has anyone mounted a trailer hitch on an FJ?

[93fj1200]

I would like to know if anyone has mounted a trailer hitch on an FJ.  I have a 1993 FJ1200.  I know that there is a lot of suspension movement on the type of bike and a regular hitch as I had on my Venture Royale doesn`t work.  There are only a few mounting points on the bike and I am not sure if they would be strong enough. If anyone has photos, they would be helpful.  I was in an accident with my Venture Royale in Mexico and I have my trailer stranded there. I would like to go get it but I have my FJ now.  I do not remember seeing a hitch mounted on a monoshock type suspension before but I positive I can`t be the only person who could use this. Your help would be appreciated.
Greg

[rktmanfj]

From the old, OLD FJ archives:

>>{1.7} Trailer hitches on FJs?

This set up actually works pretty well and I'm of the belief that its safer to tow it than stow it on the bike. I had a hitch custom made and it cost about 100.00. It mounts to the rear exhaust mounts, the turn signal mounts and another mount on the frame about a foot in front of the turn signal mount. This third mount point was already on the frame and I think its for luggage. I pulled a trailer with a Goldwing in the past and this setup feels about the same. Of course the mileage goes down by about  20 percent (about 42 down to around 34). You can definitely feel it back there, when its fully loaded the trailer grosses about 350 pounds. I probably notice it most in roll-on acceleration, instead of 70 to 90 in a heartbeat its more like two heartbeats. Several very critical points: The swing arm must clear the hitch through it's full motion (the rear wheel has 4.8 inches of travel). The ball on the hitch should be 12 to 15 inches off the ground when the bike is on the ground. Run 5 wires to the trailer not 4: Brake, ground, left turn, right turn, and running lights. Put a swivel connection in place of the ball or on the trailer tongue.

[Mark Wallace]<<

[Zwartie]

I would like to know if anyone has mounted a trailer hitch on an FJ.  I have a 1993 FJ1200.  I know that there is a lot of suspension movement on the type of bike and a regular hitch as I had on my Venture Royale doesn`t work.  There are only a few mounting points on the bike and I am not sure if they would be strong enough. If anyone has photos, they would be helpful.  I was in an accident with my Venture Royale in Mexico and I have my trailer stranded there. I would like to go get it but I have my FJ now.  I do not remember seeing a hitch mounted on a monoshock type suspension before but I positive I can`t be the only person who could use this. Your help would be appreciated.
Greg

I haven't seen an actual FJ with a hitch but my brother picked up a single-wheel trailer for his ST1100 last year. We saw the manufacturer at the Toronto motorcycle show last year and this year and he had a Hayabusa at the show with a hitch and trailer. Go to http://www.thirdwheeltrailers.com/index.php/home to check it out. I believe the thing to do would be to connect it through the rear axle assembly.


Good luck and post pictures if you get something to work.

Ben Zwart
London, ON
1992 FJ1200
1977 KZ200

[93fj1200]

Thanks for the website. I read it and they say that you need a hollow axle shaft for their system to function. If you think the roads in Ontario are bad, check out Guatemala and Honduras, I never pushed it past past 90kph in Honduras, there was potholes bigger than a car and 2 feet deep. And on one place near Esperanza, Honduras, the road changed from a 4 lane to a 30km goat trail in a few seconds.  Beautiful scenery if you want to take a chance and take your eyes off the road for a look.

[SlowOldGuy]

Hi Greg Hunter,
Welcome to the site.

DavidR.

[racerman_27410]

you could always put on a FZ1 or thunderace swingarm... they both have hollow rear axles   


KOokaloo!

[93fj1200]

Well, thanks for the information but I still haven`t found anyone who has installed a trailer hitch on an FJ. Hard to believe that, of all the FJs sold, there is nobody who has done one. There seems to be so many people who are very inventive here in this website. 

I am in Panama so I am a little limited to what can get done here. They don`t have the resources like North America or Europe.  I was thinking about getting a longer axle bolt made up by a machine shop to give me another strong mounting point and use that with the exhaust mounts to provide a stable strong mounting point for the hitch. Any suggestions on how the bolt should be done or any other helpful considersations? Thanks in advance.
Greg

[FJmonkey]

Well, thanks for the information but I still haven`t found anyone who has installed a trailer hitch on an FJ. Hard to believe that, of all the FJs sold, there is nobody who has done one. There seems to be so many people who are very inventive here in this website. 

I am in Panama so I am a little limited to what can get done here. They don`t have the resources like North America or Europe.  I was thinking about getting a longer axle bolt made up by a machine shop to give me another strong mounting point and use that with the exhaust mounts to provide a stable strong mounting point for the hitch. Any suggestions on how the bolt should be done or any other helpful considersations? Thanks in advance.
Greg

I thought I some posts a while ago of someone fabbing up some bit tow a trailer. I could not find it when I searched the files. Anyone else remember this?

[tmkaos]

About 6 months ago there was one listed at this site www.trademe.co.nz, specifically for an FJ. Someone either bought it or it never sold. I've just checked and it's no longer listed, but another Kiwi FJer might have picked it up.
From what I remember from looking at the pics it seemed to have washers welded on the ends of 2 bars that replaced the standard washers on the rear axle on either side of the swingarm. The bars then protuded to the rear of the swingarm and were bent into a U shaped, with a coupling centred behind the wheel. 
As long as you had the coupling parts I can't imagine any engineering shop couldn't fabricate something for you.

As an engineer myself, I imagine this attachment point would be strong enough - within reason. What I mean by that is if you load that trailer with a 1/2 ton then crack that throttle wide open you might find yourself with 2 half-bikes but sensible usage in my opinion would be ok. The only downfall I see is the single attachmnet point would allow the whole unit to pivot if enough vertical force was applied - it might need another attachment further along the swingarm to stop this from happening.

I've never seen a trailer hitch (down here they're called tow bars) on a bike so correct me if I'm wrong but you are suggesting using both the swingarm and exhaust mounts to attach to? Both of these components move independantly of each other, the exhaust mounts are attached to the frame whereas the swingarm pivots from the frame as the shock compresses... By using both of these mount points I fail to see how you can do that without the effect of locking the bikes rear suspension up... 

In my opinion the only place to attach the hitch is off the swingarm by itself or the body by itself - obviously the swingarm, and in particular the axle, stays a static distance from the road surface, thus providing a more stable mount and would be my prefered option,  and the body of the bike moves up and down relative to the road as the suspension compresses and extends..

Just my 2c worth anyway... I'll do a bit more searching and see if I can come across some pics for you of the one I saw...

Happy riding,


James

[baldy3853]

I would like to know if anyone has mounted a trailer hitch on an FJ.  I have a 1993 FJ1200.  I know that there is a lot of suspension movement on the type of bike and a regular hitch as I had on my Venture Royale doesn`t work.  There are only a few mounting points on the bike and I am not sure if they would be strong enough. If anyone has photos, they would be helpful.  I was in an accident with my Venture Royale in Mexico and I have my trailer stranded there. I would like to go get it but I have my FJ now.  I do not remember seeing a hitch mounted on a monoshock type suspension before but I positive I can`t be the only person who could use this. Your help would be appreciated.
Greg

I ran a towbar on my 93 model for about 5 yrs and never had any trouble with it, cant supply a pic as Ive since sold the bike, will look thru my old pics later and see if i can find it, did a lot of K's with the trailer on will see if Klavdy has any pictures.
My trailer was a home made job weigthed in at 65kilograms and had a a 500litre capicity, most important that when the trailer is loaded the drawbar weight does not exceed about 20kilos. Have the trailer axel unsprung and run nomore then 15psi in the tyres.
When towing never really noticed the trailer on the back except on down hill corners under brakes.
Still have the trailer which I now tow behind my FJR, will get some pics of it up here soon
Baldy

[Rich Pleines]

FJ trailer hitches available for sale.

"Most of our Motorcycle Trailer Hitches mount in a very similar fashion.  The draw arms or pull arms usually attach to the passenger footpeg mounts or to the muffler mounts.   The upright weight bearing arms usually attach to the frame, on the fender brackets, saddle bag mounts or sissybar mounts. They are bolt-on and you don't have to make any permanent changes to your motorcycle. "

http://www.customcruiserchrome.com/


YAMAHA 1200 CC FJ 1986 +
SKU 99

Weight     20.0 lb

   
Price     $245.95

Qty 
   

[93fj1200]

Thanks for your ideas, you are right about the mounting points. What do you think about if I use the washer idea but use a bar and a clamp going a little further up the swingarm to provide the point of stability that is needed?

[93fj1200]

FJ trailer hitches available for sale.

"Most of our Motorcycle Trailer Hitches mount in a very similar fashion.  The draw arms or pull arms usually attach to the passenger footpeg mounts or to the muffler mounts.   The upright weight bearing arms usually attach to the frame, on the fender brackets, saddle bag mounts or sissybar mounts. They are bolt-on and you don't have to make any permanent changes to your motorcycle. "

http://www.customcruiserchrome.com/


YAMAHA 1200 CC FJ 1986 +
SKU 99
Thanks for the website. I am sending them an email to find out how they mount it or what it looks like. They only have photos of traditional trailer hitches in their gallery on cruiser/touring bikes, not sport or sport/touring bikes. I tried adapting one of those hitches when I was in Mexico and I couldn`t get it to work because of the huge suspension movement.

Weight     20.0 lb

   
Price     $245.95

Qty 
   

[93fj1200]

I ran a towbar on my 93 model for about 5 yrs and never had any trouble with it, cant supply a pic as Ive since sold the bike, will look thru my old pics later and see if i can find it, did a lot of K's with the trailer on will see if Klavdy has any pictures.
My trailer was a home made job weigthed in at 65kilograms and had a a 500litre capicity, most important that when the trailer is loaded the drawbar weight does not exceed about 20kilos. Have the trailer axel unsprung and run nomore then 15psi in the tyres.
When towing never really noticed the trailer on the back except on down hill corners under brakes.
Still have the trailer which I now tow behind my FJR, will get some pics of it up here soon
Baldy
[/quote]

Thanks, like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Do you remember the mounting points or what was used?

[1tinindian]

Sorry that I don't have any details on this set up, but I'm sure some of us here may remember it!
Leon