• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

pull behind trailer

bandman

New member
I love motorcycle camping myself and with the addition of wife on back of bike and wanting to camp with me, I need more room for stuff.(ie.camping equipment, my clothing and odds and ends) I have read numerous ads for motorcycle trailers. (Unigo to Bushtec) We have a K1200LT. Question is" Which type of trailer is preferred - single wheel or double wheel? While the double wheel can carry more cargo, the single wheel seems to follow the bike better than the double wheel. What say you. Right now with me - Too much information is confusing. I need info from the experienced.:dunno
 
Hi, I began pulling a trailer last year with my 02 1150RT. I pulled it to the National and then home, plus another trip through the mountains of BC, a total of about 3500miles, so my experience is limited. I wanted the same as you more room for camping. We bought a Lee-sure Lite tent trailer. The trailer is about 10 feet long formt he ball to the back, is 48 inches wide and weighs around 200lbs empty.

The trailer pulls fine. You notice your acceleration is slower and you definitely need more braking distance! On corners, once the load is set correctly you do not notice much if any difference, it tracks perfectly. You do need to remember that there is a vehicle behind you that is 48 inches wide when you pick your track through the corner so you do not drop a wheel off the edge or have the trailer over the center line.

Tongue weight is crucial, especially on the BMW. My brother tows the same trailer with a Goldwing and just loads it up and it pulls fine. My RT wants the tongue weight just right or it will wobble around at speeds. Once the tongue weight is correct there are no issues. The trailer seems to pull better when i have a passenger as well. Tongue weight needs to be 10 to 15% of trailer weight.

OK, now the evaluation. Love it! It has transformed camping to have the tent trailer, to sleep off the ground and to have a place to carry stuff. My saddlebags no longer bulge, I don't have to strap stuff on and most importantly the significant other is happy. I love the add a room so we can sit under the screens when the bugs are out and I love having a cooler to keep stuff cold. I say go for a trailer.
 
I have a 1996 r1100rt pull a Bunkhouse tent camper trailer. Have towed it to two
international rallys. I have at lot more room then I need and find it pulls fine. I do notice that it adds to may stoping distance a little and you must watch it a gas stops because you forget it is behind you and it adds to your rigs length and with.
Love camping and travel with it. (room for extra stuff and place to sleep of the ground makes camping fun at my older age)
 
I have a Bunkhouse M/C Camper and a Piggybacker cargo trailer. The Bunkhouse pulls good, but you know its there. The Piggybacker is great if your a tent camper. The Bunkhouse now goes for $4500 to $7000 depending on the extras. The Piggy backer is now about $800 . If your on a two wheeler I recomend the swivel hitch. Not for the handling, but if you drop your bike without a swivel hitch you may bend the rear frame of the bike. $$$$ Good luck...
 
pull behind

Thanks for the response. After seeing the vids about the unigo vs the others, and with our downsized camping gear, I have pretty much decided on the unigo. The size fits us and it looks as though the LT can pretty much pull it without alot of effort. :clap
 
Thanks for the response. After seeing the vids about the unigo vs the others, and with our downsized camping gear, I have pretty much decided on the unigo. The size fits us and it looks as though the LT can pretty much pull it without alot of effort. :clap

I would be very interested in hearing about your experience with this purchase ie communications, delivery timeline, quality, final costs, etc. Our Uni-go has just over 40,000 miles on it (NZ production unit). Some aspects of the trailer must be considered to keep the experience pleasant but overall we have been enthusiastic regarding performance especially. Makes the whole rig about eleven feet long so spread the weight distribution accordingly as if you have a three wheeled bike that long. Anyway, good luck with your purchase. BTW, if you can, I suggest that you ride down to Ohio yourself and pick it up and get the hitch on there. Trip home will give you lots of practice especially if you take the back roads. - Bob
 
Bushtec #1

I have been towing Bushtec Trailers since 1991 and have traveled more than 250,000 miles pulling them with my 1977 R100RS.

Don't waste your money on other trailers and get the best!

I have towed them through the Rockies from coast to coast.
 

Attachments

  • 1394234891_25f9ed259c_o.jpg
    1394234891_25f9ed259c_o.jpg
    70.6 KB · Views: 4,631
Thanks for the response. After seeing the vids about the unigo vs the others, and with our downsized camping gear, I have pretty much decided on the unigo. The size fits us and it looks as though the LT can pretty much pull it without alot of effort. :clap

As a former Unigo owner there are a few things I think you should consider. The build quality of the Unigo was all over the place. Not just cosmetic problems but build quality. On my Unigo the swingarm was screwed up. At 75mph the rear tire would grow enough to contact the bracing for the swingarm. The result was that the rear tire had chunks out of the tread. Good luck finding a replacement tire any time soon while on a trip.

By far the biggest safety problem with my Unigo was the rear axle. The axle was just a low grade long bolt. The wheel bearings they used were not the correct inside diameter for the bolt. If the torque on the axle was not tight enough the inside race of the bearing just spun on the axle. That wears the axle down and lets the back tire wobble around. It took months for Unigo to send me a new axle bolt and bearings. I measured the bolt and bought the correct size bearings. As i was tightening the axle nut the low grade bolt simple snapped in half. That would have been catastrophic on the road.

Backing a Unigo up is a nightmare. When your backing up and the u-joint they use for the trailer tongue mount gets to the end of its travel the trailer binds and tries to tip over the bike and trailer to the outside. When goiing forward the trailer tire will swivel on the pavement as the bike pulls it forward. The trailer is also so short you can't see it in your mirrors when your backing up to see how much the trailer has turned so that you can stop before the u-joint locks and tries to tip you over.

And don't forget about the weight. You will be holding up the K1200LT and the weight of the trailer in parking lots. Make one small mistake on balance and things get very heavy in a hurry.

I loved the Unigo when it worked. But with all the maintenance issues I had I just didn't trust the thing anymore. The best thing I ever did was sell the Unigo and buy a Bushtec. I have about 40K miles on my Bushtec now. I absolutely love the Bushtec. You just aim the bike between bumps and let the trailer hit the bumps. It has such wonderful suspension that you never feel it hit bumps. I also had no idea how great the cooler on the front of the Bushtec would be. We travel with friends every summer to different rallies. When we stop along the road everyone gravitates to the Bushtec. The top of the trailer lid just seems to be a natural helmet holder while everyone enjoys a nice cold drink from the cooler.

If I replace my Bushtec down the road I will be replacing it with the absolute best motorcycle trailer sold, another Bushtec!

I don't miss the Unigo at all!

68941350_sCdim-L.jpg


I love the Bushtec. It handles wonderfully and will hold just about anything you want to take with you easily!

51565633_kKsZC-L.jpg
 
The Unigo concept is pretty cool, but I just doesn't have enough storage. My Bunkhouse has 25 Cu. feet of storage. my Piggybacker has 18 Cu. feet of storage. I was told that the Unigo only has 5 Cu. feet of storage.
 
I rode my CLC out to Shady Grove, OR and bought a Bushtec just like the one Ridealot pictured, from a private party. Coming back to FL through the twisties and mountains it was easy to forget I was towing a trailer. The fit, finish, and build quality is excellant. Ride Safe :usa :usa
 
KLT1200 tower;

Its in my past now, but many miles towing with the '01 KLT was a nice time, all around NAmerica. Mine is a slightly different story, as I built my own trailer. Hitch from Dauntless Motors in Washington State. None better than this removable hitch system. My 2 wheel trailer was an open top, cargo unit and all my gear was in dry bags or waterproof to start with. Woody side rails and looked great, towed perfect. Weight was 300lbs(total trailer and cargo), loaded at its max. for our needs. Brakes on the KLT were very good. We did have one panick stop in 40000 miles, with this rig and it was scary. No brakes on trailers and panick stopping is, or can be an issue. The ABS fully engaged on the KLT one day in Wisconsin, as we got too close following traffic on a two laner. Traffic was stopping and we were late noticing it, BUT all was well as the KLT got r done. The brakes were fully engaged to the max and I worried I had killed the brakes on that KLT, but no, all was well. Notice a 200 or 300 lb trailer will push you HARD in a panic stop, so try hard to always keep your distance and ride accordingly. Randy:thumb
 
weight in and of a trailer can be a concern. When all is well......well,..... all is well but having 300+ lbs behind me is not for me. What I have found is that unless you have loaded the Uni-Go with sand, beer etc then you are not likely to exceed 60 lbs of goods (ie mostly camping stuff and some assorted hard to fit items). Trailer is 70 lbs. We have had a few challenging instances such as emergency (as in Randy's story) stops, one somewhat airborne road heave and one knee scrapper in Penn. All loaded and two up. The Uni-Go never failed to act like a motorcycle. I still endorse the concept. Besides, they just look cool anyway. I would love to still be selling them but that's not likely. - Bob
 
Another vote for Bushtec

I wound up purchasing a used Bushtec Roadmaster last year. I can't compare it with other brands, but the quality is excellent. The Bushtec hitch is very well designed, with none of the loose push-pull I've experienced towing trailers with a car. I used the trailer riding 2-up with my son to Redmond last summer. It was great having an ice cooler with cold drinks and food. Here is a picture of my son in Colorado.
 

Attachments

  • Day 5 Samuel at Estes Park Visitor's Center.jpg
    Day 5 Samuel at Estes Park Visitor's Center.jpg
    79.5 KB · Views: 1,688
Know your weight!

Towing is a great time and all my time doing it was fine. JUST know how much that trailer, all loaded is weighing back there. Its real important to know how to load it too. Too much weight towards the back will be the "tail wagging the dog" syndrom:(. Make your distances accordingly, giving yourself lots of stopping room in emergencies. You will get a good feel for the rig, after a few miles and good stops. The latest tech is brakes on trailers for bikes!!! I saw two near Chicago about 3 years ago, behind Gold Wings. These were heavier camper trailers, forgot the name brand, but American made around Chicago is all I got from the conversation. Randy
 
Don't waste your money on other trailers and get the best!

I must agree with Darryl.............I only purchased my used Bushtec last fall, but was able to use it on a few short trips. I had to keep looking in the rearview mirrors because I couldn't feel it behind the bike. Bushtec also fabricated a made to order hitch for my bike since there were none on the shelves. The model of the
trailer I purchased is no longer made but the quality of a rig over eight years old is still there. Like new condition. The trailer was purchased in order to bring along more creature comforts when we go camping, we tent it, towing most of our gear instead of loading down the bike only made sense.

trailer2.jpg


trailer3.jpg
 
2 wheel trailer

I have never understood why a one wheel trailer would be better. With one wheel you have more weight leaning into the turns. With a two wheel trailer, the weight is nuetral, the trailer is just being pulled and stopped, not leaned. If more weight leaning was better, wouldn't race bikes be adding weight instead of shedding it?

In 02 I purchased a Neosho Starlight 19 with the intentions of later buying a used Bushtec. I like the Neosho enough that I am no longer looking for a Bushtec. Although the Bushtec is shown to be less bounce, I don't see that as a problem. When I first started pulling the Neosho, I thought that it did not bounce as I could not feel anything. On a trip to Maine, we had a bunch of bananas on top of the food box. Apparently the trailer did bounce as the bananas needed to be eaten with a spoon. A bump on the outside does cause a bruise on the inside. So now we just pack the bananas a little lower in the trailer. I still don't feel anything when it bounces.

Our trailer is only 3/4" wider then the bags on the bike so no wories when pulling into gas pumps. The tires are standard 8" trailer tires available at any Walmart nationwide (I still carry a spare). I didn't opt for the carpeted interior so packing a wet tent is not a problem. We only pack the trailer about 2/3 full and th4en when we stop all our riding gear goes into the trailer, out of sight and kept dry.

I have pulled it about 30K miles with our airhead and another 18k with our oilhead. Both bikes handled better with the trailer then when they were overloaded with camping gear and 2 up. Although the trailer adds weight, I can pull it across a parking lot fully loaded with one hand. I can not carry a 1/4th of the stuff in it with both hands. Happy trailering.
 
Back
Top