• Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

Truck or trailer to transport a sport bike?

Achim

0
Joined
Apr 15, 2003
Messages
37
Reaction score
0
Location
San Leanna, TX (just outside of Austin)
This is a small problem I've been thinking about recently (actually for quite a while):
What's a better approach; using a truck or a car with a trailer to transport a bike? I'm also interested in opinions as to if a truck in general makes sense economically. I currently don't own a truck but was looking into buying one to be able to transport bigger items (such as a bike) with it. However, the horrible gas milage I would expect from a bigger truck has kept me from buying one. Is a small truck with a 4 cyclinder engine a good compromise as long as I don't care for the power? I guess I also would like to have an extended cab in order to be able to store stuff.
What do you think?
Achim
 
Howdy,

:tab If you are going to be towing a single bike on a small trailer, then a car will probably work fine provided it is not a little car. The biggest problem with cars is that the suspension is so mushy that any tongue weight on the trailer will make the front of the car stick up and the steering will get wobbly feeling. Take our saturn for instance, I think it would have the power to pull and stop a trailer with a single bike without too much trouble. But it would have to be one of those little frame trailers that aren't much use for anything other than towing a bike.

:tab I would go for a small truck in your case. I know you don't want the ground pounding fire breathing monster truck like my Dad's because you will never be pulling a huge trailer loaded with bikes like I might. A truck like Will's might do okay, but his is hardly any better than a car because he got the smallest engine with the softest suspension. However, you could easily put either of your bikes in the back of his truck and strap them down. You'd have to leave the tailgate down though.

:tab You've seen our two bike trailer right? I would not want to pull that trailer with Will's truck. The weight of the bike combined with the trailer would make the truck weave all over the place. Heaven forbid you pull the trailer anywhere that the terrain gets hilly. His truck would have a difficult and slow time of climbing any kind of steep grade with the trailer.

:tab The dilemma is that if you get a small truck that gets good gas mileage, it won't have heavy enough suspension and enough power to pull a trailer. However, it will be fine with the bike in the bed. A small truck with enough power and heavy enough suspension really won't cost much less than a full sized truck and won't get much better mileage. Maintenance on a full sized American truck will likely be a little cheaper than on a foreign model. A used F-150 extended cab would be nice but don't expect more than 15-18 mpg. The little trucks might get better mileage when you are not towing, but as soon as you put a heavy load behind them, the mileage drops off real fast, often lower than a bigger truck.

:tab Having towed many trailers with both large and small trucks, I personally prefer to have the towing vehicle as large as possible relative to the load being towed. Otherwise you get a bit of the tail wagging the dog effect. Not fun! Since you commute on the bike so much, I would be less concerned with daily mileage for a truck and focus more on how well it can handle a loaded trailer.

:tab I'm still trying to convince my Dad to sell me his F-250 Turbo Diesel crew cab ;-) You never even notice the trailer even with four large bikes on it. It gets about 15 mpg at 80mph pulling a big load. Power is never an issue :twisted: And it's real plush inside!
 
Achim said:
This is a small problem I've been thinking about recently (actually for quite a while):
What's a better approach; using a truck or a car with a trailer to transport a bike? I'm also interested in opinions as to if a truck in general makes sense economically. I currently don't own a truck but was looking into buying one to be able to transport bigger items (such as a bike) with it. However, the horrible gas milage I would expect from a bigger truck has kept me from buying one. Is a small truck with a 4 cyclinder engine a good compromise as long as I don't care for the power? I guess I also would like to have an extended cab in order to be able to store stuff.
What do you think?
Achim

What kind of car do you currently have?

How far are you planning on trailering?

I've been wanting to get a trailer for our car to pull a single bike capable trailer with. I'm tempted by those small, folding trailers that you can store against a wall. http://www.harborfreight.com sells a small one you bolt together and attach a sheet of plywood to for less than $300. A bike plus one of those would only weigh 600lbs or so and you could probably pull it with any car. Or http://www.tractorsupplyco.com has more substantial, welded metal ones for $500 or so.

The only problem is if you're going to trailer at interstate speeds, those small trailers have such dinky little tires that they might not be able to handle 75mph for hours on end. But for just trailering to the dealer for service or something, they'd be ideal.

Or, uhaul has a nice, purpose-built, motorcycle trailer you can rent for $14.95 a day. It's got big tires, and there's no issue storing it.
 
Get a real truck! My former truck was a 2001 Dodge 4X4 2500 w/the Cummins. It got 22mpg, would pull ANYTHING I wanted to and got me in and out of some pretty remote places. My wife's truck is the same, except X-cab and only gets 18mpg. Mileage doesn't change except with really heavy loads.

You might think it's overkill if you don't haul a lot, but compare prices and upkeep/maintenance and remember........that Cummins is good for at least 400K if you take care of it. You don't even need a valve adjustment on them until 125K on the new version.
 
Thanks for all the responses. Now all options are open again. ;-(
I currently have a small Nissan 200 SX which so far proved to be super reliable. It also gets more than 30 mpg. I could probably pull those smaller trailers even with this car. Since I currently have to commute on my bike to work (20 miles one way), I was considering a second vehicle. My wife needs the car every day to get to her work.
My best (least exensive) choice would probably be to install a hitch and rent a motorcylce trailer from U-Haul. I would probably need it it only a few times a year anyway. This would still leave me without a second car and I sometimes really hate riding the motorcycle to work. It's just not fun. So, I guess I'm still thinking about a second vehicle just to have more options. I don't know if I can convince myself to buy a big truck, I don't see that I ever need it.
 
Achim,

:tab If you are going to live in America, you have to learn to think like a typical American. You have to learn that "need" is a very flexible term and can be stretched and twisted to fit our every desire ;-) Call it consumer rationalization! :dude:
 
One more piece of information: I don't expect to put too many miles on this second vehice, I will still use my bike every once in while (at least that's what I try to make myself to believe).
My biggest concern is that I tie up a lot of money in a vehicle and then have to sell it 6 months later down the road under unfavorable conditions.
 
Achim said:
My biggest concern is that I tie up a lot of money in a vehicle and then have to sell it 6 months later down the road under unfavorable conditions.

:tab Well now, can't argue with that. So I won't. Any chance you are going to be able to head over this coming weekend?
 
One big advantage small trucks have over full-size trucks for carrying a bike is their low bed height. The two-wheel drive models anyway.

A 2WD Dodge Dakota might be the best compromise overall, since a V-8 is optional, and it sits a bit lower than a full size.
 
My $.02...

I was pondering the same question as you not too long ago.

If you have the room to securely store a trailer that would be the way to go. You could get another fuel efficient car with more useable interior space.

I went with a lightweight trailer that has been on 2000 mile trips with no problems. It is easier to load than a truck, also. Another thing is that I use the lockable, dry storage of my vehicle much more than the trailer or a bed of a truck.

trailer.jpg
 
Scott said:
My $.02...

If you have the room to securely store a trailer that would be the way to go. You could get another fuel efficient car with more useable interior space.

trailer.jpg

This looks like a good approach. Storage space is not a problem (at least outside). Where did you get this trailer?
 
I bought it second hand. It was originally sold by Tractor Supply Co. It sold new for $530. If you look around you can probably find a similar one for ~$350 to $450 (I paid $450).
 
Back
Top