Silver Wing Hitch and Trailer

I finally got around to building myself a hitch and trailer! It was a fun project. I think the hardest part was getting the correct bends on the 1" pipe for the hitch. The pipe was heavy wall (1/8")
and took a lot of elbow grease to shape. I used a hand bender to mold it and yes there was nashing of teeth! The plate steel is 1/4" for the ball mount and side mounts.


I wanted the trailer to sit low so i made the hitch to sit below the shock center by around 3". I replaced the original shock bolts with 1/4" longer bolts to allow for the extra thickness of the hitch mount. I also replaced the front bolt with a hardened bolt because of the sheer pressure that may come on it!



I originally painted the hitch black but the area around the ball was easily scratched so i found this self adhesive rubber mat at walmart to solve that problem.



The trailer was originally a Harbor Freight 4'x4' trailer. I cut and welded the pieces to the appropriate size i needed. The box came from Lowes. The trailer came in red but i painted it semi gloss black to better match the bike. The trailer came with all the lights and wiring, nothing extra was required except the Lowes cargo box. I like that the box came with a locking lid plus the ability to use an extra lock if required.



I swapped all the trailer bulbs for led bulbs so the electrical system wouldnt be stressed.



The bike required a 5 to 4 adapter for the trailer hook up. The adapter cost around $5 and was easy to install. I soldered the wires to the appropriate colored wires for safety's sake. Theres even a small area to pass the wire through without cutting/drilling the bike!



COSTS:
Trailer= $190
Cargo box= $75
Hitch material= $25
LED bulbs= $15
Misc.= $20
           
 Total= $325

TRAILER SPECS:
Total width= 31" (swing mirrors are 34")
Total length= 62"
Total weight empty= 128.6 lbs
Total tongue weight= 11.8 lbs



I road tested the trailer with my wife onboard for around 400klm's and i would say it pulls without effort! The only time i could feel it behind me was when making sharp turns i.e. traffic lights, parking lots etc. We took it on a road test fully loaded with two suitcases packed with 4 days clothing and footwear, plus a roadside emergency kit, plus two extra open face helmets in case the weather turned nice (cold and raining)......It didnt so we only overnighted and returned home the next day. We gave the trailer two thumbs up! excellent for touring around.

Very nice and now you can go grocery shopping and leave the cager at home.Job well done  

Niiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!   

nice work  

done a similar one when had my vespa gts 300 but must admit yours looks better

because it on the SW   

"hotwings",
Very fine job. Wish I had learned to weld in my younger years.

DickO with the new MIG welders it's not hard to teach yourself at home. Also with places like Harbor Freight you can pick up a cheap MIG welder that will do most anything you would want do at home.

Thanks for the info, "28a"; my wife is gonna love you for tellin' me about that !!!     Seriously, I think I will check on it. Thanks again.

DickO wrote:

"hotwings",
Very fine job.  Wish I had learned to weld in my younger years.  

Thanks DickO but im no welder by any means. I am a carpenter by trade. I can get by doing my own welding. I did the welds on the trailer and hitch with an old school stick welder.

Now days with a MIG welder you pretty much just point the gun at the metal and pull the handle. If it burns through turn, the heat down, if it doesn't melt down into the metal, turn the heat up,if it doesn't leave a nice rounded bead above the metal turn the feed up or down depending on the look of the bead. If you play around with some scrap metal you'll get the hang of it. The biggest problem is dirt, make you get the metal free of paint, rust and dirt and you'll be surprised how fast you learn.
If hotwings can weld that good with a stick welder think how well you can get with a mig welder. With a stick welder you need to know the right rod, the right heat, the right angel and how far away from the metal to hold the rod. And that's just to start with.

hotwings my compliments to your welding skills. If you have never welded with a MIG welder try it if you ever get a chance.

model28a wrote:

If hotwings can weld that good with a stick welder think how well you can get with a mig welder. With a stick welder you need to know the right rod, the right heat, the right angel and how far away from the metal to hold the rod. And that's just to start with.

hotwings my compliments to your welding skills. If you have never welded with a MIG welder try it if you ever get a chance.

It would be nice but i really dont do enough welding to justify buying a mig welder. Another pain with stick welding is running out of stick before finishing a weld whereas the mig can weld "forever". As part of the carpentry curriculum we had to take a basic welding course. It was nice to get to know the basics.

Hi Hotwings

Extremely tidy job! A question though, when I had a caravan with a certain anti snake hitch fitted, I had to fit an extended height ball with a longer stem (25mm) to my car coz the book said that if the caravan tilted excesively from side to side the hitch could contact the stem and pop the hitch off! Just wondering coz as the swing tilts whilst riding coupled with trailer say tilting opposite could this happen or our we talking extreme angles? From your excellent pictures the ball looks quite short. Might be fussing too much but just a thought.

Best Regards

Mark

Mrpw666 wrote:

Hi Hotwings

Extremely tidy job! A question though, when I had a caravan with a certain anti snake hitch fitted, I had to fit an extended height ball with a longer stem (25mm) to my car coz the book said that if the caravan tilted excesively from side to side the hitch could contact the stem and pop the hitch off! Just wondering coz as the swing tilts whilst riding coupled with trailer say tilting opposite could this happen or our we talking extreme angles? From your excellent pictures the ball looks quite short. Might be fussing too much but just a thought.

Best Regards

Mark

I dont think this is an issue for me. After mounting the trailer for the first time onto the hitch i had a buddy tip the bike to extremes and the ball rolled in the coupler without anything hitting or binding.

Looks good Hotwings! I've towed lots of different trailers with Gold Wings. Everything from Bushtec Turbo's to KwiKamps. I'm thinking you might want to consider a swivel hitch on the trailer for better handling Dave   .

MRpw666 I made my own towbar and tow the trailer with the wife as pillion most weekends during the summer months (weather permitting) the 80 odd miles to Skegness and never had a problem. if you have a good ball and hitch I think that it is most unlikely that they would come apart with lean angle. While camping at Skeggy one night I left the trailer coupled to the S/wing parked on the side stand which duly sunk into the soft ground and slowly fell over taking the trailer over with it, no damage was done but its one hell of a shock with me and the wife trying to right a heavy scooter and trailer at 05.30 in the morning. After this incident I did not have any doubts about either my welding or the hitch separating, if it can land on its side still coupled to the scoot its highly unlikely that it would separate during normal use.  One thing that it learned me was to never park on soft grass on the s/stand without it being supported by some form of pad.

Hotwings, That is such a NICE looking hitch!

Very nice !

Can someone send me a address to order a hitch for a Silverwing to rjreeves@charter.net 931-247-4502

That is a cool set up. I would like to have one but am getting to old to use it. It looks like it would be worth the dollars for the younger people. Job well done!

Nice job hotwings nice job

ronnie reeves wrote:

Can someone send me a address to order a hitch for a Silverwing to rjreeves@charter.net  931-247-4502

http://www.customcruiserchrome.com/product/167

This is the hitch I have on my Silverwing

http://motorcycle-hitch.com/Honda_167.html

Brilliant! Terrific photos, too. Looks like you're ready to travel anywhere!

By any chance would you still have the plans for the plate on the right side
Thanks Steve

hotwings...Very nice job of fabricating both the trailer hitch and trailer. I hope you have miles and miles of travel enjoyment in your future. Many thanks for the great photos.

Not that I'm an expert, but I wouldn't want to use a trailer hitch that was connected to the trailing arm with all it's harsh movement from the road surface being put through the tow bar tongue and trailer chassis.

A hitch fixed to the suspended chassis would eliminate all the bouncing and jiggling. The tow bar, hitch joint and trailer would get a much smoother, and less stressed ride.

Most (if not all) road going vehicles have hitches fixed to the chassis/body - not the rear axle. (Agricultural vehicles excepted).

Agree, on hitch mounted to swing arm. I have about 75,000 miles of experience pulling trailer with motorcycle, some good, some bad, think SilverWing drive train not designed for extra load, braking? You might be able to get away with a Unigo single wheel trailer, provided proper hitch could be sourced.

Good job

Can someone please send me a link..i really appreciate it

joerider101 wrote:

Can someone please send me a link..i really appreciate it

This is the one I picked up cheap on eBay. It was unused, still in the original box, for a third the price of a new one. I haven’t mounted it yet.

https://denray.ca/produit/motorcycle-hitch-honda-silverwing-600-cc-2005-2009/?lang=en