be Mach One anyways and I will have to build a second one to improve on all the things that I learn from this one.

Here's one of the videos I've watched a few times. The trailer is taking a good bit of abuse, but also likely has a good bit more real engineering and less of my "meh, that seems like it might work" hackery lol

https://youtu.be/0ufJ_4rdGlk

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That Trail Tail is 68lbs. Max fuel it can hold is 20 liters, which is about 30 lbs. Plus gear, I'd guess you looking at no more than 120 - 130lbs.
 
Re: Let's go adventuring. pulling a trailer. 2006 dr650 "the tropical terradactyl"

irk miller said:
That Trail Tail is 68lbs. Max fuel it can hold is 20 liters, which is about 30 lbs. Plus gear, I'd guess you looking at no more than 120 - 130lbs.
Yep could be. Not sure what exactly ill end up with either, all my numbers are just guessing, but im going to just have to try it out and see at this point. It very well could end up to heavy. If it is, ill re design and make a different one, likely with thinner than .120" wall tubing ect. I also have been around the interwebs enough to know that anyone can claim anything (referring to other posts about pulling trailers behind bikes) and there are guys pulling campers behind street bikes and say they had no issues. Now I know it may be apple's to oranges, because they aren't pulling them behind dr650s, but on a sliding scale it seems like 200lbs wouldn't be so bad behind this one.



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Sadly, there's as much (or more) opinion and conjecture available on the internet as there is actual information. What one person regards as "handles great" another would call "death trap" and vice versa.

I think you're try it and see approach is probably the best bet.
 
Re: Let's go adventuring. pulling a trailer. 2006 dr650 "the tropical terradactyl"

Hurco550 said:
I think I will just have to find out for myself …

My curiosity is more directed at behaviour under braking. Things could get interesting during an emergency stop.

Crazy
 
Re: Let's go adventuring. pulling a trailer. 2006 dr650 "the tropical terradactyl"

stroker crazy said:
My curiosity is more directed at behaviour under braking. Things could get interesting during an emergency stop.

Crazy

Yup, my thoughts exactly: the effect on handling on rough surfaces, the effect on braking, and especially the effect of the weight on the swing arm under braking while on rough surfaces.
 
My thought is that it may actually aid in straight line braking force, when the brakes are hit the weight will transfer to the swinger pivot point which will add additional force to the frame in the downward direction putting more friction to the tires. Assuming the calipers and pads are up to the task of the additional force required I think it will be fine. Stopping distance will be longer just like pulling a trailer with a truck. Braking in anything but a straight line could get weird with the additional weight trying to push the rear of the bike around though.

And I'm actually pretty amazed at how little it weights considering what it's built from! I'd bet you could go with .06 wall tubing and still be well overkill dropping half the weight. The plate sections would likely be fine from 14 or 16 gauge as well, with some dimple dies even thinner.

What's your plan for the wheel did I miss that? A single or dual setup?
 
I think everyones concerns are more than valid. As far as the braking, I would tend to be more worried as sonic said with braking in a turn than in a straight line. In my head, brake pads and rotors should be up to the task equally if I had all the gear mounted to the bike vs. a trailer if we are looking at it from strictly a weight perspective.

The kicker in my head is the rotating mass of the rear wheel and stopping it more than the weight itself. We all know what flywheels are for afterall, stored energy and all. There may also be the possibility of having a brake on the rear wheel itself, but that does add a bit of complexity to the trailer, not to mention extra weight as well.


I built the trailer out of the .120" tubing for several reasons.

1.) I had it (I know I know, not a good enough excuse)
2.) My background is in heavy structural fabrication, and I have a terrible tendency to overbuild things that I shouldn't. Its terrible when trying to crossover to the lightweight bike world.
3.) I have tried to bend some .060" wall tubing, and the bender I have access to always kinks it.

The steel plate is 11 ga (or .120" thick) and again, was used because its what I had a sheet of laying around.

also Justin, it will be a single rear wheel. I was thinking about a katana front rim with a shinko 705 (because, you guessed it, I had it laying around) but am still looking into smaller and lighter weight options. The nice thing about the shinko 705 and katana wheel was that I would be carrying an ADDITIONAL rear spare that would fit the rear of the dr, and also, being tubless, if I do get a flat on the trailer tire, a quick plug would suffice vs. dealing with another tube.

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Hurco550 said:
I think everyones concerns are more than valid. As far as the braking, I would tend to be more worried as sonic said with braking in a turn than in a straight line. In my head, brake pads and rotors should be up to the task equally if I had all the gear mounted to the bike vs. a trailer if we are looking at it from strictly a weight perspective.

The kicker in my head is the rotating mass of the rear wheel and stopping it more than the weight itself. We all know what flywheels are for afterall, stored energy and all. There may also be the possibility of having a brake on the rear wheel itself, but that does add a bit of complexity to the trailer, not to mention extra weight as well.


I built the trailer out of the .120" tubing for several reasons.

1.) I had it (I know I know, not a good enough excuse)
2.) My background is in heavy structural fabrication, and I have a terrible tendency to overbuild things that I shouldn't. Its terrible when trying to crossover to the lightweight bike world.
3.) I have tried to bend some .060" wall tubing, and the bender I have access to always kinks it.

The steel plate is 11 ga (or .120" thick) and again, was used because its what I had a sheet of laying around.

also Justin, it will be a single rear wheel. I was thinking about a katana front rim with a shinko 705 (because, you guessed it, I had it laying around) but am still looking into smaller and lighter weight options. The nice thing about the shinko 705 and katana wheel was that I would be carrying an ADDITIONAL rear spare that would fit the rear of the dr, and also, being tubless, if I do get a flat on the trailer tire, a quick plug would suffice vs. dealing with another tube.

d9256171f296a93ec4dce8ea486bc81c.jpg

I'm 100% the same way build it from what you've got. If it turns out awesome then do some real thinking and order the correct materials. Same way I work (so I may be biased, but I say it's the right way ha)

I hear you on the tube too, .120 bends like silk on a jd2 bender, .06 not so much. .09 bends well too so that could be a good compromise in the future.


As for the wheel I like the added redundancy. It may look big though I don't know I can't quite picture it. My brain tells me the wheel should be like a 12" or something but I have absolutely no reference point so that's purely a random guess haha
 
SONIC. said:
I'm 100% the same way build it from what you've got. If it turns out awesome then do some real thinking and order the correct materials. Same way I work (so I may be biased, but I say it's the right way ha)

I hear you on the tube too, .120 bends like silk on a jd2 bender, .06 not so much. .09 bends well too so that could be a good compromise in the future.


As for the wheel I like the added redundancy. It may look big though I don't know I can't quite picture it. My brain tells me the wheel should be like a 12" or something but I have absolutely no reference point so that's purely a random guess haha

Ill order a stick of .090" wall and play around with it. Most all monowheel trailers that ive seen run a smaller diameter rear wheel, like off of a scooter. the only issue that ive found is that most of the scooter wheels only take 62mph (I think its h rated) tires. Granted im sure there is leeway on that speed, and im also not planning on extended 70 mph cruises with the trailer, but it just didn't seem quite what I wanted it to be. I haven't made up the rear suspension yet, so its still kinda up in the air.
 
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