• 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?

2015 GTL Trailer??

wgcummins

New member
We are thinking we need a bit more room on our GTL and were thinking (looking) at trailers. We think we like the "Uni-go" brand but we just need a little advice from anyone with experience. Has anyone put a trailer on their GTL? What was the brand/style? How did it effect the handling characteristics? Did you install the hitch yourself or by another?? Was the wiring difficult?? Would you recommend a trailer to others? What advise would you give now? Uni-go vs N-Line ?
 
trailers

I trailered quit often with my Lt At first I looked at the Uni-go and guys wrote back about bad wobbles at highway speeds, while others wrote and said they loved theirs. I think there was a problem with the axle wearing which caused a problem at speed. I checked into the elegant Bushtec and really loved it except the price was really up there. No doubt it is worth it because it is really and excellent trailer. I saw many Aluma trailers behind motorcycles. We have a dealer at home and he convinced me to buy one. If I was not happy with it, he would buy it back. I still have the trailer and I must say that it pulls like a dream. In fact, I have to look behind to see if it is still there. Now, my problem is I now have a K16 GTL and I am about to buy the DMC hitch for it. In my opinion, the DMC hitch is the only one to buy. It is not flimsy but very well made. You can take the insert out when not trailering and you can not even see the receiver. Comes complete with all wiring with excellent directions. So there you have it. One other thing about the Unigo trailer, when I looked into it, the company was just sold, I think, to a Canadian Company and parts were hard to get. Problem was with the steel in the axle. Good luck with your decision.
 
I tow a Unigo with my '12 GT. Initially I had a wobble issue but it wasn't the fault of the trailer, it was a hitch issue. I used a Bushtec hitch with the Unigo adapter; too much flex. I welded the adapter directly to the Bushtec drawbar which solved all wobbling issues. You literally do not know the Unigo is back there 99% of the time. I wouldn't hesitate to go with another Unigo. Although a Unigo is small it effectively doubles your carrying capacity without overloading the motorcycle. Great choice for extended trips 2-up when your significant other wants to carry the blow dryer, curling iron, 3 pairs of shoes, etc. When we tour I tell her if it fits in the Unigo you can take it...

Duane
 
Unigo

I have a Unigo I pull with a LT. I have a hitch designed by Unigo. We fill it up. been on a two week 3,000 mile journey East to maine and West to Idaho. I have pulled the Unigo on short journeys as well. I have gone too fast with it. I really do not notice it behind me. the only time I notice it is when I park. Although it doubles our storage it is still tight but it does allow us to take the big tent and other camping gear. When we stay in hotels we really have a lot of room. I also would add that it does add a little weight to the center of gravity. That is the drawback to a Unigo.


John
 
Uni-go on K1600

My wife and I use the uni-go on trips. I do not feel it back there...I have taken it into hotel rooms easily... it holds 35 gallons of volume and is rated for 110 lbs of payload and weighs around 70lbs empty. it's by far the safest and best option in trailers as it leans with and follows the bike exactly. The LED lights can be programmed to initially flash when braking and just add to the rear visibility. I have their trailer hookup for it and when not using it you cannot tell it's there as the hitch comes off the 'socket' on the bike. You can get custom paint to match your bike or do what I did and get black....Go for it!
 
A newbie pulling a trailer

I just returned from California. I have a 2016 GTL and recently retired. In addition, my best friend suggested that I purchase a larger bike to replace my 2009 RT as she would like to start accompanying me on my camping trips. We live in Missouri but have 2 daughters living in California and one had a child 2 days before my retirement. I researched and found a USA made trailer in Oklahoma just 30 minutes from a third daughter in Tulsa. I purchased and installed a trailer hitch from DMC sidecars. They provide a wiring harness with the purchase of a hitch. The installation was straight forward with a couple of exceptions. I had previously installed Ilium crash bars. The hitch uses the same connection point as the bars requiring the tracking down some 65 mm bolts. The hitch provides 40 mm bolts. I contacted DMC and they told me that they do have the longer bolts but suggested it would be less expensive to find them elsewhere and save the shipping costs. I did find them on Amazon but perhaps DMC would swap out the 40 mm bolts if you contacted him prior to ordering a hitch. The instillation was not difficult but did take a lot longer that the YouTube video would suggest. Be careful to match up the bolts you remove with the plastic pieces. I laid out a canvas paint tarp in the garage and that worked well for me. Plan on spending about 4 hours to remove the plastic. The wiring harness wiring as presented in the instructions provided the correct color codes. I placed the relays close to the seat latch rather than just behind the battery and this allowed me to use the sticky tape provided to secure them in place easily. Be careful to avoid accidental shorting out by disconnecting the battery before making any connections. The ball for the hitch screws into the receptacle and has a lock washer. THIS IS NOT SUFFICIENT, BE SURE TO PURCHASE RED LOCTITE AND SECURE THE BALL TO THE HITCH. Don't ask me how I know, but a serious incident was avoided after a trip to a Lowes store in Nevada.

The wiring harness is a 5 wire round. This means there will be 5 connections to be made to the trailer. On the bike side there will be a ground, brake, left turn, right turn and running lights. The trailers will have a 4 wire flat connection, ground, Left/brake, right/brake and running lights. I found the easiest way was to add a fifth wire from the back on the trailer to the 5 wire round dedicated to a separate brake light. I settled on Hyperlites. The Hyperlites are meant to go on a the back of a bike and not a trailer. The bracket is sized for the bike license plate and not the larger trailer license plate. I ordered the mounting bracket, cut it in half and attached it to the trailer with bolts and lock nuts. Any drilling through the metal trailer to route the wires exposed sharp edges. A trip to Lowes and I filled the holes with rubber grommets to prevent the metal from cutting the wires. Worked great! I cut off the 4 flat connection and wired it to the 5 round connector.

The trailer is from Mini-Trailer USA. The owner was extremely helpful. I slipped him a little extra and he ran the extra brake wire inside the trailer wiring harness before I picked up the trailer. He also loaned me tools to install the brake lights. He convinced me to order the Nomad trailer which is a little larger than the one I was going to purchase and I am glad I did. All my camping equipment and a cooler fit nicely inside the trailer. I did not order the swivel hitch so I cannot comment on whether that would affect the traillering experience. I found that the only time I noticed a trailer was behind me was in the mountains going around curves. The trailer, of course, wants to proceed in a straight line and exerts a vector pushing the rear of the bike going around a corner. My advice is to slow down in the curves and it will not be problem.

The K1600 had absolutely no problem pulling a trailer when fully loaded and 2 up. I was not sure I would enjoy pulling a trailer but after a 5000 mile trip to California and back to Missouri, I am sold on the trailer. I enjoyed having ice cold water in the cooler, an extra summer weight jacket on those hot days and much more. Having my wife join me on future camping trips will be icing on the cake. If you are concerned about how the bike will take to the trailer, put those concerns to rest
 
Trailer hitch. / Wiring

I have read this thread several times and have tried to gain all the information available.

I have decided to go with the Unigo for the simple reason that it is removable and can be brought into a hotel room when not needed. We often go to an area and stay at the same place for multiple days.

I would like to place the wiring harness from the bike side down and permanently mount it just below my license plate. Do either the DMC or the Unigo harnesses come with a cover for the harness? Has anyone else ever mounted the receiver end of the harness in this way? Is there any kind of difference in the two hitches?

Thanks in advance
 
I am going to make a suggestion that most will state as obvious. I do not have a Uni go but another brand one wheel trailer for the past five years. I was told by more than one person that a small trailer wheel/tire does not need to be balanced. That is incorrect. A year ago I had the unbalanced trailer tire become unseated at speed. I pulled over to the shoulder without incident. Although the trailer was almost always unnoticeable in the past, it rides and tracks far better with a balanced wheel.
 
Not sure if it helps or not, but i have built two single wheel trailers. I built my first one years ago and liked it, but sold it and built another. The gent that bought my first trailer put many trouble free miles on it. I built a second single wheel trailer and have pulled it maybe 25,000-30,000 miles with no issues. I bring this up because the trailers were my own design, as were the hitches for my motorcycles. My first hitch I built seemed very solid, but when towing the trailer I could feel the trailer wiggling back and forth. I rebuilt the frame, and it helped a bit, but then I built a new hitch, making sure it was much more rigid than the first. The trailer never wiggled at all. What I am getting at is the hitch needs to be very rigid when towing a single wheel, much more than towing a two wheel trailer with a ball hitch. A single wheel adds twisting forces to the hitch that a two wheel doesn't. If you have a Unigo and it wiggle or wobbles I would suspect the hitch. Keep the hitch short and tight. Any slop will allow the trailer to wiggle. With a receiver hitch you need to find a way to get the draw bar tight in the hitch tube. My current hitch is a receiver type but I don't rely on just a pin to hold it in place, I bolt it in place.

Most BMW hitches mount farther forward and sort of hang out to back of the bike so there is a lot of potential for twist in the hitch. If you can put pressure on the side of the hitch and see it flex it is not rigid enough.
 
Keeping drawbar tight

The Bushtec hitch I use for towing a Unigo comes with a bolt you tighten after installing drawbar. Bolt takes all slop out of the drawbar, this is a MUST for towing a Unigo.

Duane
 
Concur - Bushtec

Just to chime in, I bought a used K-GT about one year ago from Morton's BMW in VA. We had also bought a Time Out pop-up camper from a club member to tow behind the GT. Morton's did a terrific job getting the necessary hardware and making the trailer & bike work together.

We've done some camping trips up & down I-81 and everything behaves Extremely Nicely - up to ~90mph... We were intending to travel to the D2D non-rally in YT and tour AK in summer of 2018. https://dawsoncity.ca/event/d2d-motorcycle-ride-not-a-rally/ Bought a big house in AL, by accident, instead (a very long story)... The Loaded camper weighs in at ~500 lbs; the bike just needs careful management at uphill or off-camber stops. Works very nicely IMHO!

Just plunk down some money, have the job done properly, and then travel care free... Nothin to it!

CIAO, P&K
Rocket City, USA

bike-trailer.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I took a look at the third Wheel Trailers. I my opinion, it just doesn't have the same aerodynamic look as the Uni-Go.

Ron
 
I don't feel the aerodynamics of the trailer are that important. The trailer sits in the turbulence behind the bike, not in clean air. The one trailer I built is a rectangular diamond plate tool box, 36" long x 24" wide x 20" tall. I get the same MPG with or without it.

Ultraandtrailersmall.jpg
 
I pull an Amoric trailer behind my bikes. It is seven cubic feet, (two cubic feet larger than a Unigo) and more reasonably priced. It comes with a centre stand for when parked without the bike. The company produces two model styles. http://armoricdesign.com/en/
 

Attachments

  • R1100RT Cabot Trail.jpg
    R1100RT Cabot Trail.jpg
    56.7 KB · Views: 143
Hey Thanks for the post. I started this thread and am still waiting on my Uni-go even though I ordered it in Oct 2018. So I looked up Armoric and called them. They said they aren't DOT certified here in the U.S.. I like the Sport trailer they have and especially the large opening I just wish it was certified, I'd tell Uni-go Bob to pound sand. I've waited so long and have heard soooo many excuses why my trailer still hasn't shipped. I lost patience long ago and am only waiting on Uni-go because I really like their trailers. Bill
 
Back
Top