Canoe Trailer

ReycleBill

ReycleBill

Part Time Tyrannicide
XS650.com Supporter
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Location
Greensboro, North Carolina
I decided to combine my love for fishing, canoeing and motorcycles by building a canoe trailer to toe behind my XS650:

Canoe%2BTrailer.jpg


I'll be posting here at the forum and here: http://billysmotorcycles.blogspot.com/2011/09/single-wheel-motorcycle-canoe-trailer.html
 
I am thinkin' this looks mighty scary.... I would pull a canoe with a motorcycle short distances on "back roads" but the trailer would have two wheels centered just aft of the canoe center.
My first "real" motor cycle a 305 scrambler had a trailer hitch to pull a canoe from the PO I never used it and removed it.

7250d1201528135-my-homemade-bike-towed-canoe-trailer-ctrlr5.jpg


Details here; [URL="http://www.redbayfarm.com/bicycles.html"[/URL]
 
It appears to be a single wheel trailer also, very cool Bill. Are you planning to use an old universal joint for a hitch or make your own?

I'll be very interested in how you fare as I have thought about making a canoe pulling contraption too. I thought about using the canoe for the frame and strapping a set of wheels on the back and some sort of hitch on the front to connect it to the bike (eye bolt?). The wheels could then be used to transport the canoe from the bike to the put-in.

Tom
 
nj1639 said:
Hen pics....kinda looks like my place 'cept for the asphalt sidewalk. Rhode Island Red and Buff Orpington, good layers 'cept the Buffs like to go broody.
Click to expand...

The Buff is a cross between a Buff Orpington hen and an Auracana rooster. She's an Easter Egger who lays blue-green eggs. And yes, they are great layers and she does tend to go broody.
 
gggGary said:
I am thinkin' this looks mighty scary.... I would pull a canoe with a motorcycle short distances on "back roads" but the trailer would have two wheels centered just aft of the canoe center.
My first "real" motor cycle a 305 scrambler had a trailer hitch to pull a canoe from the PO I never used it and removed it.

7250d1201528135-my-homemade-bike-towed-canoe-trailer-ctrlr5.jpg


Details here; [URL="http://www.redbayfarm.com/bicycles.html"[/URL]
Click to expand...

That picture does look scary-- the wheels are too far forward. But then high speed wobbles behind bicycles aren't a big concern unless the bicycle is one of these: http://www.ezgreensboro.com
 
Tomterrific said:
It appears to be a single wheel trailer also, very cool Bill. Are you planning to use an old universal joint for a hitch or make your own?

I'll be very interested in how you fare as I have thought about making a canoe pulling contraption too. I thought about using the canoe for the frame and strapping a set of wheels on the back and some sort of hitch on the front to connect it to the bike (eye bolt?). The wheels could then be used to transport the canoe from the bike to the put-in.

Tom
Click to expand...

I'm considering a couple of different options for the hitch. Still weighing my options.

I once knew a guy who built a clamp-on rig for his canoe. He would load his bike in his truck and haul the canoe on the rack and drive to the take-out on the river. Then he would hook up his rig behind his bike and haul the canoe to the put-in. That way he could do river trips by himself.

Me, I like river trips but won't be doing any whitewater by myself.

If you size your eye bolt correctly so that most of the slop is eliminated it works pretty good but some slop is needed for crossing bumps. I've built some trailers in the past that used eye bolts.
 
Bill, looks like you have pretty interesting house my friend. Ever get over to see Hugh? Seems like there are a lot of NC xs650 guys. Someone should organize a meet up before the weather turns to crap.

I'll show.
 
alfredo said:
Bill, looks like you have pretty interesting house my friend. Ever get over to see Hugh? Seems like there are a lot of NC xs650 guys. Someone should organize a meet up before the weather turns to crap.

I'll show.
Click to expand...

I bought a frame from Hugh back months ago and we met in Salisbury. He's planning a shop party soon that I hope to make: http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10927

Seems like we might could get together and ride there as I'm on your way.
 
This was at the slimy crud run and I saw it for sale on Craigslist last summer.
P5020045.jpg


Captioned only in Wisconsin.
 
gordonscott said:
Hey Bill, I knew I had seen a thread about trailers some place and after some searching I found it :thumbsup: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113997
Click to expand...

A lot of good stuff there, Gordon. I'm still going through it. I noticed the guy that started the thread used a bicycle wheel. Bicycle wheels are much stronger but as I've learned in several years of building these ( http://www.ezgreensboro.com ) the bicycle bearings and axles simply won't stand up to highway speeds. That's why I'm biting the bullet on weight savings and starting with a swingarm and wheel assembly from a street legal XT200 Yamaha.

Wheel bearings can and do catch fire!
 
I've decided to use a U-joint type of hitch but will keep the hitch level with the axles for better handling. I think. I'm wondering if mounting the hitch higher might give the bike more leverage over the trailer or if that would simply add more weight.

My hitch will bolt to the center stand mounts that I no longer use and to the old turn signal mounts (my turn signals are on my saddlebags) so that weight distribution and unsprung weight can more easily be controlled/reduced.

On the trailer frame there will be an adjustable gear box mounted so that I can slide it forwards and backwards for optimum weight distribution. I'll secure the sliding gear box with clevis pins.

I'm not a great welder so I plan to bolt everything together then get one of my brothers to come over and weld everything solid.
 

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