vfr towing a vfr

Edit: This time it worked, see below

:crazy:boy did i get some looks.

Overall, it did not work. However I did learn a lot today.

First id like to say, iv finally seen another vfr, tho he was just passing through.

This is how it went down.

I had to put the bike forward on the trailer so that there was enough weight on the bike to pull the weight of the trailer. This meant putting the front wheel on the tongue of the trailer. This is where I ran into my first problem. The tongue of the trailer is twisted, meaning the front wheel was on an incline and wanted to slip off the tongue, which would mean disaster.

So i lowered the wheel off of the trailer and rested it on the exhaust. This made the bike stable enough to not fall, and forward enough to pull at highway speeds without the trailer swaying.

Here is where I ran into my second and final problem. my neutral switch doesn't work. This meant push starting the bike. bikes. I could not get enough speed to push start the bike. and in doing so the forward backward motion put too much stress on the hitch.

In conclusion:

Could it be done? Yes! If i would have had a bike that would start it would have worked.

Could it be done safely? Ideally, yes, however we do not live in the ideal world and people do run into you. Pot holes were not a problem, if you were to hit something BIGGER than a pot hole, this is where the problem lies and it gives a large enough jolt to do damage to the hitch which could result in a catastrophic failure.

Was the weight a problem? NO. as long as the weight was forward enough to balance weight onto the hitch it was not a problem. I had no trouble getting up to speed and going down the highway turns and all.

Could this be made to work safely? DEFINATLY. however it would require a much different design for the hitch. I would not want to use stronger metal with this design as the hitch creates a breaking point in which the hitch can absorb energy thus minimizing the chance of damaging the bike itself.

Ideally what would be the most weight you would want to pull with a vfr? It really is hard to say. I had no trouble turning corners, stopping or taking off. In retrospect, I would say about 300 lbs. The vfr is MORE than capable of doing more. but safety means what happens when it hits the fan. so I would say about 300 lbs would be cake.

by the way,,,, will a falling vfr crush a $600 Touch Pro 2 pda/phone. I can say, unequivocally, scientifically, beyond the shadow of any doubt with evidence to prove. Yes.

Questions?

 

I take it you have not received my text then... and this would explain why I have not heard a reply from you.

 

This post is useless without pics; I would like to join those giving crazy looks....:crazy:

 

only got 2. ill post them when the wifey wakes up.

 

friggin nut!

 

ill get it up soon

 

It's too bad that I didn't get to see that in person. I had the video camera ready to go and everything!!!

 

hmmm. it woulda been fun.

Its just a little bit too much weight. just a little

but,,,, if i can attach the hitch to the swing arm..... now that would be strong enough.

where can i get a cheap tig welder

 

Contradiction of terms I'm afraid.

 

I'm still bummed that you didn't make, I would have loved to see that in person!

 

Here is the link to the earlier thread with pics !


http://vfrworld.com/forums/general-vfr-discussions/27270-hitch-design-pictures.html

 

Dude you are the king. My hat is off.. friggin nut!!!!!!!!! That is tough to top my friend! Classic!:thumbsup::crazy::biggrin::smile:

 

if you stretch out the neck on the trailer... you wieght ratio will change on the tounge weight

 

I think you may be off there Crusty. If you change the wheel position of the trailer, you will change the weight on the hitch. Length of the neck makes no difference.

 

It makes a difference, think of the neck (or tongue as i call it, i could be wrong) as a lever

the longer the lever the less force will be applied to the hitch, the shorter it is the more force will be applied.

the same difference can be made by either moving the wheels, or even just the positioning of the load.

that is the reason i have the bike so far forward, that keeps it from swaying by puttign the weight on the hitch, and off of the trailer

 

man i wish i could have been there, it was cool following you at night when it didnt go so well... lol

 

I might just try this again next weekend

could always just use grade 8 steel instead of the cheap stuff from home depot

 

let me know what size bolts and ill snag some aircraft grade from work (standard size not metric)

 

Amazing, not something I would necessarily recommend, but hey, I once went to a river boat ramp with a buddy to swap trailers under his jon boat, (he had recently bought a new trailer) and while there a tiny little boat with about 4inches of freeboard and a 4hp motor came up to the ramp with two guys in it, each guy weighed at least 250lbs. They had been catfishing all night in the middle of the Ohio River with no lights except for a Maglite.. Their anchor was a rope tied to a cinder block and their supplies were 4 2-liter bottles of Mountain Dew and a carton of Marlboros. They had about 175lbs lbs of catfish in the boat. One guy goes up the ramp and drives down an old ratty Ford Taurus. They take the motor off in water and put it in the trunk, then proceed to lift the boat up on top of the car, with the fish in it, lash it down through the windows and to the bumpers, wish us a good day, and take off with the rear bumper of the car nearly dragging the ground. I noticed the rust patterns on the car matched up with boat position well enough to see this wasnt their first rodeo doing this. The entire scenario me and my buddy sat there not knowing what to say, just looking at each other every now and then as they went through each step. I didnt even get a cell phone pic, it never crossed my mind.

As impressed as I was with their determination to let nothing stand in the way of their fishing, I believe you have surpassed them.

Hats off to you Gopher, now please be careful before you get hurt.