Yet more Q's.. bike trailers.. tow behind a van type

Going to build a trailer to transport the virago (when i get it) soon,
wonder if people who use bike trailers can tell me their set up and any good
or bad points about the design,

Basicaly.. most trailers plonk the axle in the middle of the chanel the bike
sits in, sometimes right in the middle including the draw bar.. yet a fold
up trailer i've just seen has the axle at the back, basicaly the bikes back
wheel is over the trailers axle, more like an articulated trucks trailer
arangement.

i'm thinking the axle at the back may be the best way to go.. i last used a
small bike trailer when i worked for a recovery firm, and it had the axle in
the middle, and was an absolute bastard to reverse with any vehicle (transit
or 7.5 ton truck.. it'd just jack knife the second you turned the wheels)

My motorhome i'm going to use to tow the trailer with is 7 meters long, and
the tow hitch is about 2 meters behind the van's axle.. not ideal for towing
a small trailer.. lot of leverage back there and all that, so i want to get
the axle positioning right if i can.

Should i make it a narrow trailer, of a wide one? i can go upto 2.3 meters
wide and not stick out past the vans body.. but that's going a bit too far..
what's the standard width of the axle on a bike trailer??

Should i go for small wheels, or larger ones (i can use 8 inch upwards
wheels on the suspension units i'll be using to build my trailer)

I know someones going to tell me to just buy one on ebay or something, but i
want to customise this trailer so only the virago will fit on it, and it'll
fit well.. rather than a universal bike trailer that needs loads of straps
to hold the bike on and all that.

 

Well go and build the fucker and stop wibbling about it.

 

I want to know about this lower case i thing; I thought I was supposed
to be important and hence uppercase. Is it a New Labour thing and I've
become a dinosaur?

 

spida wrote

No you are all right. The lower case thing is yer actual
unreconstructed old liberal innit. They believe they should subsume
their individual identities to be equal and all that old bollox. All
about sending out non threatening signals and shit. You are already one
with Tone.

 

spida wrote

It could be. In fact it almost certainly is.

 

Are you sure it not merely a 'stand up and chew gum' sort of thing,
like hitting 'shift' and 'I' together?

 

Hmmmm, I'm not an expert on trailer building, but here are some thoughts;
1. Axle at the rear = increased stability with the disadvantage of increased
turning circle aka less
manoeuvrability. In your case not a problem seeing as you're driving such a
shed!

2. The greater the width = increased stability, so long as it's not wider
than it is long. I suspect general rule is aroung 2/3. I would make it the
width of a normal trailer for it's length, plus isn't the axle width a
limiting factor? If you make it as wide as your mobile shed, then it'll piss
off twice as many people trying to overtake you, it's a psycholgical thing!

3. Be careful with the reach of the trailer tow hitch , the wider the
trailer the longer it'll need to be, especially with the overhang on the
rear of your shed

4. Yup customize it for the Virago, but you'll either have to sell it with
the bike (this is when (2) becomes important as not everyone drives a shed
as wide as you), or scrap it. Personally I like costomization to fit the
bike so long as the trailer has built in ability to be modified for another
bike later in its life.



Remember a trailer is for life, not just for the summer!



Nic.F