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Thread: trailer hitch

  1. #1
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    Default trailer hitch

    I towed a kompact kamper on my bmw rt with a custom trailer hitch and it was great. If I could figure how to put the picture on this I would. Now I'm wondering about the hitch offered at https://www.canamspyderaccessories.c...-play-harness/ for my 2018 f3 limited. Any thoughts? By the way the BMW is for sale.
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    Very Active Member CopperSpyder's Avatar
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    here are some from our sponsors, some options http://www.lamonstergarage.com/trailer-hitch/ and http://store.valueaccessories.net/Tr...-AMSpyder.aspx You can also place your BMW in the For Sale By Owner area of the forum if you like. good luck with your hitch project. They are easy to install.
    Last edited by CopperSpyder; 05-23-2020 at 05:31 PM.
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    Sponsor or not, why do all the hitches for a Spyder mount to the swingarm?

    I have been towing trailers with two-wheelers since 1978 and have never seen a swingarm-mounted hitch until I saw one for a Spyder. If EVERY inch of EVERY road was glass-smooth I might consider it, but in real life, we all know that's not the case.

    Yeah, hundreds (thousdands?) of Spyders have pulled trailers with the swingarm-mounted hitch. I have seen a few mentions of hitch issues, but nothing catastrophic, but that hardly eases <my> mind.

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  4. #4
    Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie Peter Aawen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve W. View Post
    Sponsor or not, why do all the hitches for a Spyder mount to the swingarm?
    ...... snip ......
    I'd suggest the basic reasoning behind it is cos that's the way the BRP engineers designed Spyders to tow!

    Just think about it a little - the frame of any 'bike has a couple of major 'strong points', maybe more, but essentially the frame is designed to support all the major riding loadings (apart from actually carrying the engine) in the steering head and the swing arm pivot point, and there's a lot of engineering design work that goes into establishing and retaining the relationship between those two points in order to create a frame that works well!

    The swing arm pivot point is basically the point that transfers all the driving force developed by the engine into the actual 'push forwards', and it does that by holding the drive wheel at (swing) arms length as it converts torque into acceleration or drive.... so isn't it a smart idea to hang any 'towed loads' of the back end of that and keep all the forces (drive & tow/drag) pretty much in line with that stong point in the frame, the swing arm pivot point?!?
    If they hung all the towing loads off the tail end of the frame somewhere higher up, the engineers would have to factor in and design around all the extra loading and torsional forces that'd put into the frame, which could mean a lot heavier frame, increasing costs, and would mean a whole lot more effort on their behalf, which would push the price up even more - but by hanging the towed loads off the swing arm, there's very little 'extra work' or significant frame strengthening required, so any 'additional marginal costs' are minimised!!

    And all that's probably why BRP is such a stickler for only using their 'approved' tow hitch - they KNOW it'll take all the loads without creating any other issues - loads & potential issues they haven't 'engineered' the frame to handle!! In many ways, what they've done is a very elegant & fairly simple solution for an otherwise very difficult ask!

    That said, here in Oz we have a hitch manufacturer who has managed to tie their hitch into the frame in a way that puts the majority of the towing load into the frame in much the same place as the OE hitch design; that stiffens up the 'fairly flexible' tail end of the frame; and that doesn't hang the hitch off the swing arm, thereby minimising all that bouncing & jouncing & road shock & undulation etc that the OE Style Hitches need to handle and in doing so, must transfer at least some of it into the trailer &/or its contents!!

    Check out www.classicind.com.au
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Aawen View Post
    ... minimising all that bouncing & jouncing & road shock & undulation etc that the OE Style Hitches need to handle and in doing so, must transfer at least some of it into the trailer &/or its contents!!
    The closer any 'contents' are to the axle of the trailer, the less they will be affected, but the shock loads on the coupler parts must be rather impressive with every bump that the rear Spyder wheel hits. And there is no way to minimize them.

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    Very Active Member Navydad's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve W. View Post
    The closer any 'contents' are to the axle of the trailer, the less they will be affected, but the shock loads on the coupler parts must be rather impressive with every bump that the rear Spyder wheel hits. And there is no way to minimize them.

    .
    I've often wondered about the forces being sent to the trailer tongue when bumps are hit although I haven't heard of any failures. I will admit that I am not a trailer person. If I have that much stuff to travel with I'll take wife's SUV. Spent 8 weeks on the road with our Triumph a couple of years back. Needed a laundromat and a post office a time or two, but never needed a trailer.

    2015 RT , Black

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    Very Active Member billybovine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kentgallaway View Post
    I towed a kompact kamper on my bmw rt with a custom trailer hitch and it was great. If I could figure how to put the picture on this I would. Now I'm wondering about the hitch offered at https://www.canamspyderaccessories.c...-play-harness/ for my 2018 f3 limited. Any thoughts? By the way the BMW is for sale.
    The trailer harness is not power isolated. There are other choices that are. Also the pictures in the link shows 10 pin connectors. 2018 and later need 16 pin connectors. I assume he just used the older pictures.

    2018 F3 LIMITED

  8. #8
    Active Member Texas Al's Avatar
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    Has anyone with a trailer hitch on an F3 S had any problems with the setup?
    2021 900 Ace , Black & Gold

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    Very Active Member IdahoMtnSpyder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Navydad View Post
    I've often wondered about the forces being sent to the trailer tongue when bumps are hit although I haven't heard of any failures. I will admit that I am not a trailer person.
    I came too damn close for comfort. I have a trailer I made myself. The tongue was 2" square 0.60" steel tube. When I got home from a long trip two or three years ago I saw that the tongue had broken all the way around to where only about a 3/4" piece of it was still intact. It would have been a disaster if the tongue had broken completely through on the Interstate. The safety chains would have drug the tongue with the toolbox on it and the rest of the trailer, who knows where it would have gone. The break was right where the trailer box frame was welded to the tongue. I had a friend weld reinforcing plates around the tongue and I put another square tube inside for more strength.

    So yes, the trailer tongue takes a hell of a beating from the swingarm mounted hitch.

    2014 Copper RTS

    Tri-Axis bars, CB, BajaRon sway bar & shock adjusters, SpyderPop's Bumpskid, NBV peg brackets, LED headlights and modulator, Wolo trumpet air horns, trailer hitch, custom trailer harness, high mount turn signals, Custom Dynamics brake light, LED turn signal lights on mirrors, LED strip light for a dash light, garage door opener, LED lights in frunk, trunk, and saddlebags, RAM mounts and cradles for tablet (for GPS) and phone (for music), and Smooth Spyder belt tensioner.
    2014 RTS , Copper! (officially Cognac)

  10. #10
    Very Active Member IdahoMtnSpyder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve W. View Post
    Sponsor or not, why do all the hitches for a Spyder mount to the swingarm?
    Cost, which means keep the design and installation process as simple as possible. I seriously considered building a trailer hitch that was frame mounted, but the design of the frame and saddlebags makes it a super challenge to do so. To mount such a hitch to the frame the entire rear module would have to be removed. Also, there are no really good stout frame components to hang a hitch from. The complicated design and installation process would easily double or triple the already 'ouch' price of the hitch kit.

    Someone on the forum here from Oregon or Washington I think it was, did make such a hitch several years ago. But I don't recall that he ever shared pics of how he did it. I still would like to do it but the current setup is tolerable enough to keep me from spending the time and money to do so.

    2014 Copper RTS

    Tri-Axis bars, CB, BajaRon sway bar & shock adjusters, SpyderPop's Bumpskid, NBV peg brackets, LED headlights and modulator, Wolo trumpet air horns, trailer hitch, custom trailer harness, high mount turn signals, Custom Dynamics brake light, LED turn signal lights on mirrors, LED strip light for a dash light, garage door opener, LED lights in frunk, trunk, and saddlebags, RAM mounts and cradles for tablet (for GPS) and phone (for music), and Smooth Spyder belt tensioner.
    2014 RTS , Copper! (officially Cognac)

  11. #11
    Active Member fjray's Avatar
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    I'm the guy in Or. that built the frame mounted hitch and it worked great. I took it off when I sold the RT cause I didn't want liability issues if somebody did something stupid. I ended up giving it away in pieces.
    The forward attachment was the bolt that secures the passenger foot board and the vertical attachment was under the seat. There are two threaded holes in the frame inboard of the rear hand holds. I took the rear off the machine but if you know where to drill it can be done with the trunk and bags in place. I'll see if I still have the pictures.
    The factory unit is a joke in my book and it broke the tongue on my Bushtec from all the thrashing

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