Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => Accessories and modifications - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: kawacop1642 on February 11, 2012, 04:52:21 PM
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So I decided to build my own hitch since the few vendors who make them for the c14 are way out of control with the pricing. One place wants $179.00 just for shipping.
Anyway, I'm just about finished with it and will post pics on and off the bike. Will also tow my small cargo trailer for several hundred miles to test it.
I will be hoping to get some good feedback from you guys as to the location I chose to mount the hitch.
Total cost so far is about $20 bucks.
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I'm lookin' forward to seeing this, don't forget us, regardless of the results. :popcorn:
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Same here. I'm planning on doing the same.
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Sounds good. Will you make anymore.
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Part of the captivated audience :popcorn:
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:popcorn:
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Trailer hitch? Really??
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Really ... to tow his Harley around ;)
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Well I finished the rough draft and will make a test run soon. Here are several picks of the semi finished hitch. I still need to bend the ball plate up slightly to level.
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Another pic
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So, the bent bars going to the axle are under compression from the tongue weight, do you think they might need a little
vertical help from the sub-frame above the rear fender? What tongue weight are you going to test with,
and what is your approx. tongue weight goal?
Best wishes on your testing. :popcorn:
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marty,
don't think you could use a brace from the sub frame to the axle. Then you would have no travel of suspension. in other words, the shock would not compress. Would be sorta like having a ridged frame.
I designed the hitch so that the top bar slopes downward and the bottom brace goes upward which puts the rear ball evenly between the two. sorta like a vee shape. This allows the weight to be distributed evenly to where the hitch is mounted.
I am guessing the tounge weight on my small cargo trailer is probably around 40 or so pounds. The trailer itself (empty) only weighs 150lbs.
I'm gonna do a test run with the trailer attached and loaded up soon and post my results here.
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So...aren't you adding about 40 pounds of unsprung weight to your rear suspension, or am I a confused resident?
Not that it would be the first time...
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Then you would have no travel of suspension. in other words, the shock would not compress. Would be sorta like having a ridged frame.
Well DUH! ::) I shoulda thought about that. An excellent point.
Perhaps some horizontal gussets welded at the bends in the lower bars would ease my
concerns about tongue weight and hard braking causing problems at the bends.
However, carry on with the testing, maybe I'm just a worry wart. :-\
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I like what you've done so far, but I do agree with fartymarty that the addition of some horizontal gussets welded at the bends in the lower bars would help. Full length horizontal section added to the lower bars may be even better, as that would increase the strength greatly.
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After further testing (standing on the hitch, 195 lbs) I decided to weld a gusset at the bend of the left brace as it ever so slightly moved as I jumped on the hitch. Of course, the tounge weight of the trailer is not even close to this, but for the extra insurance it's woth the two mins. of welding.
Thanks for the input guys. I'm open to more suggestions.
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Is the hitch plate just welded to the backside of the main hoop? I'd want a little more support there if that is the case. Otherwise, with the stiffener added to the left lower strut, it looks good to go!
Matt
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I had noticed this thread earlier, but hadn't logged in to see the pictures. Now that I have, I can say that I admire your enthusiasm, but cannot recommend the design. I'm not an engineer, so I will probably not explain it well, but please try to follow the concept.
You are adding unsprung weight to the rear. Not a good thing in and of itself, but you have amplified the error by leveraging the unsprung weight.
Every bump and road contour will be transferring energy to the hitch, ball and tongue of the trailer. Because of the linkage in the C14 driveshaft, it is not as bad as if it were attached to a conventional swingarm, but there will still be a lot of vibration and energy transfer.
Additional loads are also being transferred directly into the swingarm and swingarm bushings/bearings, which will at least accelerate wear, and will affect suspesion compliance and handling.
I'm sorry to have to say this, but this looks like a bad design to me, and I believe that you would be risking life, limb, and property to use it at highway speeds.
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I had noticed this thread earlier, but hadn't logged in to see the pictures. Now that I have, I can say that I admire your enthusiasm, but cannot recommend the design. I'm not an engineer, so I will probably not explain it well, but please try to follow the concept.
You are adding unsprung weight to the rear. Not a good thing in and of itself, but you have amplified the error by leveraging the unsprung weight.
Every bump and road contour will be transferring energy to the hitch, ball and tongue of the trailer. Because of the linkage in the C14 driveshaft, it is not as bad as if it were attached to a conventional swingarm, but there will still be a lot of vibration and energy transfer.
Additional loads are also being transferred directly into the swingarm and swingarm bushings/bearings, which will at least accelerate wear, and will affect suspesion compliance and handling.
I'm sorry to have to say this, but this looks like a bad design to me, and I believe that you would be risking life, limb, and property to use it at highway speeds.
After reading this and thinking about it, I agree that he is correct. You don't want your hitch ball bouncing the trailer around at every little pebble in the road. It needs to be mounted to the suspended part of the bike's chassis, leaving the suspension do it's job freely. I don't think it would be risking life and limb but it definitely will affect handling to a degree that you aren't going to like.
Matt
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Well, you guys are right! I did a little test run with the trailer loaded behind me. I took it over several speed bumps and bumpy roads. I did notice that the front tounge of the traier did get thrown up some with the suspension. not severe, but enough to warrant concern if I was to hit a heavy bump at hiway speeds. Other then that, it pulled effortlessly. Didn't feel it back there.
Back to the drawing board.
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The answer may be as simple as the design, how about a pair of mini shocks or short, stout springs tying the main hoop and upper brackets? Didn't they use them on seats for hard tails? Slot the hoop, add a through connector to the bracket for horizontal rigidity and allow for the vertical travel. I'm not an engineer, but I did sleep on the mountain last night ;)
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Back to the drawing board.
Here (http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/topic,27874.msg118570.html#msg118570) is a link to one from the other board, it's not clear to me how the upper part is attached
to the receiver but I guess one can assume it just curves around and down the under side of the fender.
The horizontal loads seem easy to address, it's the vertical load that has me a bit skeptical. Especially
if one is planning two up with a trailer. The subframe seems to be able to carry a passenger and three loaded
bags OK, but a bridge it ain't.
Here is a picture of another one that I stole/borrowed from somewhere (?,Here?,sorry don't know where I got it.)
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^ CAR TIRE!!!!!! (2nd photo) :-X
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Guardando le 2 soluzioni ..per gancio traino ..entrambi mi sembrano molto pericolose perché subiscono il molleggio della sospensione Tetra Lever. ::)
Looking for the 2 solutions .. towbar .. both seem very dangerous because they suffer the suspension of the suspension Tetra Lever. ::)
MGvalerio. :)
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Hey kawacop1642,
How about if you cut off the flat pc that the ball mounts two, add two pc on 1/2" I.D. tubing to where you removed the flat part, add a pc of the same tubing to the flat part that was removed, and use a pin to connect it back together. Think "Door Hinge". Just a thought .....
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Bump,....
Back to the drawing board.
.... so kawacop' any updates for us? :popcorn:
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Well Marty,
My welder burned up and I just don't have the proper tools to make the real tricky stuff. Trying to figure out a bracket system from the seat rail to hold the weight of the trailer was just to dificult for me to make. The easy part was the round bar which I refit to the rear foot peg bracket. So I decided to brake down and order a hitch from a place called, "Custom Cruiser Chrome". They are located in Canada. They manufacture and sell Delray hitches. $340.95 plus shipping. I'll send some pics when I get it installed.
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Well Marty,
My welder burned up
Sounds bad, sorry to hear that. :( Harbor Freight welder?
So I decided to order a hitch from a place called, "Custom Cruiser Chrome". They are located in Canada. They manufacture and sell Delray hitches. $340.95 plus shipping. I'll send some pics when I get it installed.
Sounds good, at first I was worried but right now the conversion is $344. and change in US$ (plus shipping). Not too bad*.
Yeah, please share the details when you can. Thanks! :)
*This is what happens when one buys a new Garmin Zumo 665, and the French tip-over sliders. One starts to become immune to farkle sticker shock at anything under $500. ::)
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Got the new Delray hitch today and installed it. Really good setup, and pretty easy install. Just a few mods needed. Here's a few pics.
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Couple more pics with hard bags on and top case.
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*This is what happens when one buys a new Garmin Zumo 665, and the French tip-over sliders. One starts to become immune to farkle sticker shock at anything under $500. ::)
Unfortunately I agree... :-\
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Thanks for the photos. Can you take a few from the side?
Also you said that there were a few mods, care to expand on that?
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Pope,
The mods were as follows;
The two zink plated supports that hold the rear fender/tail have to be removed. I removed the two bolts and then drilled out the rivets to remove them. This is where the frame rail bracket will bolt to and join another bracket under the fender. Very easy mod.
Also, the main brackets that are welded to the round tubing bolt up behind the rear foot peg bracket. therefore, the two holes that the factory bolts thread into need to be drilled out slightly larger to accomodate the new longer bolts supplied with the kit.
The last mod was removong the rear rubber mounts attached to the underside of the seat, and cutting off the long plastic guide next to it so the the seat will lock in place. This is because the mounting brackets are located at the top of the seat rail under those rubber mounts.
It was a very easy install that only took a little over an hour.
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This is the instructions. hope it comes through.
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Thanks!
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Thanks kawacop !! Looks like all you need now is a rear fender extender to keep things clean.
'xtender or not, let us know how it tows for you, and thanks again for sharing all the details. :goodpost:
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Your welcomed. Anything to help out.
Any Ideas where to find that fender extender cheap?
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Any Ideas where to find that fender extender cheap?
See third post.
http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=128.0 (http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=128.0)
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See third post.
http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=128.0 (http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=128.0)
Yep that's it: http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=128.msg849#msg849 (http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=128.msg849#msg849) You may even want to
pop rivit a small flapper at the bottom of that to help keep things even cleaner and slow down rocks etc.