OK, so I know some people roll their eyes at those of us who what to tow anything, but those of us that do have our reasons. I'm going to be getting a trailer and a hitch soon for towing my sport bike. The bike is ~400lbs plus a couple hundred pound trailer so I am way under the 1000lb tow weight. Minidomore.com has a pic of a trailer with a motorcycle rail on it, and I've seen posts were people say they have done it. I've seen lots of pics of people who tow tear drops, utility trailers, and tire trailers for AutoX. But I can't find a good discussion of towing a motorcycle.

So I'd like to see some details of how people have done it. Preferably with pics. What trailer did you buy? Did you mount a chock, a rail, tie downs? How does it ride behind the car? Any suggestions for loading, unloading? Costs? Hidden surprises that I'd never think of?

Any and all answers welcome... Thanks in advance.

 

I have not done this with a Mini, however, I have done this with many cars and trucks over 35 years of motorcycling. I can not think of any reason that you will encounter trouble doing this with a Mini. Hell, some guys tow motorcycle trailers with their Gold Wings.

I've had channel or rail trailers and flat bed trailers. In all cases there was a wheel chock. Wheel chock designs ranged from four by fours to bona fide chrome plated commercial products. It doesn't matter too much as long as it is fixed firmly to the trailer.

Of course, you will use tie downs. Buy good ones and you'll always have them and they'll always keep the bike tied down. I like to hook them to the lower triple clamp. When fairings or other things prevent directly hooking to it, then use soft tie loops. Place the soft tie around the triple clamp and run the hook through the two ends.

Loadind and unloading is made easier using a low trailer bed height and long ramp. My favorite ramp is a thick wide plank with an aluminum plate at the trailer bed end. The plate is bent about 40 degrees to allow flush mating with the bed. This becomes especially useful when rolling the bike back off the trailer. If you simply have a piece of wood resting on top of the bed, the rear wheel often pushes the board away. Results of this can be mild or excessive.

You should compress the forks with the tie downs on the triple clamp. But, you want to have the forks compressed for as little time as possible. Otherwise, you can sack the springs. If your forks can be pressurized (with air), let it out to avoid damaging the seals. If you are traveling far, you may have the forks compressed for a day or two. Don't sweat it.

If you tie the front end down firmly enough, then you don't have to worry about the rear.

Don't tie the bike down with it on resting on the side stand or center stand. The stands may break, the bike may slide, and it is not as good as anchoring the bike down using the lower triple clamp.

Some people like to tie down from the handle bars. I try to avoid this because bars flex and they sometimes bend.

If there is a fuel petcock on the bike, turn it off. The bounding on the trailer can cause surprising fuel loss. If your bike is fuel injected, then ignore this comment.

Do not tow the motorcycle with a cover on the bike. This leads to a lot of drag and shredded covers. If you are going through a heavily buggy area, then wax bike well or place Saran wrap or other plastic food cling to it.

 

One more note: I saw many people towing small trailers with Minis and many other very small automobilies before moving from Germany to the US in 2005.

 

I remember seeing a motorcycle being towed on a dolley some time ago. Was the same kind of a set up as you would see a car on, but made for a single front tire. Looked to be a really nice set up.

 

Very comprehensive information. Thanks from all us MINI Bikers!

POWER to the MINI's!

 

When I was in college, I had an MG Midget and a motorcycle. The bike was too small to ride 250 miles on the highway to school. Although I had a trailer hitch on the Midget, a trailer big enough to handle the bike, behind the Midget at highway speeds was not a good idea. I saw a device in a motorcycle magazine called "tote a bike". It was a bracket that went on the hitch, you put the bikes front wheel in the bracket, and let the bikes rear wheel ride on the street. It was too big and heavy, and the center of gravity was too far back for the Midget.

I made a less bulky, and lighter device that took a little longer to use.

I welded an axle to the trailer hitch where the ball would normally go. I would remove the front wheel from the bike, and put the bikes front fork on the dummy axle and used a couple of straps from the handle bars to the car bumper for some added stability. I would REMOVE THE DRIVE CHAIN from the rear wheel so the bikes transmission was not spining. I then put a tail / brake light on the bike, and away I went. Since it was a 4.5 hour drive from home to college, I did not mind the 20 minutes it took at each end of the trip to hook up / unhook the bike, and it meant I did not need to store a trailer at school.

These days I use the Menards / Harbor Freight 42 inch by 48 inch trailer with the motorcycle rail accessory when I need to tow a bike.
http://user.mc.net/~jdewey/MINI/Trai...ni_cushman.jpg

John

 

Not sure if you've seen this yet or not, but one of the NAM vendors seems to have a viable solution:

http://www.miniaturetrailer.com/cycle.php

If you have the NAM calendar, they are the vendor of the month with a 15% discount...

Note that I don't have a vested interest in this company; I've just been looking at their hidden receiver hitch to hook up a cargo carrier...

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks for all the great info guys! The miniaturetrailer.com thing is exactly why I posted this now as I am about to order the hitch.

Jdewey, thanks for the pic. I saw that on a previous post but didn't realize it was the same trailer I am looking at buying. What do you think of the build quality and stability at highway speed (65 mph)? I notice you made a extension to the front of the trailer, I'm wondering if I put my bike up there in the same kind of position would it exceed the 100lb tongue weight that MINI specifies. Not to mention the center of gravity is going to be much higher.

So, we found one pic of a Cushman. Is there anybody else out there that has a sport bike all mounted up and ready to go? If not I guess I might have to be the first.

 

I use that trailer for hauling my race bikes around, not with my mini. The trailer works great at all types of highway speeds. Make sure that when you get the rail for the bike that it is wide enough and long enough for the tires on your bike, found that out the hard way. Otherwise the trailer works great. I got mine at Menards for 150 bucks and in three hours had it put together. I would add a board to the top to make it more stable though.

 

The trailer is stamped steel, with bolted connections. If you put a heavy bias load on it you can twist it. Harbor Frieght sells it with 12 or 8 inch wheels. Menards only equips it with the 8's. At 60 MPH the 8 inch wheels are going over 1,200 rpm, so I switched to 12's to bring the wheel speed down when I ended up doing a lot of interstate driving. In order to switch, I had to customize the fenders.

The (blue) extension you see in the photo is actually the "nose gate" of the trailer. I have sides and a top for the trailer.
http://user.mc.net/~jdewey/MINI/Trai...h_in_use_2.jpg

I extended the tongue on the trailer one foot so that I can use it to carry 4' x 8' materials with out hitting the car when turning a corner, hence the trailer is extended at the front.

The Cushman is actually fairly long (about 10 feet), and I had to extend the motorcycle rail to fit it. Even with it that far forward I did not have a tongue load problem, as most of the Cushmans weight is toward the rear since the engine is under the seat. I think with the normal position and normal length rail hangs over the tail, like the Miniature Trailer photo.

The rail is pre punched to match the trailer in only one position. If you don't like the balance, you could re drill the bike rail to attach at different points.

I have owned the trailer since 1999. Stability has never been a problem. I have hauled it many miles empty, and fully loaded. If any trailer is loaded so that it has negative weight on the hitch, then it will wander all over the place.

Some where here on Nam is a photo of a Mini with two small bikes on a small trailer.

John

 

We have pulled a sport bike (FZ1 approx. 500lbs dry weight) with our '06 MCS last year to the dragon, we installed miniature trailers hitch but did not buy their trailer, we just used a regular trailer, the car did exceptionally well, never knew it was behind there until you would hit some bumps , but even then it did great, we were impressed with the hauling ability. My husband did mount a front tire rail to help stabilize the bike and then we just used a chaulk behind the back tire, and of course plenty of tie downs and a cover for the bike so that it didn't get any rocks thrown up on it.

 

bzn by,
what kind of trailer did you use?
We also are looking to haul a motorcycle. We are going to the AMA Sportbike race at Barber in April and need something soon. We may end up hauling 2 bikes.
Does anyone know of an enclosed trailer to haul motorcycles that would work with the MINI?

 

Enclosed Trailer
I would be hesitant to pull an enclosed trailer big enough for 2 motorcycles behind a MINI.

I find that towing my little "cube" which sits down behind the car and out of the air stream, cuts my Mileage about 5 mpg whether the trailer is loaded or empty.

I also have a small teardrop camper that weighs only 700 pounds. It is a bit more aerodynamic than the cube, but larger. When behind my MCS, it cuts the mileage by 5 mpg at 60 mph. When I bought the trailer and towed it to Chicago from Akron Ohio on the interstate at 70 to 75 mph, it cut my economy by 12 mpg.

An enclosed trailer big enough for 2 bikes would be quite a wind load.

John

 

I am a long time motorcycle rider / tower.

A coupe of additional tips (some REALLY good ones here already)

A small strap or 2 rear tiedowns from the frame to trailer or even just around the tire / wheel is great for additional security.

There is much debate as to this product saving seals.
My opinion is YES does help the seals and springs.
Mostly it will stop the forks compressing over a bump ... that can make the hooks on the trailer or bike come off ... that is not good !
$20

Almost all aftermarket bike shops have these

 

I would always worry about the rear. It should always be tied down. In case of a panic stop, the back end can flip up and over the front end, if not tied down. I know a guy that had his bike in the back of a truck. Someone pulled out in front of him, he hit the brakes, and his bike ended up flipping over onto the cab of the truck. There are other situations that can go wrong with a trailer, and it would probably be better for the bike if it was anchored at the back as well. Use a single tie down wrapped around the rim and rail at a minimum.

 

We just used a light weight utility trailer and we did use tie downs on the front and also the back, it was a brand new bike when we hauled it, so we took extra measures to tie it down .

 

Thanks again, great info guys.

After doing even more in depth googling, I have arrived at this. What I believe I am going to do is buy this trailer.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=90153

Add my own plywood. Attach this rail (thanks for the tip PiercedMini, I was thinking of getting a "normal" sized one).

http://www.sportutilitytrailers.com/accessories/TS76M_motorcycle_rail.htm

So basically, I will end up with this

http://www.sportutilitytrailers.com/...S76M.htm#accys

Just for a bit cheaper than what they are selling it for.

They show one that can carry two bikes on that site. But honestly that seems like pushing it for the capacity of the trailer and the MINI if they are both at least 600cc sport bikes. Two dirt bikes or maybe 250cc racers would be pretty doable though I believe.

I'm usually over cautoius when straping things down. I'm planning on using at least 4 rachet straps on the corners, and another holding the front wheel into the rail. I'm considering some Canyon dancers, since I have clip-ons I have heard good things about them. I've also thought about getting one of these:

http://www.kyaracing.com.au/

But they seem pretty pricey for what they are. If I start towing a lot more it might be worth the investment.

 

Both bikes will be around 800-850lbs together, not each. My husband has a Ducati so if he's not comfortable with this it won't happen. Then we'll be caravanning. I don't like leaving my MINI home. She gets lonely and I go through withdrawls.
I like pics that looks like an idea that I'll pass on to my hubby.

Has anyone ever used or know of someone using Moss MINIs trailer hitch? It says in the description "under car trimming required", can anyone explain this? As trailer hitches go for the MINI this one is the cheapest and holds the most weight, tows 2000 lbs. MINIdomore tows only 1000 lbs while MINI Fini tows 1400 lbs. Or is buying just any trailer hitch okay? I didn't really feel comfortable doing that due to the exhaust on the Cooper S being down the middle which is where most hitches go, plus I have a cabrio which changes things underneath even more.

 

2,000 lbs is way, way over weight and capability of a MINI to safely pull, 1,400 not to bright either for that matter. You are begging for trouble if you go over 1,000 cargo and trailer combined. Even at a 1,000 lbs you are on the limit of saftey, it takes longer to take off, longer to stop and the trailer will bounce the car around on rough road, if the load is balanced right, the trailer will sway and pull the car. If you need to haul 1 ton, get a truck or suv, not a MINI.

 

Redcoat:
I have a trailer similar to the Harbor Freight. It will twist when you go around corners (due to the bolt together corner joints).
So adding plywood should help.
I also added a longer piece of angle iron (with eyebolts - for the lower front tie down spots) across the front cross member to spread the angle of the tie downs out. I used 4 tie downs
I towed my old BMW to Colorado with a Saab turbo. Worked fine once I got used to seeing the bike lean as I went around corners.
I agree on not using a cover. I used one and it was like towing an open parachute.
Good luck.

 

Free Spirit, It looks like Moss MINIs hitch only works on Coopers you might so you MCSC might not be able to use it anyway. At least that is the way I read their web page.

Our 50, good to hear about the flexing issue from someone who has actually towed a bike with one of these trailers. I had heard that before, hopefully the plywood or diamond plate I use will help the situation. I've thought about having to add angle to sure it up, but I never thought about having to extend the width to get a better angle for the tie downs. I'll keep that in mind when I get my bike up there.

 

I didn't say I would tow 2000 lbs, that's just the capability of the trailer hitch. Even if 1400 lbs is too much for a MINI why are they manufacturing trailer hitches capable of that for MINIs.
Anytime you trailer anything, the heaver the more this is so, the slower you take off, the longer it takes to stop... (common sense)
A MINI shouldn't have a prob towing even 1000 lbs. If so, it wouldn't be safe to manufacture trailer hitches for the MINI and that would bring too much liability on the companies.

 

You are right. I emailed them and they told me they didn't fit the Cooper S. Bummer.

We looked on Ebay and found a motorcycle trailer that would be perfect, except it costs $1130. Here's the link for lookseys.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-B...78854933QQrdZ1

 

You are right. I had emailed them and they had told me they didn't fit the Cooper S. Bummer.

We looked on Ebay and found a motorcycle trailer that would be perfect, except it costs $1130. Here's the link for lookseys.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-B...78854933QQrdZ1


didn't mean to post this twice. wondered why the 30 sec. between post came up. Can this be deleted?

 

I've thought about getting a dedicated trailer like that, they look pretty handy. But, I think I will make my own for 1/3 the cost, and have the added utility of being able to use it as a flat bed trailer for hauling other big stuff, or adding sides to it and being able to pick up gravel or mulch or something, might come in handy every once in a while.