TRailering an FLHX

[Dr. Dolittle]

I have been wanting to respond to this question from the first day it was posted, first off I don't want to offend anyone, but I have to hope these bikes are not breaking down on long trips and needing to be trailer'd to the next town for repairs. I thought the reason to buy a road bike was to ride it to your destination, are the seats uncomfortable? I have never been on one so I thought they would ride like other flh modles. Our day rides are 350+ and weekend trips are up to 800. End of the month 9 day trip will be over 3200. Again just wondering about the trailering experiance, are you tag team driving to get in 15 plus hrs. on the road to the destination?

Trailering goes right on the list with helmets, Stage One, motor oil, etc. We each have to make our own choices and noone should be passing judgement on those choices. There are many reasons for trailering - weather, amount of gear, number of people on the trip, etc. I've put in a 400+ mile day on a Street Glide and as you said, it was just as comfortable as the other FL models. But then I was in sunny Florida and Georgia all by myself so none of the factors I mentioned above came into play.

 

[Riviera Reg]

Joel - I am comfortable doing 350 a day on my FLHX but I can't do that many miles in the snow. Having the ability to trailer the bike south during the winter months in Canada adds 5 months to our riding season, which if you like to ride year round is great. When we get to a warmer climate, ditch the truck and trailer in an airport parking lot for a few weeks and go. No offence taken, I do understand your point.

2000 Classic - I agree and may try this...... I guess the two strap system on the front end just adds some additional protection against a strap coming loose. As crazy as it may sound to some people, if you have to trailer your bike - coming up with ways to properly tie down a 700+ lb bike is almost an art. If you are using an enclosed trailer, it's even worse because you can't see what's going on in there while driving down the road.

 

[joel]

Does the rear tire of the bike move side to side with road bounce, and what if you have 2 bikes, do you install a bar to be sure they keep distance between them? I think I would be checking on it / them with each fill up untill I felt comfortable. As far as not being able to ride much in the snow reminds of my older brother and how he put on dirt bike tires that he studded one winter. He said it was his only transportation at the time, I thought it was becouse he was crazy

 

[2000classic]

Joel - I am comfortable doing 350 a day on my FLHX but I can't do that many miles in the snow. Having the ability to trailer the bike south during the winter months in Canada adds 5 months to our riding season, which if you like to ride year round is great. When we get to a warmer climate, ditch the truck and trailer in an airport parking lot for a few weeks and go. No offence taken, I do understand your point.

2000 Classic - I agree and may try this...... I guess the two strap system on the front end just adds some additional protection against a strap coming loose. As crazy as it may sound to some people, if you have to trailer your bike - coming up with ways to properly tie down a 700+ lb bike is almost an art. If you are using an enclosed trailer, it's even worse because you can't see what's going on in there while driving down the road.

Reviera, I should have added that besides the main tie-down from the lower forks, a 2nd set elsewhere on the front as backup also.

 

[playhard67]

I use the bike pro with the integrated tie down kit,then just use two soft straps to keep the rear from moving

Bike Pro - Motorcycle wheel chocks .

The bike pro looks very interesting. Not just for trailering, but with the floor stand I can see it could possibly be used for servicing the bike (instead of a center stand).

Steve07 Will this work as I think? I also could not find pricing on the Bike-Pro site (strange). Can you tell me how much this is?

Thanks.

Steve

 

[Riviera Reg]

biglew55 - I think in order for the tie downs to be effective, some minor load (pressure) on the front suspension is fine, as this limits the bike from moving too much on the road. However prolonged / continuous load could possibly put undue pressure on the fork seals. I have been trailering bikes for over 20 years and never had a fork seal failure, but know guys who have, probably because the bike was pulled down too tight. In the case of my FLHX I sometimes worry about the pressure / flex on the handlebars while tied down and I always have the shop check / tighten the bars when it's in for service.

I agree with you, the trailer thing works well when the family travels. If the weather is reasonable, we unload the bike - I take the bike, they take the rig (and listen to strange music), we take our cell phones and we meet at our destination happy. If the weather turns ugly, reverse the procedure.....