RS Trailer Towing Milage...

[Yazz]

I bought a trailer and trying to figure out kind of mileage can be expected. The trailer weighs 165 lbs and figure to put around 150 lbs in it for a total weight of around 315 lbs pulled.

We went out this weekend with the trailer packed with 90 lbs of bottled water and another 40 lbs of stuff for a total of 130 cargo weight. Had the little windshield on, not my touring one. Spydee's milage was about 27 mpg.

What type of mpg are y'all getting with a fully loaded trailer?

 

[IWN2RYD]

That is really tough to tell. It depends on the road conditions (Hilly curves and their quantity) and how long your in 5th gear cruising vs throttling in other gears.

I see no reason to believe that 25mpg-32mpg would not be a reasonable expectation. :2thumbs:

 

[NancysToy]

Also depends a lot on the trailer. Something rectangular, like a camper or a box trailer, will get a couple miles less than something tapered in front, like a Bushtec. I'd expect to lose 1-5 mpg, depending on the trailer.

 

[MangoMike]

We normally pull our trailer in the Florida flat lands, but did take a trip to TN for Spyders in the Smokies. Mileage in the hills dropped as low as 23, but we hauled a lot of junk we didn't need. My normal mileage averages right around 30.

Mike

 

[Yazz]

That is really tough to tell. It depends on the road conditions (Hilly curves and their quantity) and how long your in 5th gear cruising vs throttling in other gears.

I see no reason to believe that 25mpg-32mpg would not be a reasonable expectation. :2thumbs:

We will be going through all sorts of terrain. Glad to hear my math wasn't off too bad.

Also depends a lot on the trailer. Something rectangular, like a camper or a box trailer, will get a couple miles less than something tapered in front, like a Bushtec. I'd expect to lose 1-5 mpg, depending on the trailer.

We have the aluminum diamond tread plate Towblazer. Pretty much a box but wanted the flat top for additional storage. Taking a couple of mpg off for aerodynamics in winds.

We normally pull our trailer in the Florida flat lands, but did take a trip to TN for Spyders in the Smokies. Mileage in the hills dropped as low as 23, but we hauled a lot of junk we didn't need. My normal mileage averages right around 30.

Mike

We are going to try keep things to a minimum. Went to Spyders in the Smokies so know what you were pulling the trailer through. Can totally understand how milage goes down in those conditions.

Thank Y'all for your answers. Everyone brought up a different side to the milage coin. Being a pessimist, going to calculate 23 mpg into the gas equation.

 

[Yazz]

While I have your ear, there's another question.

Would any of you put a full rotopax in your trailer?
Wondering about the fumes...

 

[2NFrnt]

Hi Yazz, we have a RT and pull the BRP RT-622 trailer. 2 up with about the same load you are talking we will average about 27MPG, and I never shift into 5th under 65MPH so a lot of our traveling is in 4th gear. As for the Rotopax, I would be looking to mount it on the trailer tongue myself.

Sam

 

[NancysToy]

While I have your ear, there's another question.

Would any of you put a full rotopax in your trailer?
Wondering about the fumes...

There should not be any fumes from the Rotopax if you don't spill onto the outside of it, close it properly, and thoroughly clean any spillage from booboos. Still, I would choose to put it on the outside if I had a choice. I had considered this before the REDA became available, and was leaning toward attaching one of their mounting brackets underneath the trailer. Still theoretically subject to road debris damage, but less susceptible to damage from vehicles. Somewhere I saw a picture of one mounted on top of a trailer, like on an ATV. That makes sense, too, and would be easier to put on and off. I'm sure you will find a good home for it (them?).

 

[Yazz]

Hi Yazz, we have a RT and pull the BRP RT-622 trailer. 2 up with about the same load you are talking we will average about 27MPG, and I never shift into 5th under 65MPH so a lot of our traveling is in 4th gear. As for the Rotopax, I would be looking to mount it on the trailer tongue myself.

Sam

Spydee will be one up and did find out you have to use higher rpms. Didn't feel too natural with higher rpms till trying to go up a hill. Have to have the grunt in there.

Thanks for confirming its not a good idea to store gas in an enclosed place.

 

[Yazz]

There should not be any fumes from the Rotopax if you don't spill onto the outside of it, close it properly, and thoroughly clean any spillage from booboos. Still, I would choose to put it on the outside if I had a choice. I had considered this before the REDA became available, and was leaning toward attaching one of their mounting brackets underneath the trailer. Still theoretically subject to road debris damage, but less susceptible to damage from vehicles. Somewhere I saw a picture of one mounted on top of a trailer, like on an ATV. That makes sense, too, and would be easier to put on and off. I'm sure you will find a good home for it (them?).

Looked at the REDA and we'll need more than one gallon.

We decided to get a trailer mainly to haul our gas. Hubby and I just had a pow wow and the Rotopax's will fit nicely on top of the trailer.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1092&pictureid=13585

Thanks for the good info!

 

[Euripedes Neves]

Mls w/ pull behind trailer

I bought a trailer and trying to figure out kind of mileage can be expected. The trailer weighs 165 lbs and figure to put around 150 lbs in it for a total weight of around 315 lbs pulled.

We went out this weekend with the trailer packed with 90 lbs of bottled water and another 40 lbs of stuff for a total of 130 cargo weight. Had the little windshield on, not my touring one. Spydee's milage was about 27 mpg.

What type of mpg are y'all getting with a fully loaded trailer?

I have a trailer w/ my spyder, and have the same experience, 28 mls p/ galan on the 75 mls p/ hr. look my pics.

 

[Yazz]

I have a trailer w/ my spyder, and have the same experience, 28 mls p/ galan on the 75 mls p/ hr. look my pics.

That is too cool! We have excellent taste in trailers. :thumbup:

Do you put heavy stuff in the tool box or lighter things?

 

[sabunim5]

Milage

We have about 10k trailer miles and have to say that our CHAD windshield had a much more negative effect on our mileage than pulling the trailer. We are pulling a California Sidecar Escapade LE trailer with a 2008 PE edition Spyder. We got a reliable 30 mpg whether it was one up, two up or two up with the trailer until we went to the larger CHAD windshield. Fighting the wind, riding in hilly conditions, faster speeds etc. (all the things you would expect to negatively effect your mileage) would drop the mileage to 28 or so. Adding the bigger windshield dropped the mileage to 28 under all conditions and we lose another couple of mpg down to 25 or 26 if we are pulling hills or fighting the wind, and/or riding freeway speeds. For our rig, fighting the wind (whether it is through the big windshield or the prevailing wind direction) and going faster and/or climbing hills has much more effect on our mpg that pulling the extra weight of the trailer. My wife and I probably weigh a combined 375 lbs.; if you include all our riding gear. There are probably about 25 lbs of stuff in the trunk and accessories added to the Spyder. The trailer, when full, probably weighs another 400 lbs. The Spyder can usually pull all that weight without making the engine drink more fuel. Unless you ask it to do so while punching a big hole in the wind, going uphill, possibly at freeway speeds and possibly in opposition to the prevailing winds. Then that Rotax needs to drink more fuel. At least that has been our experience so far. Too bad I can't spell mileage.

 

[Some Guy]

We have about 10k trailer miles and have to say that our CHAD windshield had a much more negative effect on our mileage than pulling the trailer.

:agree: The CHAD costs me about 4 mpg while the trailer only cost me about 1 mpg. I get about 28 mpg when towing the trailer (Harbor Freight Tag-a-long). Otherwise, I get a consistent 29 mpg and I used to get 33 before the CHAD.

 

[Bootie]

I bought a trailer and trying to figure out kind of mileage can be expected. The trailer weighs 165 lbs and figure to put around 150 lbs in it for a total weight of around 315 lbs pulled.

We went out this weekend with the trailer packed with 90 lbs of bottled water and another 40 lbs of stuff for a total of 130 cargo weight. Had the little windshield on, not my touring one. Spydee's milage was about 27 mpg.

What type of mpg are y'all getting with a fully loaded trailer?

I have a Bushtec trailer and hauled it from Ohio to California and back to Ohio (around 6000mi) last summer. I did not see much of an increase in fuel consumption; maybe 1mpg. The California Mountains (Sierras) did take their toll but the rest of the trip was nominal. The Bushtec is quite aerodynamic so the main drag is still from the barn-door-like frontal area of the Spyder. If you don't start and stop much, I would not expect to see much of a decrease in performance.

 

[Yazz]

The trailer, when full, probably weighs another 400 lbs. The Spyder can usually pull all that weight without making the engine drink more fuel. Unless you ask it to do so while punching a big hole in the wind, going uphill, possibly at freeway speeds and possibly in opposition to the prevailing winds. Then that Rotax needs to drink more fuel. At least that has been our experience so far. Too bad I can't spell mileage.

Neither can I. Thats why its mpg.

Don't know what the exact pull weight will be until we head out. We're going to try to keep it light. Glad to know its not the weight but all the other conditions that lower the mpg. But, we will be doing quite a bit of highway miles, hopefully with little wind. Knock on wood...

:agree: The CHAD costs me about 4 mpg while the trailer only cost me about 1 mpg. I get about 28 mpg when towing the trailer (Harbor Freight Tag-a-long). Otherwise, I get a consistent 29 mpg and I used to get 33 before the CHAD.

Have a BRP touring windshield which might have the same surface area as a CHAD? (Barn door configuration?) Use it for touring so I don't get beat up. Ouch on the 4 mpg difference. Glad to hear its not the trailers fault.

I have a Bushtec trailer and hauled it from Ohio to California and back to Ohio (around 6000mi) last summer. I did not see much of an increase in fuel consumption; maybe 1mpg. The California Mountains (Sierras) did take their toll but the rest of the trip was nominal. The Bushtec is quite aerodynamic so the main drag is still from the barn-door-like frontal area of the Spyder. If you don't start and stop much, I would not expect to see much of a decrease in performance.

Spyders aren't the most stream-line vehicles around but wouldn't trade Spydee for anything. Have a boxier type trailer. Was thinking the mountains might lower the mpg. We'll be going over a couple so will keep that in mind.

Thanks Y'all!

 

[dltang]

Yazz, when we towed our trailer, my mileage didn't really go down that much. Just like always, it depended on my riding and the conditions. All in all, it was pretty close to my normal spyder mileage and we packed it pretty good too.

 

[Yazz]

Yazz, when we towed our trailer, my mileage didn't really go down that much. Just like always, it depended on my riding and the conditions. All in all, it was pretty close to my normal spyder mileage and we packed it pretty good too.

Happy to hear the reports that Spyder pulls well without much of a mpg drop.

Feel more confident to load the trailer with more stuff than before. Never know what you might need.

 

[SPYD1]

trailer

Happy to hear the reports that Spyder pulls well without much of a mpg drop.

Feel more confident to load the trailer with more stuff than before. Never know what you might need.

Is it Ok to pull a trailer with an RS?:dontknow:

 

[Yazz]

Is it Ok to pull a trailer with an RS?:dontknow:

If done properly, yes. Here's a thread about the pros and cons of different type hitches.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13140&highlight=trailer+hitch+frame