towing a trike

[deano]

Just lately I seem to have spent several evenings loading broken down trikes onto the back of a truck. My poor back and nerves can't take anymore. So I wanna build a trailer. I hav'n got room for a car transporter sized jobby. ,so was thinking about building a small lightweight one that I can lift or drive the front wheel of a trike onto it, tie it down and hey presto off we go. Has anyone tried this, only problem I can think of is the trike steering will still be operating as well as the standard tow hitch could this cause problems (at speed). Current thinking involves using either a rear mini subframe or cutting down a small camping trailer Any suggestions would be welcome.

[Alik Windrush]

I use a small two wheel dolly without suspension that tows off a normal towball. It's small enough to chuck in the back of the van and will tow any size bike or car trike.
I just drop the trike front wheel in, strap it down real tight and then left the trike steering and suspension to do it's thing.
If you have a tow bar that's strong enough you can also build a frame that drops onto the towball and carries the trike front wheel in the same way.
This was all covered in 'Trike Tek' but I can't remember when.
Hope this helps, could e-mail you a pic.

[deano]

thanks for that. I've got a week off work coming up. and cutting up my small camping trailer (that I never use) has just been added to my list of jobs.
A photo would be usefull to see if my thinking is along the right lines.
My email is deandeanooo@aol.com

thanks in advance
deano

[Alik Windrush]

I've also just built a single bike, light/bike trike trailer out of a trailer tent chassis.
The back half fold up and then the whole lot stands on it's end for storage.
I'll send a pic of that too

[Kingo]

Can you send a pic to me to please

[Mad Dog]

I've been pondering this issue for a while now, coz I am picking up more and more trikes.

Normally I use a flat trailer, but, that was recently badly damaged when a divvie woman drove into it (complete with trike on board).

I can easily make a "shoe" that drops on the towball of the van, and is braced against the tow frame so that it doesn't move, thus allowing swivel only on trike headstock. However I wanted to make a universal solution that will fit all towing vehicles.

Boom trikes have a neat system where they have a built in fixing point for a bracing bar from the trike frame to the towing mechanism that ensures the steering doesn't move - the only articulation being on the towball.

I have seen Reliants (in car form) towed on a narrow dolly that slips under the front wheel, but I can't find any details.

There was a system shown on "Trikes-R-Us" website which basically clamped onto the forks of a bike-trike. They claimed to have used this successfully but I am dubious because of the double articulation. Under deceleration or braking the towed vehicle could swing out, also, it would be impossible to reverse.

I'd be interested to see Alik's version. mail me here (renegades@btconnect.com)

[Alik Windrush]

I'll try to find out how to post pics.
Currently both my dolly and trailer are lent out but when they're back I'll take some pics.
P.S. I knew France has a law that insists that any towed vehicle has to have working brakes but thought that they were the only country in europe to do so, according to the RAC. When I get a moment I'll phone and check to see if it's changed... Unless someone else beats me to it and posts the answer here...

[Doro]

this is very interesting...........

http://www.trike-register.co.uk/page6.html

[Gypsy]

that the item i was looking for when we were getting our first trike delivered... couldnt find the blood website lmao

[Mad Dog]

That bit of kit shown on the Trike Register is the very one I was referring to when I talked about the problem with double articulation.

The frame can swivel on the tow-ball and the other end clamped onto the forks allows the headstock to rotate as well.

A very dangerous situation.

[Lone-Wolf]

this is very interesting...........

http://www.trike-register.co.uk/page6.html

Wotcha.

That's what I use - bought it a few years back, and it's worth it's weight in gold. Not much use for some leading-link or springer type forks, but on normal teles, it works a treat.

[traficman]

I going any distance,I' would use a trailer,because now I think you need
brakes on towing doll'ys,check with National Trike Register,he has all the gen,cheers ,traficman.

[Doro]

the link is from the trike register site hinny :)

[Gypsy]

That bit of kit shown on the Trike Register is the very one I was referring to when I talked about the problem with double articulation.

The frame can swivel on the tow-ball and the other end clamped onto the forks allows the headstock to rotate as well.

A very dangerous situation.
does that mean that in thoery (sp?) it could sort of jacknife???

[dracken1]

it should be fine i would say.
the front wheel will always be pointing at the tow ball no matter what position you are in.

and i admit when you imagine 2 swivel points it does not seem possible for it to work.
as stated above it could be differcult on some leading link set up's

reversing? well thats another thing

could also be a bit odd with rear engined trikes, due to thier light front ends. even with a rider.
but unladen on a bumpy road. could cause the front end to hop about. but as i said above the front wheel will always be steering towards the tow hitch

you are allowed to tow an unbraked trailer providing the tow vehicle weighs at least twice as much as the vehicle being towed.

so using a honda melody is out.
and so are a lot of smaller cars if towing a v8 or that 2.8-3.0litre ford anchor of a v6 :eek:

[Alik Windrush]

The next Trike Tek will be about towing trikes and the law regarding towing. It will include the bike/trike trailer I've just built from an old trailer tent chassis.
Too much info to put here.

[smeghead]

the only other thing to remember is dont tow the trike if its got an automatic gearbox,unless you remove the propshaft first

[Alik Windrush]

oh dear are we off down the can't tow auto's route again.? You can tow them for up to 50 miles if you go steady or put extra oil in the gearbox.
The reason behind the myth of not being able to tow them is because with the engine not running there is no oil circulating the gearbox. But you do get an element of splash feed as the prop spins over.
The main reason for not towing auto's is to eliminate the risk of the owner suing you. (Probably for something that was already wrong with the box but you wouldn't be able to prove otherwise.)

[trialzuk]

have a look at
www.autowbars.co.uk/trike-transporter