How to use other brands of trailer with RT?

[spydeyblue]

I really want to buy a trailer for my 2012 RT-S, but it looks like there isn't much chance of getting a RT-622 trailer for less than around $4000-4500. By the time I add the hitch, and a few accessories, like the tongue stand, the price tag is going to be over $5000. I don't want to spend that much money, so I've been looking at other brands of motorcycle trailers. My question is how to tow another brand of trailer with the RT? I've seen an RT with the Spyder hitch installed, pictured with a different brand of trailer, so obviously, the Spyder hitch will work with other brands of trailer. Are any modifications to the hitch or wiring required, though?

Linda
(aka Bengaluvr)

[btcherm]

check with Harbor freight they have a trailer that will work for $400.00 my buddy has one and love itIMG_3703.jpg

[spydeyblue]

check with Harbor freight they have a trailer that will work for $400.00 my buddy has one and love itIMG_3703.jpg

This trailer looks a lot like the Piggybacker brand, but it is less than half of the price. Thanks for the tip! I'll check it out. I was also looking at the aluminum mini-trailers, because they seem to have a lot of space for the price. Do you know if your friend used the stock Can-Am hitch or not?

[Ga Blue Knight]

The BRP Can Am hitch is fine as it does not matter which trailer as long as it has the correct ball,( 1 7/8" or 2") and not the issue. It the wiring for the lights that has to be dealt with.
But no worries just search the forum for trailer wiring and you will see lots of information, schematics, photos etc. if you still have questions just post them here and I am sure help will be available.

as to the Harbor Freight trailer it is great but I would replace the Chinese wheel bearings with better ones, redo the wiring to make it more secure to the trailer and be better protected from the weather. Also if you got the 8" wheels I would swap them out for the 12" wheels. The wheels and bearing are not that expensive, total around $100 or so for it all. That brings the cost to $500 or so still cheaper than the Piggy Back which if you can afford it would be my first choice in this type of trailer. Best choice for a replacement to the BRP product would be one of the aluminum box trailers as you mentioned. They are light have a lot of space and are pretty indestructible.

[NancysToy]

The wiring is the challenge. There are several combinations of trailers and hitches. If the BRP hitch is used, it will require a different connector on the trailer...or building an adapter. It may also require some trailer light changes and rewiring, if the trailer has a 5-wire system. Cost of the changes would run $70-$200, plus labor. If you use a non-BRP hitch, it will require wiring directly to the the Spyder system. The hard part is finding a place and way to bring out the pigtail. It may also require a converter to match a trailer with a 4-wire system...or changes to the trailer. Costs would be $25-$100, plus labor, if the trailer didn't need changes.

[J W Miller]

I have a Harbor frt. trailer removed one leaf of the two leaf springs and used the 8 inch wheels with 17 lbs pressure. First trip was 600 miles at 70 mph speeds and about 140 lbs of cargo at 85-90 degree temp. Checked tire temps with infrared temp sensor and never once did they get hot. I used stock wheel bearings repacked with mobile 1 grease they stayed cool. This trailer is now 3 years old and still going with no problems. Small wheels make trailer sit perfect behind Spyder and for me seem to look better.

[YIRYDE]

You can also call around to dealers looking for a demo model they want to get rid off. I found a new 2010 RT-622 that I traveled 9 hours roundtip to get for $2400.00. I made a lot of phone calls but it was worth it.

[captblack]

This is what I have and it works really well. It is light and has a good bit of room. They do have a bigger model as well. I didn't think the price was too bad at all.

http://www.motorcycle-rack.com/CycleTrailer.htm

DSCN0490.jpg

[elpaso]

I really want to buy a trailer for my 2012 RT-S, but it looks like there isn't much chance of getting a RT-622 trailer for less than around $4000-4500. By the time I add the hitch, and a few accessories, like the tongue stand, the price tag is going to be over $5000. I don't want to spend that much money, so I've been looking at other brands of motorcycle trailers. My question is how to tow another brand of trailer with the RT? I've seen an RT with the Spyder hitch installed, pictured with a different brand of trailer, so obviously, the Spyder hitch will work with other brands of trailer. Are any modifications to the hitch or wiring required, though?

Linda
(aka Bengaluvr)

http://jdbrand.com/motorcycletrailer.html
I was lloking at this trailer

[bmwlarry]

A friend of mime has the harbor freight one pictured above and got it for about $339. WE went on a 1400 ride this summer and it towed straight and tru. I tow a Aspen Classic tent trailer.

[lyonsden]

Don't forget to look at one of this sites sponsors. I have 2 friends that have their trailers and they just love them and are very reasonably priced.

http://www.minitrailerusa.com/

Their ad is on the home page of spyderlovers.com

[Big Arm]

Another site sponsor on the homepage is Bushtec. I tow one, and love it.

[spydeyblue]

This is what I have and it works really well. It is light and has a good bit of room. They do have a bigger model as well. I didn't think the price was too bad at all.

http://www.motorcycle-rack.com/CycleTrailer.htm

DSCN0490.jpg

This looks a lot like the Minitrailers, but it is a little different in the front profile. Thanks for the information! Did you use the BRP hitch and wiring? If so, how did you wire the trailer's lights?

[captblack]

This looks a lot like the Minitrailers, but it is a little different in the front profile. Thanks for the information! Did you use the BRP hitch and wiring? If so, how did you wire the trailer's lights?

I did use the BRP hitch which comes with the harness that hooks to the lighting harness and then puts the plug down on the left-hand fender. To hook up the trailer, you'll need to get a pole harness, BRP part number 710002442. What I did was hook the pole harness up to the connector on the fender, hook up the trailer, and then measure the length that I would need to reach the trailer four pin connector. I then cut off the BRP connector and installed a regular flat 4 pin connector to mate up with the trailer.

Now all I have to do is unhook from the fender and the poll harness stays with the trailer. In the poll harness package there is a wiring code so all in all, it is pretty simple. The hardest part is hooking up the harness to the fender and a friend of mine, who had done it before, helped me do that. The one thing that I added was a couple of small bungee cords to help secure the cable to the hitch frame in addition to the two clips that are already there.

I just took a 1500 mile trip in this setup worked perfectly. The wiring part will be the same no matter what trailer you wind up with. Good luck with whatever you do because the trailer really makes a difference on a long trip. Luckily, I have not been tempted yet to hook it up and go to the store - that could be expensive.

[Paula(Butch2025)]

Here is a link to the Bushtec website, we bought their trailer hitch and wiring harness. They are a great company to work with and are very helpful during the wiring process, if you are having trouble give them a call and they will walk you through it. They are very into quality...our hitch was late being delivered so I called to see what the problem was...it came back from powder coating and the paint was not good so they sent it back to get redone and they were just about to contact us to let us know!
--Paula

www.bushtec.com/

[NancysToy]

I did use the BRP hitch which comes with the harness that hooks to the lighting harness and then puts the plug down on the left-hand fender. To hook up the trailer, you'll need to get a pole harness, BRP part number 710002442. What I did was hook the pole harness up to the connector on the fender, hook up the trailer, and then measure the length that I would need to reach the trailer four pin connector. I then cut off the BRP connector and installed a regular flat 4 pin connector to mate up with the trailer....

This is an adapter as described above, made from an RT-622 harness. It has a 6-pole connector to fit my trailers, but you get the idea. You can also use the 2010 RT-622 Trailer Tongue Harness, but you will have some extra wires.

Here is a link to the Bushtec website, we bought their trailer hitch and wiring harness. They are a great company to work with and are very helpful during the wiring process, if you are having trouble give them a call and they will walk you through it. They are very into quality...our hitch was late being delivered so I called to see what the problem was...it came back from powder coating and the paint was not good so they sent it back to get redone and they were just about to contact us to let us know!
--Paula

www.bushtec.com/

The Bushtec hitch is not available for the RT.

[Questions]

Hello Spyder lovers.....my name is Robin Russell, I own Grand lake Fabrication, AKA www.minitrailerusa.com we've sold over 50 trailers to just spyder people in the lasst year, not to mention all other bike riders. Built and sold over 350 trailers in the year 2012 so far. Our trailers give you great value for your dollar as well they are built to last. We have many people that have 50,000 miles on them with no trouble.
Its not hard to do a setup for the spyder at all..I've had several guys from this board come by and pickup their trailers up here. They found hitchs for 150.00 and the wiring all though they had to make it up themselves they said it was not hard at all. There is a trailer out there that looks alot like ours but is a import. you can tell if its ours real quick by looking at the corners above the bumper, if it has diamond trim around the corners its ours if it DOES NOT then its a china import. there is a spyder on our site I'll try and upload the picture here but its large. we are having a winter sale right now. so take a look see I know you'll enjoy our trailer for the years to come. www.minitrailerusa.com

Give me a call at 918-256-6084 if I don't answer just leave me a message I'm in the shop working and I'll get back to you!
You can save about 300 to 400 by buying now on our winter sale!

Ride safe!nomad fall 2 001.jpg

[Questions]

spyder white.jpg

www.minitrailerusa.com

[nutz]

I have a Piggybacker that I use. The only thing I had to do was convert the BRP trailer plug to a 4 wire combo and wala it worked like a charm. WWW.Piggybacker.com Well worth the xtra $ thanHarbor Freight. Sometimes HF does not have the unit in stock and they sub a lot of parts. Piggybacker stands behind their trailers 100%. In fact I have had mine since 2008 and it has over 15000 miles on it. Last year a piece of steel on highway I tried to avoid my tires hitting got picked up and hit the underside of trailer and cracked the tub. I was going to piant trailer this year to match my new White LTD and when I contacted PB to find out the correct compound to use to repair tub, he offered to ship me a brand new one for just the cost of freight. So for $45.00 I got a new tub. That is impressive service. Besides it will also hold 500lbs of properly loaded stuff with ease and not put more that 25lbs on tongue. I would recommend Piggybacker if you want min cost and max performance over fancy looks.
PS you should add a third brakelight to trailer.

[SpydherLuv]

Bengaluvr, I have an Aluma Trailer for sale. The ad seems to have dropped from the 4-Sale Forum, but I'm happy to send you pics and info via email if you'd like to take a look. I live in the Sacramento area, so I'm not far from you. Send me a PM with your email address if you're interested. It will come with the BRP trailer harness modified for the 2011 RT, so it's a simple plug and go.

-Anita

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

If you are nervous about small wheels....you can get 6 ply tires.....try Eastern Marine 800-453-7379, very good prices.......Mike

[NancysToy]

If you are nervous about small wheels....you can get 6 ply tires.....try Eastern Marine 800-453-7379, very good prices.......Mike

Also remember that an 8" tire rotates 23% faster than a 12" tire. Be sure the bearings are properly packed and regularly repacked, and check for heat buildup at the hubs often.

[Questions]

Just for you folks looking at putting a trailer together for your travels....
Be very careful those harbor freight chassis that folks are getting and then putting a car top on, is not a good idea.
If you'll go on harbor freight site go to that trailer click on down load the manual, page 15 at the top right corner.
It says not to pull over speeds of 45 MPH!

I think some of them have axle plcement problems, and maybe the tongue to axle placement is off!
That will make a huge difference on how it pulls, that is the most curcial thing on a small trailers pulling ability.

I know of several people that used those and have had very bad results with them, including wrecks..
I've been told that some of them at 65 MPH. they begin to whip back and fourth.

I know that some have no troubles at all and are able to put many miles on them.
But there are still some having major problems.

Not trying to sell anybody a trailer or ofend anybody by this statement but just a word of warning.

Just trying to do my little bit to make everybody's rides fun and safe ones!

[rock]

you can purchase an adapter for the wiring through the internet or the dealer...i have one that adapts from the can am connection to a flat 4 wire standard hook up...i cant remeber the price but it works well on our camper..the internet would probably be a lot cheaper price wise...good luck ...happy towing...

[JJW SpyderRider]

Just for you folks looking at putting a trailer together for your travels....
Be very careful those harbor freight chassis that folks are getting and then putting a car top on, is not a good idea.
If you'll go on harbor freight site go to that trailer click on down load the manual, page 15 at the top right corner.
It says not to pull over speeds of 45 MPH!

I think some of them have axle plcement problems, and maybe the tongue to axle placement is off!
That will make a huge difference on how it pulls, that is the most curcial thing on a small trailers pulling ability.

I know of several people that used those and have had very bad results with them, including wrecks..
I've been told that some of them at 65 MPH. they begin to whip back and fourth.

I know that some have no troubles at all and are able to put many miles on them.
But there are still some having major problems.

Not trying to sell anybody a trailer or ofend anybody by this statement but just a word of warning.

Just trying to do my little bit to make everybody's rides fun and safe ones!

I have a Mini Trailer USA Nomad trailer on order. I saw videos of another car carrier type trailer going down the road that was bouncing pretty good. This video was on the dealers site and seeing the cover flopping around in the wind did not give much confidence that it would hold up for the long run.

Once the trailer arrives around Jan 11th I will post a thread showing how I end up connecting it to my RT. I am ready to add mods to it.