Honda CX500 & GL500 Forum

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01-11-2008, 5:29 AM mildhog Joined on 11-21-2007 Chesapeake, VA Posts 513 Towing a Motorcycle I've seen various advertisements for motorcycle "tow caddys" that fit in the hitch receiver of your vehicle.  The front wheel is secured to the caddy and you can tow it like a trailer.  I've seen pros and cons (more pros) on this thing.  Anybody have any opinions?  I don't think I would use it unless I had a fork brace on the front.  Seems to me turns could put stress on the forks.  On the other hand, looks to be an easy way to transport without messing with a trailer.  What say you? Arnie in VA 1982 GL500I Silverwing 1983 GL650    Report

01-11-2008, 5:54 AM DickInRaleigh Joined on 02-26-2006 5405 Thornhill Ct Posts 469 Re: Towing a Motorcycle Mildhog, These work good by only if you remove the drive chain. Otherwise the transmission will be spinning without oil pressure to lubricate the gears. Have a personal fried that coasted down a long hill in neutral (XL350) and a gear siezed on the transmission main shaft. The CX and GL are to heavy anyway. Dick in Raleigh <>< Dick In Raleigh <><    Report

01-11-2008, 7:33 AM larryb22 Joined on 12-13-2007 Buchanan Michigan Posts 134 Re: Towing a Motorcycle I wouldn't advise towing a motorcycle this way, unless it was chain driven and the chain removed. No way would I tow a shaft drive cycle this way. Larry 1971 Moto Guzzi Ambassador. SW Michigan.    Report

01-11-2008, 11:41 AM dozer1 Joined on 05-26-2007 Frederick, Maryland Posts 531 Re: Towing a Motorcycle Why not just ride it to where your going? 1979 CX500 Deluxe 1980 CX500 Ratbike "Stella" Dozer1 AKA Snowplow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TK5VY90ILs&feature=related    Report

01-11-2008, 12:12 PM mildhog Joined on 11-21-2007 Chesapeake, VA Posts 513 Re: Towing a Motorcycle I'm not good enough to ride 2-up yet so the little woman rides in the car if we go on a trip.  Always good to have options.  Thinking more if it broke down, I could get it with the van and tow it home.  The shaft would have to be disconnected.   Anyway, just wondering about it.  Seems like a bad idea. Arnie in VA 1982 GL500I Silverwing 1983 GL650    Report

01-11-2008, 1:42 PM lifeon2whls Joined on 09-11-2006 Burbank, CA Posts 59 Re: Towing a Motorcycle I agree with everyone above. The backwheel would be spinning all the components within your tranny, etc and not be good for it. Also, unless I am incorrect you can't just disconnect your drive shaft. It has a small bolt which hold it to the drive shaft coming out of the rear engine case. Simply undoing this bolt would do you no good. You'd have to figure out how to take the whole drive shaft out of the bike...way more trouble that its worth. I have seen bike carriers however for street bikes that hook into the trailer hitch. I know they are pretty popular for dirt bike but they make ones that support the heavier load of a street bike. I dont know what the max capacity is but thats worth looking into. I've also seen used single bike trailers for on a couple hunderd bucks on Craigslist. I know you want to avaoid a trailer but this might be the best, and cheapest alternative for you.    Report

01-11-2008, 2:54 PM mildhog Joined on 11-21-2007 Chesapeake, VA Posts 513 Re: Towing a Motorcycle Recon I'll have to check the trailers out. Thanks to all for the input. Arnie in VA 1982 GL500I Silverwing 1983 GL650    Report

01-11-2008, 7:55 PM DaWei Joined on 11-25-2006 Atlantic County, NJ Posts 411 Re: Towing a Motorcycle OK, so you can't tow a shaft bike with the front wheel lifted and the rear wheel spinning.  How 'bout the other way around - lift the rear and drag the front?  The "frontward" tow lashes the fork firmly in place and lets the "trailer" articulate at the head tube.  The "backward" tow would need to have an articulation in the tow gear, and the bike's steering would need to be locked pretty tightly on centerline.*  I can't think of any reason why the front wheel bearing would be harmed by spinning backward. The advantage of towing on the bike's wheel is that the rig rides in the tow vehicle's trunk until it's needed, and does not require registration fees or insurance. ---------- * I think (:-) if you lifted the rear wheel high enough and left the steering unrestrained, the steering geometry would allow the caster to function properly with the bike rolling backward - theoretically removing the need for the articulated tow rig.  But turning corners would probably put horrendous stress on the rear axle, and backing up would be impossible without a second person "driving" the bike. Dave in NJ '80 CX500 C - out of action, pending Triple Bypass    Report

01-12-2008, 12:35 AM MIOB Joined on 11-06-2007 Europe Posts 66 Re: Towing a Motorcycle I've never seen anything like discribed in this topic in Europe, can't find any pictures either. Could someone please post a picture?    Report

01-12-2008, 5:02 AM larryb22 Joined on 12-13-2007 Buchanan Michigan Posts 134 Re: Towing a Motorcycle IMHO Towing backwards may affect the speedometer. It might make your bike a low mileage one. It could also damage the speedometer components attached to the front wheel. As per the unrestrained front wheel, I can visualize the front wheel wobbling and going into a real tank slapper. A small one up bike trailer would be best.   Larry   1971 Moto Guzzi Ambassador. SW Michigan.    Report

01-12-2008, 5:31 AM DaveNearAtlanta Joined on 03-03-2006 Lawrenceville, GA Posts 500 Re: Towing a Motorcycle I usually rent a trailer from U-Haul whenever the need arises to transport a bike as opposed to riding it (bringing home a parts bike or a recently purchased bike needing maintenance, retrieving a friend's late model Vulcan that died on the road, etc.) There's a store about five miles from home that always has some available for rent.  Their motorcycle trailers work well and only cost about $15 per day, and are great for local use but they are not intended for extended trips.  For longer trips, they have a ramp trailer with larger tires that works well and is only slightly more expensive. There are many advantages to renting a trailer - no need to worry about taxes, registration, storage, tires/maintenance, etc.  Plus it's much less expensive given my infrequent need for one. Here is the standard motorcycle trailer.  According to the rental agent at my local store, there have been instances of tire blowouts and accidents as a result of extended interstate highway speeds with this trailer.  The small tires are simply not rated for that level of stress. The bike had just been purchased and its maintenance history was suspect, so it was trailered home. This is the ramp trailer.  It is a better choice for most bike transporting, especially for distances greater than 30 miles or so. The bike had a quart of rainwater in the crankcase and extensive rust damage so it was parted out.  It was the source for many fairing-removal-conversion parts used on this bike. My Home Page 1981 GL500I 1982 GL500I 1983 GL650I This User ID is no longer used. DaveF is my new User ID.    Report

01-14-2008, 3:34 PM DaWei Joined on 11-25-2006 Atlantic County, NJ Posts 411 Re: Towing a Motorcycle  larryb22 wrote: Towing backwards may affect the speedometer.... Yes, it certainly would.  I totally forgot about the speedo.  Would it be sufficient to disconnect the cable from the guage?  That would be considerably easier than disconnecting the drive shaft.  DaveNearAtlanta wrote: ....there have been instances of tire blowouts and accidents as a result of extended interstate highway speeds with this trailer.... Roger that.  I was the victim of such a blowout - and as a result, moved the '80 Custom from Cape Cod to NJ via Boston.  Learned the hard way why there is never a spare tire on a U-Haul vehicle: you have to be certified by U-Haul to change a tire on any of their rentals.  It's an insurance thing. Dave in NJ '80 CX500 C - out of action, pending Triple Bypass    Report

01-14-2008, 6:37 PM George in Indiana Joined on 03-03-2006 Posts 373 Re: Towing a Motorcycle I rented one of those u-haul trailers when I picked up my 650T and I liked it so much I didn't want to return it. I'm near Chicago and drove to West Virginia. The one thing I remember is that the tires on the trailer were small but VERY WIDE. Like something off a racing go-kart. Both fenders on the trailer had a large warning of 45 MPH MAX SPEED. I thought it was going to be a long trip but even at 70 mph empty it didn't bounce or drift at all. My personal 4X8 utility trailer would have been all over the road and in the air half the time. The trip home with the bike on it was interesting. There were two days of tornados tearing through Kentucky. I managed to avoid the storms on the way there but my luck ran out on the way home. Every radio station had alert tones with warnings of where the damn things were and the advice for the highway I was on was to abandon your vehicle and find a ditch to lay down in. Hitting the seek button on the radio kept bringing up the same warnings...downright creepy. Out of nowhere I see it off to the west. Instead of taking the advice on the radio and waiting for death to arrive, the pedal on my little Toyota Pickup went to the floor and luckily the highway veered to the east leaving everything behind. Barely got rained on. The trailer hit triple digits for at least 2 miles! Glad I used 6 heavy duty ratcheting tie downs. Rest of the trip went smooth. I picked up the trailer on Saturday and returned it Monday morning. Total cost was $29.00 which I thought was a great deal. CX500 TURBO CX650 TURBO '86 Honda Elite 150 Deluxe '04 GSX1300R Hayabusa    Report

01-14-2008, 10:58 PM dreamthief Joined on 01-15-2008 Northeast, KS Posts 54 Re: Towing a Motorcycle <BLOCKQUOTE><table width="85%"><tr><td class="txt4"><img src="/cs/Themes/default/images/icon-quote.gif">&nbsp;<strong>mildhog wrote:</strong></td></tr><tr><td class="quoteTable"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="100%" valign="top" class="txt4">I've seen various advertisements for motorcycle "tow caddys" that fit in the hitch receiver of your vehicle.  The front wheel is secured to the caddy and you can tow it like a trailer.  I've seen pros and cons (more pros) on this thing.  Anybody have any opinions?  I don't think I would use it unless I had a fork brace on the front.  Seems to me turns could put stress on the forks.  On the other hand, looks to be an easy way to transport without messing with a trailer.  What say you?</td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE> I haven't ever used anything other than a full trailer.    Report

02-01-2008, 10:48 AM S-Dog Joined on 11-23-2007 Harrisville, RI Posts 43 Re: Towing a Motorcycle  mildhog wrote: I'm not good enough to ride 2-up yet so the little woman rides in the car if we go on a trip.  Always good to have options.  Thinking more if it broke down, I could get it with the van and tow it home.  The shaft would have to be disconnected.   Anyway, just wondering about it.  Seems like a bad idea. I am VERY happy that you know your limitations and do not try to do more than you are comfortable with.  I have ridden with people that can barely keep a bike up on their own yet ride 2 up(very scary)... GOOD FOR YOU!!! http://www.NEHondaGuys.info/forums A local site for guys who love Honda motorcycles.    Report

02-01-2008, 12:18 PM mildhog Joined on 11-21-2007 Chesapeake, VA Posts 513 Re: Towing a Motorcycle "A man's got to know his limitations." Dirty Harry It will be quite a while before momma rides with me. Arnie in VA 1982 GL500I Silverwing 1983 GL650    Report

02-01-2008, 1:05 PM hugemoth Joined on 01-21-2008 Bend, Oregon Posts 111 Re: Towing a Motorcycle I towed a Vespa 200 from California to North Carolina and back with a home made "tow caddy". Worked great. The Vespa front end weighs almost nothing and the shaft/direct drive transmission was unaffected. Now I use one of those bolt together $200 Chinese made trailers to tow my CX and other bikes. Weight capacity on the little trailer is 990 lbs. Q    Report

02-01-2008, 2:47 PM Cobram Joined on 06-23-2007 Boston, MA Posts 643 Re: Towing a Motorcycle  DaveNearAtlanta wrote: I usually rent a trailer from U-Haul whenever the need arises to transport a bike as opposed to riding it (bringing home a parts bike or a recently purchased bike needing maintenance, retrieving a friend's late model Vulcan that died on the road, etc.) There's a store about five miles from home that always has some available for rent.  Their motorcycle trailers work well and only cost about $15 per day, and are great for local use but they are not intended for extended trips.  For longer trips, they have a ramp trailer with larger tires that works well and is only slightly more expensive. The local Uhaul has nothing like this, I will request one and see if they can get it next time I need to haul a bike.  When I bought my parts bike, I had to borrow a friends' pickemup truck, the gas money I could have saved by towing it with my tow equipped station wagon would have been enough to rent this thing 3 times over AND I wouldn't have to bother anyone else.  1978 CX500 - I live on a one-way street that's also a dead end. I'm not sure how I got here, or how I'm going to get out.    Report

02-02-2008, 3:30 PM WayneDW Joined on 07-28-2006 Minneapolis Posts 637 Re: Towing a Motorcycle Saw this today at the Motorcycle Show here in Mpls. Seemed like an interesting concept: "Trailer in a Bag" http://trailerinabag.com/index.html Wayne 1983 GL650 Silverwing Interstate WWW.fossilapostles.com    Report

Honda CX500 & G... » CX500 GL500 Tra... » General Discuss... » Re: Towing a Motorcycle

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