What did you do with your Kawasaki motorcycle today?

[rjs987]

After installing the bolt-on hitch adapter I made to convert the hitch from the Uni-Go receiver (that I made last year) to a standard ball coupler design I noted that the paddock stand has a cross bar that doesn't fit around the extended adapter. I still needed/wanted to use the paddock stands so figured out that if I rolled the rear wheel onto a couple of 2x boards stacked that I could still fit the cross bar of the stand under the adapter. I've done that twice now with no issues. I put the bike on the rear stand Wednesday to clean/lube the chain. There is plenty of space under the wheel when on the stand to pull the boards out for any maintenance needed. I will likely need to remove the hitch altogether to replace the tire though but that doesn't happen often enough to be a bother. The hitch is easy to remove.

 

[ardykay54]

After installing the bolt-on hitch adapter I made to convert the hitch from the Uni-Go receiver (that I made last year) to a standard ball coupler design I noted that the paddock stand has a cross bar that doesn't fit around the extended adapter. I still needed/wanted to use the paddock stands so figured out that if I rolled the rear wheel onto a couple of 2x boards stacked that I could still fit the cross bar of the stand under the adapter. I've done that twice now with no issues. I put the bike on the rear stand Wednesday to clean/lube the chain. There is plenty of space under the wheel when on the stand to pull the boards out for any maintenance needed. I will likely need to remove the hitch altogether to replace the tire though but that doesn't happen often enough to be a bother. The hitch is easy to remove.

Congrats Bob!!!....you are now Chairman of the Boards.... ....Russ.

 

[Hvymax]

My KLR wound up slightly modified. 15 years and 40,000+ miles. Bottom melted out of the air box finally killing it last year.

 

[rjs987]

Pulled the trailer with the bike today for a grocery run. Empty trailer handles just a bit different than a full one. Didn't notice any bouncing but it telegraphed bumps a bit more to the bike through the hitch. I really didn't need to empty it since I didn't get a lot of groceries. Rode just over 25 miles with it to the store that is only 2.5 miles away. Needed to stop for gas just before stopping at the store. I had finally decided where I wanted to mount my MSR fuel bottle and also wanted to fill that bottle. It only takes 0.23 gallons (30 oz) so dribbled a little gas in after filling the bike tank. That's enough to get me 10 more miles down the road if I'm pulling the trailer. And since I would likely only need the extra bit of fuel when traveling, and that is likely while pulling the trailer, I mounted the bottle holder on the trailer tongue just in front of the cooler rack. You can see it in this pic from just before I rode away from the store. So far I've pulled the trailer 1112 miles since I bought it at the end of May this year and had it assembled in early June... close to 3 months.

 

[Hvymax]

Pulled the trailer with the bike today for a grocery run. Empty trailer handles just a bit different than a full one. Didn't notice any bouncing but it telegraphed bumps a bit more to the bike through the hitch. I really didn't need to empty it since I didn't get a lot of groceries. Rode just over 25 miles with it to the store that is only 2.5 miles away. Needed to stop for gas just before stopping at the store. I had finally decided where I wanted to mount my MSR fuel bottle and also wanted to fill that bottle. It only takes 0.23 gallons (30 oz) so dribbled a little gas in after filling the bike tank. That's enough to get me 10 more miles down the road if I'm pulling the trailer. And since I would likely only need the extra bit of fuel when traveling, and that is likely while pulling the trailer, I mounted the bottle holder on the trailer tongue just in front of the cooler rack. You can see it in this pic from just before I rode away from the store. So far I've pulled the trailer 1112 miles since I bought it at the end of May this year and had it assembled in early June... close to 3 months.

I need a trailer for the ST!!!

 

[rjs987]

I need a trailer for the ST!!!

When I had my ST1100 I also pulled a Mini-Mate pop-up camper with it. I bought a DelRay hitch and wired up the trailer harness myself. I do my own work for anything electrical on any of my bikes. I also do my own work for many other bits on my bikes like the hitch I made for my Vulcan S.

Here's my ST/camper setup... I also had designed and built the mount for the Bestem top case on that bike using an old thicker plastic cutting board my wife let me cut up using a pair of metal struts for extra support. This camper was just right for my needs on that bike but way too heavy for my current bike. (significantly more than half the weight of my Vulcan S).

 

[Hvymax]

When I had my ST1100 I also pulled a Mini-Mate pop-up camper with it. I bought a DelRay hitch and wired up the trailer harness myself. I do my own work for anything electrical on any of my bikes. I also do my own work for many other bits on my bikes like the hitch I made for my Vulcan S.

Here's my ST/camper setup... I also had designed and built the mount for the Bestem top case on that bike using an old thicker plastic cutting board my wife let me cut up using a pair of metal struts for extra support. This camper was just right for my needs on that bike but way too heavy for my current bike. (significantly more than half the weight of my Vulcan S).

I was looking at that hitch on the S and wondering that. Awesome work. I have over 40 years as a Sheet metal Worker/Welder/Inspector. I have very similar plans. For the S I would use the hollow axle with a shaft and a few pins for the yoke for a single wheel setup. For the ST I'm planning on building on a Harbor Freight 4'x8'. Towed it will be about 3' tall. I'll make panels that will assemble into about 8'x8' and 7' tall inside.