Trailer hitch

I needed to move the hitch from the bike centerline to between the bike & sidecar. After all, how wide do I want to be going down the road?
I got a 6' section of 2x2 tube, planning to mount it on the lower sidecar to bike mounts. Turned out it interfered with the brake pedal. Tried it under the mounts, too low. Cut it down to 19" and welded it to the sidecar frame, problem solved. Used a 1 1/4" receiver insert and a 5" rise ball mount.

Attached to bike:

Rear view:

Removing / installing the car body

Shop crane does the lifting and serves as a dolly to move it around. Car body rests on the support legs. I used a sling under the seat to lift with.

how does that rig handle?

ntxt

Handles great! A little more pull & push on accel & decel, but not an excessive amount. Smoother throttle handles the pull while the sidecar brake deals with the push. No difference once rolling steady down the road.

OK, the hitch was done, had to do some work on the camper as it has sat way too long. New lights & wiring, serviced the wheel bearings we're good to go. It adds a bit more pull on acceleration and some more push on slowing/braking, but not bad.
It will definitely be a slower pace, time to smell the roses. We're taking some time before the BMW National to visit family (SWMBO's) in N'awlins & Vicksburg. From there we will spend a week tooling around Arkansas. Plan to base a few days in Hot Springs and a few in Eureka Springs before ending up in Sedalia, MO.
If anyone has any must see's in those areas please let me know.
Just have to put the big windshield back on so SWMBO will have the full top available if the weather turns bad.
And yeah I know it's big, but it sure makes camping comfortable!

I've wanted to do that but finding a true center seems elusive...
And wouldn't it change if the load in the sidecar changes?
IE: If you went solo and the hack was empty and you were pulling the camper.

It's not the pulling it as much as it's the stopping it.

GrafikFeat said:

I've wanted to do that but finding a true center seems elusive...
And wouldn't it change if the load in the sidecar changes?
IE: If you went solo and the hack was empty and you were pulling the camper.

It's not the pulling it as much as it's the stopping it.

Click to expand...

True, but the stress is less with the car empty, the sidecar loaded puts the weight further to the lright and adds to the pull/push effect. The load in the trailer is more balanced than if I had everything packed in the hack. Fortunately I have some excellent brakes on this bike, and the sidecar brake is tied into the bike's rear brake, fairly easy to modulate and stop straight.
After testing the effects of the trailer on pulling and cruising I did some hard braking tests from 30 to 70 mph. No problems, and like I said this will be a more moderately paced trip, backroads as much as possible. If I discover any issues on this trip I can always add brakes to the trailer.