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Do you change the way you ride with a trailer attached? For safety??
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Gwolf
Well-known member
^ Wot 'e says!!
I dunno, maybe it's the rough roads here in Oz that aren't as 'smooth' as your 'super-slabs' over there; but I rather suspect that it's more likely the poorly considered hitch mounting/placement!
You have never seen the freeze swell of the concrete super-slabs after a winter up in the northern USA, or the potholes that fall in from a hard freeze of winter. Some of the potholes would swallow a hippo. The roads here are just as rough as anywhere. They eventually get around to fixing them, but sometimes just set a cone in front of them to keep people from falling in. Other 4 lane and 8 lanes, have been under construction for years and you drive on the one lane dirt and gravel by-pass. I have been on the roads of most every state and 20 or more foreign countries. The USA don't have anything to brag about where roads are concerned.
I have actually seen and experienced a little those sorta road conditions over your way Gwolf (I lived & worked in Seattle for a while, and extensively toured the NorthWestern States, as well as visiting/touring quite a few other States on the East Coast & across the South of the US, just not so much in the middle/North... 
), and in a lot of other Northern Countries too; and I'm still firmly convinced that the vast majority of your road network is FAR BETTER than that of most, and certainly that of the Oz road network; while the 'really bad stuff' you mention (which is still better than a fair bit of our 'good' stuff) is found on a tiny percentage of your road network, and I suspect that most US Spyder Riders tend to avoid those bad areas/sections as much as they can anyway. 
Here in Oz, even for those Spyder riders who religiously avoid riding off the blacktop, if you want to ride pretty much anywhere/on anything but our Highway 1, which goes around the perimeter of the Country, you'll really have no choice but to spend quite a bit of time riding on roads that I never saw the likes of over your way, apart from the odd bit of damage that was already being worked on and except for when I got to go out 4WD'ing and we went 'off road'... Some of the '4WD Only tracks' I travelled on then were in significantly better condition than many of our 'Secondary Highways'!
Talk to PeteOz about it - he's gone so far as electing to quit riding completely, largely because of the condition of all/any of the roads in his area, and how much that was detracting from his riding enjoyment!
But the point of my post was that the swing arm mounted hitch is a very poor design choice that is contributing to a LOT of trailer damage - how much harder/more expensive would it have been for BRP to design/manufacture a hitch mount coming off the sprung frame somewhere, or even off the leading swing arm bush mount area instead of the continually moving and un-sprung rear wheel axle in such a way that it pounds any trailer to death on anything but the smoothest of roads?!?
), and in a lot of other Northern Countries too; and I'm still firmly convinced that the vast majority of your road network is FAR BETTER than that of most, and certainly that of the Oz road network; while the 'really bad stuff' you mention (which is still better than a fair bit of our 'good' stuff) is found on a tiny percentage of your road network, and I suspect that most US Spyder Riders tend to avoid those bad areas/sections as much as they can anyway. Here in Oz, even for those Spyder riders who religiously avoid riding off the blacktop, if you want to ride pretty much anywhere/on anything but our Highway 1, which goes around the perimeter of the Country, you'll really have no choice but to spend quite a bit of time riding on roads that I never saw the likes of over your way, apart from the odd bit of damage that was already being worked on and except for when I got to go out 4WD'ing and we went 'off road'... Some of the '4WD Only tracks' I travelled on then were in significantly better condition than many of our 'Secondary Highways'!
Talk to PeteOz about it - he's gone so far as electing to quit riding completely, largely because of the condition of all/any of the roads in his area, and how much that was detracting from his riding enjoyment!
But the point of my post was that the swing arm mounted hitch is a very poor design choice that is contributing to a LOT of trailer damage - how much harder/more expensive would it have been for BRP to design/manufacture a hitch mount coming off the sprung frame somewhere, or even off the leading swing arm bush mount area instead of the continually moving and un-sprung rear wheel axle in such a way that it pounds any trailer to death on anything but the smoothest of roads?!?
Poppie65
Active member
Care to share some info on it EdMat?
Freddy
Active member
Do you have details on that Ed?
Mikey
Well-known member
Slowing the heck down would be even better idea to solve the problem! Sorry to be a party pooper!
The hitch on the Spyder is in a location that is un-sprung. Meaning that there is not a suspension between it and the road bumps. Hitches on cars/trucks/etc. are mostly in a sprung location - separated from road bumps by shocks and springs. Regards, Don^ Wot 'e says!!
I've seen a LOT of trailers (including a few BRP trailers) damaged by the constant pounding they get from the OEM Hitch or the clones of that swingarm mounted hitch; and I've heard of quite a few more experiencing similar failures, well into double figures!!
I dunno, maybe it's the rough roads here in Oz that aren't as 'smooth' as your 'super-slabs' over there; but I rather suspect that it's more likely the poorly considered hitch mounting/placement!
The hitch is supposed to be rated for 40 lbs of tongue weight. However, that is based on a trailer tongue. The weight for carrying a set of golf clubs would be much less because of the cantilever-torsion effect. Basically the weight of the golf bag and holder is being bounced up and down, causing a twisting on the hitch. When hooked to a trailer, the wheels on the trailer would help reduce the amount of twisting for a given weight. Regards, Don
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EdMat
Well-known member
On some of the roads I have been on, slowing down seems to limit the sharp loading on the trailer tongue, but it does not eliminate it. As long as the trailer hitch is connected to the swing arm it will always happen! The shock system on the tongue should reduce it.Slowing the heck down would be even better idea to solve the problem! Sorry to be a party pooper!
Mikey
Well-known member
Agree 100% A good suspension under the trailer and brakes would almost make it a perfect package.
Gwolf
Well-known member
I have actually seen and experienced a little those sorta road conditions over your way Gwolf (I lived & worked in Seattle for a while, and extensively toured the NorthWestern States, as well as visiting/touring quite a few other States on the East Coast & across the South of the US, just not so much in the middle/North...
Here in Oz, even for those Spyder riders who religiously avoid riding off the blacktop, if you want to ride pretty much anywhere/on anything but our Highway 1, which goes around the perimeter of the Country, you'll really have no choice but to spend quite a bit of time riding on roads that I never saw the likes of over your way, apart from the odd bit of damage that was already being worked on and except for when I got to go out 4WD'ing and we went 'off road'... Some of the '4WD Only tracks' I travelled on then were in significantly better condition than many of our 'Secondary Highways'!
Talk to PeteOz about it - he's gone so far as electing to quit riding completely, largely because of the condition of all/any of the roads in his area, and how much that was detracting from his riding enjoyment!
But the point of my post was that the swing arm mounted hitch is a very poor design choice that is contributing to a LOT of trailer damage - how much harder/more expensive would it have been for BRP to design/manufacture a hitch mount coming off the sprung frame somewhere, or even off the leading swing arm bush mount area instead of the continually moving and un-sprung rear wheel axle in such a way that it pounds any trailer to death on anything but the smoothest of roads?!?
Not sure about mounting the hitch on the sprung part of the frame. It might work better, or it could just cause more trailer bouncing. Somebody has probably tried it ... several people and maybe even the accessory companies. There is nothing new under the sun. If it had worked well, you would think all the hitch sellers would have gone to that. I really don't know. I do slow way down pulling the trailer.
I have talked to a lot of people from Australia about everything in the world. I was with an American Air Force C-130 Transport unit that was assigned to 834th Air Division, Tan Son Nhut, at Saigon during the Vietnam War. There was RAAF Transport Flight Vietnam flying C-7 Caribou transport aircraft also assigned to 834th Air Division. There was a C-123 USAF unit there too. All of us were under control of MAC-V Tan Son Nhut. We had plenty of time to talk about back home. Lot of times one of our crews and one of the Caribou crews would be in the Alert Shack on stand by for 24 hours at the time. Got to know some of them well and learned a lot about Oz.
Just FYI, a sinkhole formed on the 2 lane paved road between where I live and the next small town a couple years ago. The state drilled down where the asphalt was cracking and dumped 35 of the 7 cu yd mixer trucks of concrete in the hole before it stopped going down. Hole probably wasn't full, but the part under the road was sealed off. That is not unusual for Florida. Houses, cars, roads, and sometimes slow people disappear into sink holes all the time.
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