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Michigan bound

Clayton Sietsema

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
May 20, 2015
Messages
198
Location
Earlsboro Oklahoma
Heading to Michigan later next week and plan on doing some riding with a few cousins. We are taking my mother so we couldn't ride the bike up so I modified a old utility trailer I bought at a garage sale for $200 to haul the Cali on. What do y'all think? Trailer 1
 
Heading to Michigan later next week and plan on doing some riding with a few cousins. We are taking my mother so we couldn't ride the bike up so I modified a old utility trailer I bought at a garage sale for $200 to haul the Cali on. What do y'all think?View attachment 10470

It is sad to see it on a trailer, but you have a good reason. The only concern I have ever had with that type of trailer is the strength of the mesh material they use for flooring. Also, I see the wheel chock, but I have never been so bold as to not use tie downs on the front of the bike. Maybe they are not needed, but I'd hate to find out later that they were...
 
I used this same chock to haul the bike in the back of my pickup all the way from Utah. They work amazing. This isn't the light 9 ga expanded metal you see on store bought trailers, it's 3/16". Trailer 7
 
I can't feel it to see how stiff it is but like Dave the expended metal under the rear wheel worries me. I would slide a piece of steel or plywood under the rear wheel to spread the load out a bit unless there is no flex at all. While I understand those front wheel chocks are made to work by itself only 2 tiedowns down low would concern me but if it has worked in the past who am I to judge?
 
I've seen ratchet type tie downs fail. Personally I prefer Ancra tie downs. Also a little redundancy is a good thing. Use two tie downs at the front even though you have a latching wheel chock. Road movement might play havoc with the bike and chock. Also two a the rear to prevent the back from dancing around.
 
I'm going to bounce it around some roads here locally and keep a close eye on the expanded metal and modify if necessary before we leave. That is not your usual chock, it's a Baxley and if you haven't ever seen how one works in person they are pretty cool, they pinch the front tire from the side as well as cup it forward. The run about $250, but worth it.
 
I always double up on my tie downs just in case.

Bike and trailer have to be close to 1000 lbs. Can that VW handle that? I guess you won't have many hills between OK and MI.
 
I will double the tie downs before the trip, they are 3500 lb tie downs but better safe than sorry. As far as the car I would rather be using this one. Beetle2 Around 200 hp and 350 lbs torque on it but needed a four door for hauling my mom around so the Golf will have to do. They are both diesels. Trailer weighs 490lbs, bike 750ish and I have exactly 129.4 lbs tongue weight which I can change by moving the chock if need be.
 
I'm going to bounce it around some roads here locally and keep a close eye on the expanded metal and modify if necessary before we leave. That is not your usual chock, it's a Baxley and if you haven't ever seen how one works in person they are pretty cool, they pinch the front tire from the side as well as cup it forward. The run about $250, but worth it.


I'm familiar with the Baxley. The front of the bike is still free to bounce on the suspension. Better to have it snugged down. I only trust latching wheel chocks to hold the bike until it is tied down properly.
 
I used this same chock to haul the bike in the back of my pickup all the way from Utah. They work amazing. This isn't the light 9 ga expanded metal you see on store bought trailers, it's 3/16".

Since you have experience with this setup, I expect you'll be fine. You can not imagine how much of a distraction a motorcycle spinning around on it's side as it slides down the highway can be though. Don't ask me how I know this. I always go the over-kill route with tie-downs and wheel chocks.
 
Update, The trailer worked fantastically and the car was able to pull it without even having to downshift going through Missouri and still squeaked out 30mpg with 3 adults in it. Had a great time riding M22 along lake Michigan. IMG 0862
 
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