Trailer Hitch..... or TRAILER HITCH.....

[Bigmo]

So. I ordered a trailer hitch. I do not have a trailer yet, may be later. So what to do with a trailer hitch that has a ball on it, not a receiver as with any other descent trailer hitch used on other bikes (had a receiver on my old Goldwing).
So I decided to make a receiver for my Spyder trailer hitch. Had an old receiver that I fabricated for my Goldwing (made 2 or 3 of those for friends). Did some cutting and installed on the Spyder hitch. Welded to where the ball goes. Permanent. Looks good. See picture. Then, I fabricated a hitch that fits inside the receiver with a 1 7/8 ball. Just insert in the receiver and put the pin in place. Now you have a REAL trailer hitch. You can use any size ball to fit your trailer. On the side, I used some leftover aluminum bars and fabricated a rack, using all rivets, no screws (only for the center square tubing that fits the receiver). The rack is 11” x 21”.
So, now I can go on a day trip and carry a cooler with cold refreshments. For overnight trip, I have a plastic tool box (new of course) with a vinyl cover to protect from rain, large enough to put one day’s clothe and toiletry, leaving the bike storage for tools, rain gear, etc…
Why didn’t the “creator” of the Spyder trailer hitch, think of that? Be it BRP or after market vendors?
Hitch.jpgRack.jpgBlack Box.jpgCooler.jpgReceiver-Hitch.jpg

[trikermutha]

Just a heads up! Be carefull with carbinated drinks and glass products.

It will take a beating back there.

[Bigmo]

Just a heads up! Be carefull with carbinated drinks and glass products.

It will take a beating back there.

I had a similar setup on my GL. Never a problem. I don't carry glass.

[Fatcycledaddy]

I had a similar setup on my GL. Never a problem. I don't carry glass.

Hitch on the wing was mounted to the frame where shocks cushioned the road, Spyder is on the swing arm so every hump and bump is transmitted to the hitch. Not bad when it is a trailer that has a pivot point of the axle, but not so good with something mounted straight to the hitch.

[Bfromla]

So. I ordered a trailer hitch. I do not have a trailer yet, may be later. So what to do with a trailer hitch that has a ball on it, not a receiver as with any other descent trailer hitch used on other bikes (had a receiver on my old Goldwing).
So I decided to make a receiver for my Spyder trailer hitch. Had an old receiver that I fabricated for my Goldwing (made 2 or 3 of those for friends). Did some cutting and installed on the Spyder hitch. Welded to where the ball goes. Permanent. Looks good. See picture. Then, I fabricated a hitch that fits inside the receiver with a 1 7/8 ball. Just insert in the receiver and put the pin in place. Now you have a REAL trailer hitch. You can use any size ball to fit your trailer. On the side, I used some leftover aluminum bars and fabricated a rack, using all rivets, no screws (only for the center square tubing that fits the receiver). The rack is 11” x 21”.
So, now I can go on a day trip and carry a cooler with cold refreshments. For overnight trip, I have a plastic tool box (new of course) with a vinyl cover to protect from rain, large enough to put one day’s clothe and toiletry, leaving the bike storage for tools, rain gear, etc…
Why didn’t the “creator” of the Spyder trailer hitch, think of that? Be it BRP or after market vendors?
Hitch.jpgRack.jpgBlack Box.jpgCooler.jpgReceiver-Hitch.jpg

No mud flap? & looks a lot like the pakitrack that uses the trailer ball to bolt on
IMG_5659.jpg IMG_5745.jpg Has a nice lock down bar that goes through pocket on the bag IMG_6694.jpg bag also came with a rain cover not much need in swapping from 1"7/8 -2"often enough to require the receiver personally & could/should be resolved with one of the interchangeable hitch balls if the shank size fits. (Would be less to keep track of) also of note pakitrack informed me the reason of up angle was to prevent scraping on exiting curbs, would bump more than scrape & add undue stress to welds from pakitrack:
https://www.pakitrak.com/
PakitRak
Designed to be light weight yet strong and sturdy. Fabricated from 18 ga. sheet metal and stiffened with tube steel. Attachment tube is made from 1" x 1" structural tube steel.


Receiver Brackit
Specially designed for our Pakit Rak System. Easily installs with a few basic tools. Not designed to tow a trailer.


Pakit Rak Bag
This bag is designed and constructed for our Pakit Rak system. Over 3,000 cu. in. inside the main compartment alone. Plus you get two expandable side compartments and a front zippered compartment.
Dimensions:
21" (W) x 12" (H) x 11" (D)

[Flamewinger]

I added a Kuryakyn hitch rack to the BRP hitch and since I don't plan to carry much more than a small cooler (with no ice) or a small tent and sleeping bag, I took it out for a run with the cooler wrapped in a wet proof bag and got a video. For some reason the camera was upside down but produced a sideways video.

P2150012.jpgfullsizeoutput_c51.jpg

Video of rack on freeway and bumpy surface streets.

[Peter Aawen]

I.....Video of rack on freeway and bumpy surface streets....

Was the camera taking that vid secured to the Spyder (licence plate mount or rear somewhere?) rather than mounted on the hitch itself??

If it was mounted to anything hanging off the swing arm, wouldn't any of the bouncing & jostling of the rack have been somewhat 'muted' because the camera was doing the same thing?? Also, many of those little 'sports' type or Go Pro/clone cameras have some degree of image stabilisation built in, so you won't get to see a lot of the bouncing unless it's by comparison thru mounting the camera on something that's not bouncing around in unison!

[Flamewinger]

Was the camera taking that vid secured to the Spyder (licence plate mount or rear somewhere?) rather than mounted on the hitch itself??

If it was mounted to anything hanging off the swing arm, wouldn't any of the bouncing & jostling of the rack have been somewhat 'muted' because the camera was doing the same thing?? Also, many of those little 'sports' type or Go Pro/clone cameras have some degree of image stabilisation built in, so you won't get to see a lot of the bouncing unless it's by comparison thru mounting the camera on something that's not bouncing around in unison!

It was an ION Pro mounted (not permanently) to the trunk rack and pointed down at the hitch rack. I thought I had it fixed but the clamp mount was just slightly loose and it rattled a bit. Not much though and it was a temporary mount.

[Peter Aawen]

Thanks.