Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => The Bike - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: reesedp on May 15, 2011, 06:25:54 PM
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Hey all,
In preparation for my mistress's first trailering next month, I did a lot of reading. What I read in a post on the old site worked for me this morning (yes... I did a test run), so I thought I would post my method. I drove on the roughest roads around here and now have full confidence, as opposed to when I first started...
I bought a wheel chock at Harbor Freight, and installed it on my 5x8 utility trailer (3/4 inch plywood floor). It is the chock with the back part that flips up and grabs the tire when you drive your bike in. It holds the bike upright with no signs of flexing at all, and allowed me to really take my time and study where to tie her down.
Opinions on how far to compress the forks were varied, so I went with about 3/4 compressed. After removing the four quick rivets on the cover under the headlight, I was able to wrap an 18" tie extender around each fork leg at the tree. Down at 45 and out 45 degrees from there allows contact free strapping. No tie touching paint anywhere. I use the ratcheting type ties btw.
One tie on each side at the midpoint attached with 12" extenders at the frame(?) just above the pegs. My straps are long, so I ran the hook through the extender and back to the trailer. Ratchet enough to get her straight upright.
The last set of straps went on the "arms" that the luggage rack is mounted to. These went basically straight out to the sides of the back end, and down to the outside edge of the trailer. I brought the rear end down about two inches using the ratchets. Rechecked the other straps and made an adjustment or two.
A Hail Mary and off I went. I stopped after the first ten feet or so (couldnt stand the suspense) and all was well so went another five miles). No loosening of straps anywhere. Drove her around with me on all my errands with no issues at all other than a couple of Hog riders asking what was wrong with my bike...
Hope this helps someone.
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Drove her around with me on all my errands with no issues at all other than a couple of Hog riders asking what was wrong with my bike...
Did you ruin their day when you said "nothing at all"? :-[
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Did you ruin their day when you said "nothing at all"? :-[
Why would it have to ruin their day? Why do y'all constantly have to be like that? Why couldn't they genuinely be concerned for another motorcyclist, even though he didn't ride the same brand? I get so tired of this anti anything other than C14 (especially Harley) bullcrap! >:(
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I find it humorous. If you don't can't help you. Have a nice day.
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Last month made 25 years of legal street riding. I abide by the golden rule, and dont really care what you ride. These two guys were just being friendly, but if I had a dollar for every time I've been hassled by the Hog riders I would have that full exhaust I want so bad... Course doing things like proudly riding my Connie into the traditionally Harley only back parking lot of Hoss's may be egging them on...
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Without bringing out the violin, I used to ride Harley's and the crowd, while diverse now, still has one thing in common: a prevalent disdain for "rice burner" riders. Doesn't matter how much it cost or how technically superior: In their eyes (as a group, not necesarily when alone) we are traitors to the "creed". I have NO problem calling Harley riders scumbags because in my personal experience all but literally a handful are exactly that.
PLEASE lets not go down the road of asinine politically correct BS on this site. If that's the consensus, tell me now so I can contribute elsewhere.
We're all adults and if the shoe fits...
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I dunno. After 27 motorcycles and 45 years of riding, I have trailer a bike only once. It was kind of embarassing. I pledged to myself years ago. If I can't ride it there, we're not going.
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http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Hauling_on_a_trailer (http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Hauling_on_a_trailer)
This will answer some questions for you.
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Opinions on how far to compress the forks were varied, so I went with about 3/4 compressed.
That seems a little tight when using the harbor freight roll in chocks IMHO. The chock does a great job holding the front end in place for you without needing a lot of down force. I helped my friend set up a covered trailer with a single torsion axle with 2 of them to haul his bike and a friends from WI to TX for work and I don't think he compressed the front fork more than an inch - I'm assuming you compressed are talking about 3/4 of travel, not 3/4".
We put eye-hook bolts in front of the bike and behind it and used 4 ratchet straps (two in front to keep it from rolling out of the chocks and a slight bit of down force, two in the rear to keep from sliding around) and he didn't have any problems there and back.
Just my 2 cents, I figure less force on the shocks the less chance for damage.
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I dunno. After 27 motorcycles and 45 years of riding, I have trailer a bike only once. It was kind of embarassing. I pledged to myself years ago. If I can't ride it there, we're not going.
I totally agree. Especially with these bikes, why would you trailer it unless you are moving to new base of operations?
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@ OP
I do what you do, except going through 3/4 of the travel seems a bit much. I compress probably 1-2".
6 straps. And I have the same chock. Works very, very well.
Barry
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I totally agree. Especially with these bikes, why would you trailer it unless you are moving to new base of operations?
You would trailer it if you were going to a five week long Army school and had to bring your gear I'd bet. I mean, I probably still have the shop record for carrying 9 Super Big Gulps on a bike, but this is a little different.
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track weapons dressed for CCS/Wera belong on trailers ;D
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/daytona_race%20weekend/1ourbikes.jpg)
along with HONDA generators for the tire warmers ;D
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/daytona_race%20weekend/1gen.jpg)
Insure sure yer tag dedicates the trailer for the purpose ;D
(http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j180/stevewfl/daytona_race%20weekend/1trailertag.jpg)
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Sometimes trailering is nessasary. Sometimes it just makes things easier or possible by trailering. Most of my bikes have been on trailers for something. Being able to ride the bike on vacation while having the family, bringing the bike in for maintenance and/or warranty issues are two big reasons in my book.
I don't justify my decisions on using a trailer or not to others. That of course is my choice for my reasons. Just as people choose never to use them for their own reasons. Everybody has their own reasons. But I will say that I didn't trailer a whole lot with my bikes in the past. That is until I bought a bike with KIPASS. Then I found myself trailering the bike to the dealer more than I ever would have wanted or planned for! :o
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I rode my bike to "Trailer Week" aka Bike Week in Daytona ;D
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If you have a wheel chock system on your trailer there is no need for excessive fork compression. My Kendon has a chock type of device that holds the front wheel in place. I normally run a strap around the chock and wheel then to the trailer for insurance I guess. I use two straps to the bars with Canyon Dancer straps to help stabilize it and go. No need for three bikes to ride 400 miles of slab to get to the good roads when you have a trailer for gear and supplies. Of course if the slab is the ride, Im all over it and ready to go.
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Why would it have to ruin their day? Why do y'all constantly have to be like that? Why couldn't they genuinely be concerned for another motorcyclist, even though he didn't ride the same brand? I get so tired of this anti anything other than C14 (especially Harley) bullcrap! >:(
Then quit worshipping Harleys......
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Then quit worshipping Harleys......
I don't worship Harley's! I just get annoyed by motorcyclists (especially our very own C14 owners) having the very anti (other bike) attitude, that you despise such in a lot of the Harley guys! No I just get annoyed by all A holes like this. Not just the Harley guys like that!
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I always put the front wheel in the front left corner of the bed and put one strap from the handlebars to the stakehole in the left front corner and cinch it down. Then one each way from the rear subframe around the back seat area to each stakehole at the middle of the bed. I have yet to trailer the connie, as it may be too big to push up a 2x12 into my pickup. Been cross country this way while moving multiple times without incident.
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If you have a wheel chock system on your trailer there is no need for excessive fork compression. My Kendon has a chock type of device that holds the front wheel in place. I normally run a strap around the chock and wheel then to the trailer for insurance I guess. I use two straps to the bars with Canyon Dancer straps to help stabilize it and go. No need for three bikes to ride 400 miles of slab to get to the good roads when you have a trailer for gear and supplies. Of course if the slab is the ride, Im all over it and ready to go.
If you don't compress the forks, even with a chock, the straps will come loose when the forks DO compress from bumps in the road. Be very careful if using Canyon Dancers, the handlebars are aluminum and you hit a large bump the handlebars can snap. IIRC, someone snapped one of their bars by strapping them down by the handlebars. Go under the fairing and go across the triple clamps. Just watch for the 2 wires on the right side, and it is a PITA (Pain In The A$$) to get the straps under the wires.
I have had to trailer my bike 3 times in 2 years. I move around the country a lot and need both my car and bike with me.....
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I hear you Bob, it must be a horrible thing to harbor hatred toward inanimate objects.
ROFLMAO fairly continuously now....
You gotta' lighten up there Cap'n Bob- all that adrenaline can't be good for you.
Brian
I don't worship Harley's! I just get annoyed by motorcyclists (especially our very own C14 owners) having the very anti (other bike) attitude, that you despise such in a lot of the Harley guys! No I just get annoyed by all A holes like this. Not just the Harley guys like that!
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Until I can get a wife, three kids and a dog on a bike, I will occasionally have to trailer it.
I have a Canyon Dancer from my sportbike days and I've used it on the Connie. I think compressing the forks 3/4 of the way is excessive. The idea is to compress them enough that they can't work the straps loose, but not so much that the bike's suspension is no longer working. Usually a couple of inches is enough. I've never had a bike work loose. Also, when using a wheel chock all your straps should be pulling down and into the chock.
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I don't worship Harley's! I just get annoyed by motorcyclists (especially our very own C14 owners) having the very anti (other bike) attitude, that you despise such in a lot of the Harley guys! No I just get annoyed by all A holes like this. Not just the Harley guys like that!
I hate Ducatis. They're a bunch of Italian... Oh wait. I own one.
I know, I'm not helping.
I've been looking at picking up a simple trailer for the bike (either of them), just to make it easier to transport when having service done. It's so inconvenient to trouble a friend with meeting me at the shop to take me home... then do the reverse. Trouble is, I'd need a trailer so seldom, as I do as much maintenance myself as is humanly possible (or technically feasable). Anyone go in halvsies with a friend or family member for a trailer? Thinking that might make it more economically viable.
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I hear you Bob, it must be a horrible thing to harbor hatred toward inanimate objects.
ROFLMAO fairly continuously now....
You gotta' lighten up there Cap'n Bob- all that adrenaline can't be good for you.
Brian
You'd think he'd have a thicker skin than that by now.
My disdain for the entire harley culture stems from the 5 years I lived in Daytona. The entire culture seems to revolve around eliteism and the thought that the ideal bike is heavy and loud. The engineer in me cringes when people equate more noise with more power, and the human in me gets pissed off when those people sit at red lights and rev their straight pipes for the shear joy of turning gasoline into noise.
On top of that, any shred of respect I might have had left for Harley as a company was erased when they eviscerated Eric Buell's dream of making a good USA made production race bike because "the sport bike market is a fringe market" by neutering his engine with the insistence that it be harley-ized into the v-rod and then gutting the company.
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I hear you Bob, it must be a horrible thing to harbor hatred toward inanimate objects.
ROFLMAO fairly continuously now....
You gotta' lighten up there Cap'n Bob- all that adrenaline can't be good for you.
Brian
Hey Brian, back off! Once again it has nothing to do with you. :(
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I don't need a thicker skin since it really isn't aimed towards me. It just annoys me when this starts. It almost always turns into a Harley bash fest. It annoys me to have motorcyclist bash other motorcyclists. People think the guys on Harley's are A holes. And with some of them, they a probably right. But being just like the people they despise only makes them A holes themselves when they act the same way! It has nothing to do with me other than watching our bunch become A holes! I never owned and Harley!
You'd think he'd have a thicker skin than that by now.
My disdain for the entire harley culture stems from the 5 years I lived in Daytona. The entire culture seems to revolve around eliteism and the thought that the ideal bike is heavy and loud. The engineer in me cringes when people equate more noise with more power, and the human in me gets pissed off when those people sit at red lights and rev their straight pipes for the shear joy of turning gasoline into noise.
On top of that, any shred of respect I might have had left for Harley as a company was erased when they eviscerated Eric Buell's dream of making a good USA made production race bike because "the sport bike market is a fringe market" by neutering his engine with the insistence that it be harley-ized into the v-rod and then gutting the company.
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http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Hauling_on_a_trailer (http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Hauling_on_a_trailer)
This will answer some questions for you.
Congratulations Radar. :chugbeer: This is the first illustrated informative reply I have seen on this forum about trailering a bike. Like it or not there are occasions when everyone has to trailer a bike. The usual guffaws about trailering vs. riding are off topic. I never trailer a bike to a motorcycle event. If I were moving, evacuating or taking my bike to the dealer for an extended service then trailering would be my choice.
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The "Top Block Racing" side sliders also give you another mounting point for straps... :thumbs:
(http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb336/jaywilcox/IMG00219-20110506-1507.jpg)
(http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb336/jaywilcox/IMG00221-20110506-1512.jpg)
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I don't worship Harley's! I just get annoyed by motorcyclists (especially our very own C14 owners) having the very anti (other bike) attitude, that you despise such in a lot of the Harley guys! No I just get annoyed by all A holes like this. Not just the Harley guys like that!
I have always liked all other riders.......we all face the same ever increasing barriers to staying alive while enjoying your 2-wheel, face in the wind time...Give em' all a wave!
Mike
( but jokes are always enjoyed....... F P C !!!)
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A man has gotta do what a man has gotta do, I have met a few decent hog riders over the years. But notice I said "riders/and or actual motorcyclists", the rest are usually what they appear to be. Im not gonna bash somebody for trailer hauling anything, as long as it actually gets used. :chugbeer:
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I hate Ducatis. They're a bunch of Italian... Oh wait. I own one.
I know, I'm not helping.
I hate Bultacos, Maicos, and Laverdas, so there........
NOT !!
I don't hate Harleys -- just some of the clowns that ride 'em ;D
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I have trailered all of my bikes at one time or the other. Usually it has been when I have traveled with the wife to visit the in-laws in New Mexico. I live in NE Ohio, 1600 miles one way. I also have some medical issues that make it difficult to ride for more than a few hours at a time. We ride just for fun on day trips. We trailer the bike to where we want to ride if it is a long distance from us. We now have a toy hauler so we will trailer it with us to where ever we go camping. I use a Condor wheel chock. You just ride into the chock and get off the bike. The bike will stand on its own with this chock. Just tie the back down from both sides with some pressure going to the front of the bike with some compression on the forks and you are all set. No need to tie to the front of the bike.
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Now Bob, that high blood pressure just can't be good for you. Chill-ax. Everything is wonderful. You save up and buy a Hardley and you can trailer it anywhere you want and we will all show the proper respect- I promise.
Push your Feejer up onto a trailer and we'll see all of you in PA. ;)
Brian
Hey Brian, back off! Once again it has nothing to do with you. :(
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After 4 yrs in a row trailaring my bikes from Florida to California 4 days and 3,000 one way really taugh me how to tie a bike down.
(http://i546.photobucket.com/albums/hh416/joelsuarez_2009/StLouis20059.jpg)
(http://i546.photobucket.com/albums/hh416/joelsuarez_2009/100_0172.jpg)
(http://i546.photobucket.com/albums/hh416/joelsuarez_2009/100_4514.jpg)
(http://i546.photobucket.com/albums/hh416/joelsuarez_2009/100_0146.jpg)
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You would trailer it if you were going to a five week long Army school and had to bring your gear I'd bet.
Or, perhaps, if one is just heading to “base-camp” for awhile?
(http://zggtr.org/MGalleryItem.php?id=8)