Harley on a 5er

[chisel101051]

I have been trying to evaluate the best way to transport a Harley on a 36' DRV or NH. It is hard to get a good surefire way by reading the forums,talking with the dealers, and the suppliers of lifts, trailers etc. From what I can gather and looking at many options, it appears the single swivel wheel trailer may be the way to go. Would greatly appreciate it if I can hear from some of you that actually have done it or are doing it. I want to stay away from a triple axle trailer so please keep this in mind. Thanks much.

Dave

[harley_hitchike]

I have been hauling motorcycles for 10 years. my profile pic. is a softtail on a 05 32 ft. Everest ,currently have 2010 jayco designer 35ft. with a 08 electra glide classic been from pa. to maine fl. Colorado Montana and Utah. without issues.
first thing if you don't have a trailer yet look for a model with a high carrying cap ,my jayco factory spec. is 4100lb. actual from scales 3700lbs.
axles of a 5er are aprox. 1/3 length from rear .36ft=12rear overhang so
900lbs. on rear removes 300 from pin and both or 1200 lbs. to axles . A lift and a touring Harley will exceed 1,000 lbs so some frame strengthing should be done just for peace of mind. I added 3" sq. tubing x 1/4" wall to bottom of frame and after 20,000 mi. everything is fine. cat. scale axle weight= 13,470 which is 500 under GVW. and no handling issues
swivel wheel is probably better but could not no one would declare legal in pa. Also one concern was with a swivel wheel at a entrance road if rear of trailer comes close to the ground does the bike hit back of the trailer or in the reverse circumstance how much increase in elevation form axles to rear of the trailer can it tolerate before the bike is pointed at the stars. I asked Idaho tote ,they never responded
I assume these situations can be avoided while traveling. good luck.

[fj12ryder]

Yeah, that's the way to play it.

If it's illegal in a state and they stop you, it isn't life threatening. You pay your fine and do what you need to do. That's the way I always figured it. They aren't going to put you in jail, and all that will happen is that you may be inconvenienced. Big deal. And it never happened to me, but YMMV of course.

Good luck.

[gsgrape]

I talked to a Rep from Blue Ox this morning, the Sport Carrier II isn't considered a trailer, it is not licensed since it has two hooks or attachment points to the 5th wheel/trailer. It is considered an extension of the 5th wheel. I'm happy with that. I also need to check the clearance going over uneven ground such as driveways etc... with the object on the carrier and the back of the camper. I hear you on two people will come up with different answers. I'm going with "the manufacturer said it wasn't a trailer" and play dumb, which won't be hard for me, if I get stopped.

[fj12ryder]

They won't be able to find out either. 🙂 They would have to call all 50 state DMV's. And even then you could still find yourself stopped by a LEO and given a ticket. There are times when the DMV and the local LEO are at odds about such things. The DMV isn't even sure about the swivel wheel type trailers. It would just depend on who you talked to. Fr'instance you might talk to 2 different people on 2 different days and get 2 different answers. That has been my experience.

I towed a SmartTrailer through and in several states that don't allow double towing and was never stopped or even looked at twice, but YMMV. I just figured it was easier to seek forgiveness than permission. 🙂

[gsgrape]

I called Blue Ox and asked them if it was legal in all 50 states and not considered triple tow. They said they would get back to me after doing some checking. Will wait to see what they come up with.

[Sun_and_Fun]

When I ordered my 2014 DRV last year I was debating to add the two receiver horns for the swivel wheel trailer. Below is the reply I got from DRV when I asked what their upgrade entailed:


"What we do is make the middle 6” tube frame ¼” wall on both sides and then weld on the 2 extra receiver points. We do not rate the receiver hitches any higher than our normal 300lb tongue weight max even when we do this."

[fj12ryder]

The Blue Ox will most likely be considered a trailer and you will still have problems in states that don't allow double-tow. It looks similar to a SwivelWheel or SmartTrailer to me. Both of which are trailers.

[gsgrape]

I am looking at the Blue Ox Sport Carrier II, does anyone have any experience with it? We currently use a Aluma motorcycle trailer and it causes some problems because some states don't allow triple tow.

[Ready2BRetired]

What did DRV do to beef up the frame on your unit?
They added square tubing, I believe it was 2 or 3 inch cut and was welded from the front axle to the rear facia. The hitch was then welded to this as well as the other 15inches of rear frame. At the time it was their remedy to allow an M/C lift. I believe the frame is strong enough but that didn't address the over-load on the axles. It was a $750 option and although we don't use it to carry the bike we will be double towing alot so it does provide a little peace of mind.

[fj12ryder]

We are really happy with our Fuzion 383 which we got because we finally found something that looks nice when the bikes are out. But it must have been like the Raptor 3602rl in that people didn't want them because they quit making them after 2 years. Of course part of that reason might have been lack of information about them to their dealers. We talked to several dealers when we were looking for nice toyhaulers and they didn't have a clue that Keystone made something like the 383.

[Winged_One]

One toy hauler I really liked was the Keystone Raptor 3602rl. But when we were looking in 2011, they had stopped making them several years before and we could only find one used one (that I didn't want) anywhere near us.

Cool layout for 2 people and 1 motorcycle. The "garage" had a half size opening with a large lounge sofa that came down and across from it, in a slide out, a large tv, etc. What a great den for when you got where you were going.

Not a perfect execution. Still not "homey" enough for the wife, but a great layout for me.

But obviously not what people wanted as they stopped making them.

Here is a link to one: Linky

[mountainkowboy]

steelpony5555 wrote:

A bike is to ride, not put on a trailer. Mine never saw a trailer except when we passed one with a bike on it and I'm sure the old gal wondered was that bike doing up there with no-one on it.

I ride she drives, swap out every so often to share the fun. Weather gets bad and don't feel like riding or driving find a campground. Wife don't drive or ride, sorry about that.

That's great if you are only going out for the day and back home. Sorry I travel all over the country and am gone for several months at a time. That is why I want to take mine with my 5th wheel. I am done with pup tent camping, Homie don't go there no more. And riding while she drives seems to be a real pain in the butt when traveling. Again if you are only going an hour or two up the road ok but not for 20 + hours cross country. ........Oh and besides I have owned a bike for the past 40 years and have done my share of riding in rain, snow and extreme heat. I'm old enough now and retired that I can wait till it quits raining and then go ride, lol lol.

Yup....yup, been riding for 40 years, and if I want to go to Montana for awhile..........I aint sleepin on the ground......that's why I have a trailer. Don't get me wrong I LOVE to ride, but I also like to sleep and eat in my own stuff. I've got over 500,000 miles in the saddle in every kinda of weather and conditions..........

[steelpony5555]

A bike is to ride, not put on a trailer. Mine never saw a trailer except when we passed one with a bike on it and I'm sure the old gal wondered was that bike doing up there with no-one on it.

I ride she drives, swap out every so often to share the fun. Weather gets bad and don't feel like riding or driving find a campground. Wife don't drive or ride, sorry about that.

That's great if you are only going out for the day and back home. Sorry I travel all over the country and am gone for several months at a time. That is why I want to take mine with my 5th wheel. I am done with pup tent camping, Homie don't go there no more. And riding while she drives seems to be a real pain in the butt when traveling. Again if you are only going an hour or two up the road ok but not for 20 + hours cross country. ........Oh and besides I have owned a bike for the past 40 years and have done my share of riding in rain, snow and extreme heat. I'm old enough now and retired that I can wait till it quits raining and then go ride, lol lol.

Back to the problem at hand, Open Range use to make a very nice residential style bike hauler. But they have not made one since 2011 which makes me wonder why they stopped. I was gonna look for a used one on those but now hmmmmm. (Sorry I won't buy a brand new trailer, just too big of a hit when you drive it off the lot)..... Sorry but my butt requires a recliner at the end of the day lol lol.....

[R12RTee]

Ready2BRetired wrote:
We have a 2010 36tk3 DRV that we purchased new. When we had it built we had the factory beef up the frame for the added weight as we anticipated carrying our Road King on the back.The factory at the time authorized this.

What did DRV do to beef up the frame on your unit?