# Towing Tandem behind Motorcycle?



## Sam Jones (Feb 25, 2005)

We nearly always take our vacations on BigBird (our yellow GL1800 Golwing
motorcycle) but wish we could take our Ventana ECDM along.
We are soon heading to Nova Scotia but would like to ride our tandem around the
Bar Habor area and carriage trails on the way.

SO - I am now considering using the axle clamps on my DUC 32 Maveric fork to
attach the bike to a dummy 24MM axle mounted on the back of my motorcycle (where
a trailer hitch would be) so that we can tow the tandem with the rear tandem
wheel on the ground. I would be using a tension strap to keep the forks in
compression so that the load would be primarily on the top of the axle.

My thougts are to strap the wheels to the sides of the frame and use another
wheel with a heavy duty slick on the back for towing just to avoid wear on the
off-road tire.

Any comments/advice/ideas/suggestions appreaciated.

Sam Jones - Frederick Maryland


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## bsdc (May 1, 2006)

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=132964


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## LWright (Jan 29, 2006)

Do yourself a favor and get a small trailer to pull behind the wing, otherwise the tandem will not survive. Bicycle hubs and rubber are just not made to stand up to those speeds and distances. You do not have to shell out a grand for a trailer, a Harbor Freight bolt together will work just fine. I even altered my 4x4 trailer down to a 3x4 with a hacksaw and $20 to have the axle re-welded. Of course there are some very nice "adjustable aluminum" trailers out there if you want to go the best.


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## Sam Jones (Feb 25, 2005)

Towing anything as heavy as a trailer wouldn't work at the pace we like to ride
and corner, etc. :>)

Do you know of any reason why my minimalist approach wouldn't work? It seems
it would be just like a UNIGO (one wheeled) trailer except a LOT lighter.

I would remove the drive chain to avoid pawl wear, etc. I'd think it would be EASY on the bearings as the rear wheel would have only around 25 or 30 lbs. load (vs the normal 150 to 200+ lbs.) Most motorcycle front wheel bearings aren't a lot bigger than the ones in bikes and they carry BIG loads + braking, etc.


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## andyt (Apr 9, 2009)

why not give it a test run for a few miles. See how it tows and when you get back see if the hub gets warm at all. If theres no heat I would think its not doing a lot of work. 

I'm speculating, but I think it would be fine. Like you say there is no load, so long as the bearings are adjusted properly and lubed I would think it would be ok. 

Difficult to say though. Never riden a bicycle at 70/80 mph!


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## Sam Jones (Feb 25, 2005)

I guess I could put GAIL on the stocker seat while I'm testing it to give it a real workout


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## LWright (Jan 29, 2006)

No, I can not point you to any tested proof that towing the tandem is a bad idea, though I am sure it exist. I remember advice to tie down wheels so they do not free spin in transit, to avoid damage. Something else besides a bicycle hub and tire not holding up to speed and distance that you may want to consider; if you turn the tandem into a "trailer" you will need to follow the same laws as if you were towing a real trailer, which means reduced speed, trailer lights, and maybe even a license plate. Again, I am not going to do the homework to prove this, just my personal opinion.
For what it is worth, I ride a Suzuki 1100 touring bike and have tried many different ways to bring my bicycles along, for me the trailer, with hwy rated tires and bearings, is the best choice.
Please post your results.


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## DaleTR (Apr 6, 2007)

*Bike on Bike*

Moto mounts (not for tandems.. yet..)
are now available without making your own...

http://www.cafemotos.com/johnnyrack/Enter.html

anmd a forum, of course...

http://bikeonbikeaction.ning.com/


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## WVhillbilly (Nov 27, 2008)

Those are nice, been meaning to make one for my KTM just have not had time.


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## Monte (Dec 20, 2003)

What's the "other wheel"? If it's a wheel with good quality sealed cartridge bearings it should be okay. Cup and cone, not so much.

Tow it.


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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

Try it!

You may have to relax the rear shock a bit so it doesn't pop up over bumps, but it seems like it might work. You may be required to mount a [brake?] light on it, though.

-F


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## Sam Jones (Feb 25, 2005)

Re: Towing Tandem behind Motorcycle - Status 


IT WORKED!!!

I completed the project and gave it a short test ride last week.
I learned a couple of things in this testing:

1) When you are backing up, as the angle of the tandem realative to the moto
becomes greater the tandem leans away from the moto. This is because the pivot
on the tandem front axle provides no support (it would just let the tandem lay
down). This is resolved by:
- avoiding getting the tandem at a sharp angle to the moto when backing
- putting a bungie cord between the tandem stem/handle bar and the luggage rack
on the top of the moto trunk to provide support when the tandem begins to lean.

2) You get a LOT of DOUBLE TAKE LOOKS!

Saturday evening we decided to take BigBird (Yellow Honda Goldwing GL1800 with
picture of BigBird on the fron and back) the ECDM, GAIL (my LOVELY bride of 45
years) and Bandit our 12 lb. Havaneese to Ohiopyle for a tandem ride on Sunday
and an overnight at a lodge there on Sunday night, etc. This is about a 300
mile round trip mostly on scenic OLD US 40 and some other backroads with lots of
good twisties.

I attached the tandem to the moto, attached the rear rack to the tandem with my
yellow paniers on the rack, attached reflectors to the paniers, added a blinkie
to the back of the rear rack, put the towing wheel with no cogs on the back of
the tandem, bungied the 2 tandem wheels to the side of the frame in the front
(resting on the captain pedals), put the dog's pouch on the tandem (under/behind
the stoker bars) and packed all the bike stuff (helmets, shoes, gloves,
backpack, etc.) in the paniers and the dog pouch). We also packed our usual
moto overnight stuff in the moto.

We got off late Sunday because Gail wasn't feeing well in the AM but she
recovered and we got off around noon. We moved along at our normal brisk pace
on the twisties and the moto handled fine. The suspension is highly modified. 
The only difference I noticed was a VERY slight floatyness in the rear as the
rebound damping on the after market shock was challended by the extra rear
weight. I noted the same effect when carrying a box attached to the trailer
hith I used to have on the moto.

The MAJOR DOUBLE TAKE LOOKS were even more obvious with the wife and dog on back
along with the tandem! Everytime we stopped we got questions (and comments on
how the rear tandem tire would fail). (It didn't even get warm and no visable
increase in the wear as it is only carrying ~ 30 to 35 lbs). I did balance it
with some solid core solder wrapped around the spoke nipples. We also got LOTS
OF SMILES!!! and WAVES!!! IT WAS FUN!!!

We got to Ohiopyle around 3:00. It was bustling with people on the holiday
weekend and had a music festaval down by the water. We took off all our moto
gear (we had worn our bike clothes underneath), checked in, got a coffee and a
snack. Loaded the dog in the pouch and took off in the downstream direction on
the bike path. It was nice and you could hear and sometimes see the rafters in
the river below and to the right. We got down the the raft take out point (7+
miles) made a U-turn and started back looking for the REAL single track trail
that follows a stream UP the mountain. We found it and headed UP the 2 mile
trail to the road above. Gail (who had to push this fat old guy and the dog up
the hill) was thankful for our 20/34 low gear which we used often). We MADE IT,
then followed the road down then back UP then down then back UP back then down
to the lodge. We were tired but had a GREAT time. It was about 2K feet of
climbing in the 16 miles total. Bandit did fine after she got used to the
jarring from the roots and rocks and her weight didn't affect the handling of
the bike at all.

It was rainey Sunday AM so we slept in till it stopped then loaded BigBird and
tandem and headed to Confuence via the back roads way for a delightful lunch at
the River's Edge Cafe. The trip home was delightful (all on GREAT backroads with
LOTS of scenery and twisties) and we got LOTS more WAVES and SMILES!

I think we will be bringing the tandem along on most of our moto trips in the
future as we love to ride different places. Also the main thing we don't like
about long moto trips is that we loose our fitness - but the the ECDM along we
can just do a tandem ride ever few days when we are in a good place for it!

I have taken a few pictures on my cell phone that I'll try to figure out how to
get off the phone and on to the PC so I can post them.

Happy Trails!

sam of GAIL, Bandit & sam


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## EHCRain (Jun 23, 2008)

Pics of the Tandem in tow?


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## patineto (Oct 28, 2005)

*the "proper" tandem mount.*


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## Sam Jones (Feb 25, 2005)

Links to some Pictures of Tandem in Tow:

http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261156&highlight=BigBird

Photo near bottom of the page in this link
http://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/o.../vent-overflow-line-on-ims-tank-cap-t3120.htm


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