Comments on: Towing a GoldWing on a Trailer

By: Stuart

Stuart — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:19:23 +0000

Welcome to the GoldWing community. I hope you enjoy your impressive-sounding outfit.

By: dave

dave — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:07:20 +0000

Hi Stuart..Very new to GoldWings in fact 3 months ago, when I bought a 2007 1800 trike. Being of the later year stage in life I do not tent anymore but use a Swift E560 motorhome and tow the G/W in a pod trailer – similar to the Excalibar model but manufactured in the UK. Bit expensive at around 6k but what the hell we can’t take it with us….Love your Blog pages

By: Stuart

Stuart — Wed, 18 May 2011 08:01:17 +0000

To complete your happiness buy a GoldWing, there’s no adequate substitute! I’m 66 this year and hope to enjoy mine for many years to come.

By: glynn

glynn — Tue, 17 May 2011 23:09:07 +0000

Thanks for all the advice – I’ve read it three time so far. I have a motorhome and a Yamaha 1700, over 300 kg. As you said a box trailer will keep it cleaner, I’m all for that. I’ll be 60 soon, and still love it.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:32:03 +0000

I don’t use the centre stand and there isn’t room to drop the Wing on the side stand either.

The Bike Grab hold the bike fairly well but I’m too fat and awkward to feel confident about getting off it inside the trailer until I have some sort of tie down attached as well. So after riding it in, I stay on the seat and use a Canyon Dancer Bar Harness (available from http://www.directlineparts.com/byBrand.asp?brd=Canyon+Dancer&str=4) and attach two tie downs to the handlebars. I can then get off knowing the bike isn’t going to move at all.

I have four tie down rings installed into the floor of the trailer. Two at the front for pulling down the front suspension to hold the bike firmly into the Grab – and these need very careful positioning to get the angle of the tie down right when it’s in position, so it doesn’t rub the mudguard paintwork. Two more are in line with the handlebar ends and they are used both for the pair of tie downs attached to the handlebars and also for another pair which attach to the passenger grab handles – and because these two are angled forwards and down, they hold the bike hard into the Bike Grab.

Using 6 tie downs is a bit OTT but I have had a tie down come loose in transit, so a bit of redundancy does no harm. The front two and the back two are bar taught but I just take the slack out of the handlebar tiedowns – they are the fall back restraint.

By: John Bery

John Bery — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:37:15 +0000

Stuart

I have already commented on your most interesting blog a couple of months ago. I’m abour to get a Ifor Williams BV84 box trailer from my HD.

Can you answer a quick question. My bike only has a side stand. Can I just put it on the side stand in the trailer and then tetther the bike down with straps? Or should I ignore the side stand and use a front whel clamp. Do you put your bike on the centre stand when it is in the trailer?

Many thanks.

John Berry

By: Stuart

Stuart — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:00:17 +0000

I saw one of these trailers at the Wincanton Treffen, and it looked very good indeed as a GoldWing transporter – although quite an expensive one as I recall, a lot more than twice as costly as a standard box van trailer, which I chose myself because they do the job perfectly adequately and tow well behind my motorhome. Of course these purpose-built Excalibur trailers are lighter so if you want to tow a Wing behind a small vehicle, they might provide the only viable alternative to an open trailer.

By: Lesley

Lesley — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:13:08 +0000

Funny this should appear on your blog Stuart, on a boring Wednesday night you tend to play on the computer, you know the thing, where you google all things goldwing!! It certainly seems like we are a little behind Europe on some things, check out the trailers here for both the goldwing and even the goldwing trike!! Style its self and a ready made garage too

http://www.excalibureurope.com/motorcycle-trailer.html

By: Stuart

Stuart — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:01:29 +0000

Welcome to the Blog John and thanks for the compliment. I have never riden a Harley, so maybe I will one day. We Wingers make jokes about Harley oil trails and breakdowns etc, but they have real presence on the road and look the part. We were lucky enough to have four members of a joint Harley/GoldWing Drill Team at the Blackpool Light Parade last September and, leg pulling aside, there was real common ground and camaraderie. Lots of their Team own both types of bikes – or did before the recession bit – and interestingly enough the only guy who owned only a Harley, and so was riding a GL1800 while in UK for the first time, bought himself a GL1800 as soon as he got back home. Mind you, when one of our guys visited him a couple of months later he was invited to borrow the Wing but not even allowed to sit on the Harley, so his deepest affections are still for his Harley.

Your choice of a Treales trailer sounds very sensible for towing behind a car, which wouldn’t have the towing capacity for an Ifor Williams Box Trailer, but you might have to spend quite a few hours cleaning the bike if you encounter wet weather driving to Spain. Don’t risk using a bike cover or tarpaulin when towing a bike – the flapping fabric acts like sandpaper and can seriously damage your paintwork.

Thanks again for your interesting comment.

By: John Berry

John Berry — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:16:52 +0000

I came across your blog while searching for a trailer for my Harley Davidson. I am aged 58 and got back into biking a couple of years ago after a 35 year gap. With my wife we went on a guided tour of New Zealand in January this year – 3400 km and a trip to remember. We have a home in Spain as well as London. We spend quite a bit of winter in Spain and I would like to have my bike with me – but a 3000 mile round trip on the bike in the winter is not what we want. Also we have a flatcoat retriever who comes with us to Spain so our car – Focus Estate – plus a trailer for my bike seems to be the answer. I think I’ll go for the Teales trailer as set out in your blog. Thanks for such an informative blog. I hope one day to try out a Goldwing – but have been very pleased with my Heritage Softail to date. John Berry