Towing a trailer, and forces on the coupler..

[bmatznick]

We are new to the Spyder and bought a 2014 RT Limited after selling our Goldwing. We tow an Aspen camper. I installed a hitch this week and hooked up the camper for a short test drive and was pleased with the overall handling. However, I am concerned with the fact that the hitch is solidly attached to the swing arm and the trailer tongue will be jerked up and down with every bump in the road. This has to be an issue that has been well covered but I haven't found it. I am interested in hearing comments and suggestions about this because I am concerned that the coupler will wear out quickly and perhaps the camper will see some damage. Help! Thanks.

[UtahPete]

We are new to the Spyder and bought a 2014 RT Limited after selling our Goldwing. We tow an Aspen camper. I installed a hitch this week and hooked up the camper for a short test drive and was pleased with the overall handling. However, I am concerned with the fact that the hitch is solidly attached to the swing arm and the trailer tongue will be jerked up and down with every bump in the road. This has to be an issue that has been well covered but I haven't found it. I am interested in hearing comments and suggestions about this because I am concerned that the coupler will wear out quickly and perhaps the camper will see some damage. Help! Thanks.

The tongue weight is going to be 50# or less. Trailer couplers can take a lot more abuse than that. Haven't seen any complaints about trailer coupler failure. SpyderAnn has towed her heavily weighted trailer over 250,000 miles on 4 different Spyders so far and if she had experienced any problems she would have said so.

Worry less. Ride more!

[Mad Mac]

How much does the trailer weigh? I think the max weight can only be 400lbs. I tow a motorcycle cargo trailer(had behind a GW also) and our trailer weighs 250lbs. loaded and it does not bounce much at all. Might try experimenting with tire pressures on the trailer tires. Too much can cause it to bounce pretty badly on certain road surfaces. The Spyder has a pretty stout frame and swing arm configuration, were as our GW's the hitches were mounted to the frame. Others will chime in on this issue. Good luck! Mac

[trikermutha]

I put a swivel hitch on my trailer

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

In reality this is a Non - issue ..... after 7 years on this site I have Never heard of any type of failure to the coupler ...... Mike

[pegasus1300]

I put a swivel hitch on my trailer

I don't understand the purpose of a swivel hitch on a vehicle that doesn't lean.

[trikermutha]

I don't understand the purpose of a swivel hitch on a vehicle that doesn't lean.

The bike does angle at times along with some of the roads we drive on. (Bike and trailer angle)I wanted to take some of the strain off the hitch area with the swivel. It does make a difference. JMO

As for the up and down movement unless you get a frame mounted hitch its going to bounce up and down.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

However, I am concerned with the fact that the hitch is solidly attached to the swing arm and the trailer tongue will be jerked up and down with every bump in the road. This has to be an issue that has been well covered but I haven't found it. I am interested in hearing comments and suggestions about this because I am concerned that the coupler will wear out quickly and perhaps the camper will see some damage. Help! Thanks.

I agree with fjray. You are right to be cautious. The hitch and coupler will not give you any trouble at all. What CAN give you trouble is the constant bouncing up and down and the impact it has on the trailer tongue. Minimize added weight on the tongue. Think about the bending forces in the tongue between the hitch and trailer axle caused by loads on the tongue. Don't put anything fragile in a tongue box, pay attention to how much weight is in the box, don't use a too thin metal for the tongue, and you'll be OK.

Here are pics of my trailer tongue that cracked about 85% of the way around the square tube. This was caused by the constant bouncing of the hitch coupled with the weight of the trailer body and tongue box at about the mid point of the tongue along with the fact the tube steel was too thin. It is 0.060". I had a guy weld plates over the crack and I inserted a heavier tube inside. I'm not worried about it breaking again!

Bottom side.
Bottom side 2.jpg


Left side.
Left side 2a.jpg

Right side.
Right side 2.jpg

Top side.
Top side 2.jpg

What's puzzling is the fact the top side, which you would expect to be in compression is broken completely while the bottom side, which would be tension you'd think, is not completely broken. Maybe welding on the top side caused it to break first.

I also had to change out the S hooks on the safety chains for carabiner type hooks because the chains would jump loose from the hitch safety chain hook holes.

[nvagrits]

I have a LUMINA DIAMOND XL MOTORCYCLE TRAILER, and it came with a swivel coupler. I have had some people question why a swivel hitch when the bike doesn't lean. How would you respond to that, because I'm new to the world of pulling a trailer behind my 2014 Can AM Spyder RT?

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I have a LUMINA DIAMOND XL MOTORCYCLE TRAILER, and it came with a swivel coupler. I have had some people question why a swivel hitch when the bike doesn't lean. How would you respond to that, because I'm new to the world of pulling a trailer behind my 2014 Can AM Spyder RT?

Because most of their trailers are sold to owners who pull them with a two wheeler! And for pulling with a two wheeler you definitely want/need a swivel coupler. Prevents major damage when the inevitable bike tipping over happens. Plus, from what I see on their website it was a freebie extra when the trailer was first sold.

You might consider taking the swivel coupler off and selling it for a few bucks, or keep it and put it back on if and when you sell the trailer.

[Snowbelt Spyder]

We are new to the Spyder and bought a 2014 RT Limited after selling our Goldwing. We tow an Aspen camper. I installed a hitch this week and hooked up the camper for a short test drive and was pleased with the overall handling. However, I am concerned with the fact that the hitch is solidly attached to the swing arm and the trailer tongue will be jerked up and down with every bump in the road. This has to be an issue that has been well covered but I haven't found it. I am interested in hearing comments and suggestions about this because I am concerned that the coupler will wear out quickly and perhaps the camper will see some damage. Help! Thanks.

Yes, the hitch is attached to the swing arm and not the suspended portion of the frame. Also been on here for a number of years, though, and nobody has reported on coupler failures, or other failures for that matter, based on the fact that the hitch is attached to the swing arm. However, you do want to abide by the limits of 40# tongue weight and 400# trailer weight (trailer and cargo within). Of course, keep the ball clean and lubricated, and even though your coupler size and ball size match, ensure proper adjustment of the coupler latch. Enjoy your camping.

[fjray]

I hate to disagree with the masses but I did report about hitch problems a few times. I'm no engineer but if a hitch was supposed to be mounted to the suspension you would see other manufacturers doing it. The trailer weight should be part of the suspended load not added to unsprung weight. I towed my Bushtec behind three other bikes before the Spyder with no issues and it gets inspected before each trip. First trip on the Spyder and the tounge mount broke and along with it all the bottles in the cooler.
Each and every movement of the swing arm gets transmitted to the trailer. You don't feel it because you are above the suspension. I built at the time probably the only frame mounted hitch for an RT and it worked great. Shortly after that I sold the Spyder and removed the hitch. I gave it to somebody here but don't remember who.
You will probably be fine but keep a close eye on things because won't be as easy on your trailer as the wing.

[Richardv]

I hate to disagree with the masses but I did report about hitch problems a few times. I'm no engineer but if a hitch was supposed to be mounted to the suspension you would see other manufacturers doing it. The trailer weight should be part of the suspended load not added to unsprung weight. I towed my Bushtec behind three other bikes before the Spyder with no issues and it gets inspected before each trip. First trip on the Spyder and the tounge mount broke and along with it all the bottles in the cooler.
Each and every movement of the swing arm gets transmitted to the trailer. You don't feel it because you are above the suspension. I built at the time probably the only frame mounted hitch for an RT and it worked great. Shortly after that I sold the Spyder and removed the hitch. I gave it to somebody here but don't remember who.
You will probably be fine but keep a close eye on things because won't be as easy on your trailer as the wing.

I am pretty much convinced that when BRP designed the hitch for our Spyders, they assigned engineers to do so.!!! And as mentioned in the previous posts, no problems have been reported in all the years..... So....

[remark2013]

We have an Escapade trailer that we have towed behind our two spiders with a combined millage of about 30,000 mi. no issues with the coupler at all. Keep the ball lubed and coupler adjusted and all will be fine.

Kent

[bmwlarry]

I have towed an Aspen Sentry all over the US since 2011. First it was with a 998 and now the 1330. No issues at all. I park it in the garage with the tongue hanging at the correct height with a luggage scale attached. I load the trailer tongue with a cooler and as much drinks/ice as I will carry. I then load the trailer "basement" a bit at a time and make sure the tongue weight does not exceed the 40 lb. limit.

[bmatznick]

I am pretty much convinced that when BRP designed the hitch for our Spyders, they assigned engineers to do so.!!! And as mentioned in the previous posts, no problems have been reported in all the years..... So....

Engineers design every vehicle that ever had a recall, or a roll over accident and I retired as an engineering manager. Somewhere on someone's Failure Mode and Effects Analysis is a failed coupler due to stresses caused by those forces. However, I don't want to make an issue out of something that is not. And I totally believe what fjray said in his post.

[trikermutha]

There is nothing wrong on keeping the swivel hitch on your trailer. If fact I put one on my Spyder trailer . This is my personnel preference .

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

There is nothing wrong on keeping the swivel hitch on your trailer. If fact I put one on my Spyder trailer . This is my personnel preference .

" swivel hitch " ….. I don't know if what I made is considered a - swivel hitch ….. I made one from a Toyt trk. " tie rod end " the ball and post is solidily attached to the Spyder hitch …. the Rod part attaches to the trailer tongue …. with this set-up there is ZERO slack or slop …. and if some tries to steal the trailer they have a hard time figuring out how ??? ………. Mike

[SpyderAnn01]

I think I have put the Spyder hitch to the test and it has passed with flying colors. So has the RT-622 passed the test.