Mini mate trailer

I have been cosidering purchasing a camp trailer. I have been pulling a cargo trailer with no problems but I am concerned about the extra weight and wind drag of the camping trailer. The minimate seems to be the lightest and smallest front .does anyone have any experience with it? How does it tow. Does anyone have one I could rent for a trip to see if the 3,000 purchase is worthwhile? Or does anyone have one for sale?

Karl, don't go buy the manufacturers published weight, they all fib... a lot.

There are two other forums more dedicated to motorcycle and trailers. A lot of good info there. Motorcycle trailer towing and MotoCampers. Might want to join up and dpoing some reading on the Mini-Mate reviews and opinions. Plus some farkles and problem/solutions are given.

I have no personal experience with the Mini-Mate, seen a few, they look well made. I have my Travl_Lite and a Roll-A-Home. Both have pluses and minus. Just have to make your trade-off.

Sorry, can't help with your question but lot's of motocamping experience here... http://www.motocampers.com. Also, quite a few trailers for sale there.

I have been pulling camping trailers since the 80's. You might want to ask the seller to have it weighed? That way you would know what it is. I haven't had any problems towing other than getting rear-ended by an uncaring cager who totaled out my ST1100 and Aspen. I now have a Lees-ure Lite and absolutely love it. My empty weight is 250 lbs as I have put it on a commercial scale. My gear inside adds another 50 or so lbs. You just need to be on the look out for any situation so you can stop in time. And they sure beat sleeping on the ground!

T_C said:

Karl, don't go buy the manufacturers published weight, they all fib... a lot.

There are two other forums more dedicated to motorcycle and trailers. A lot of good info there. Motorcycle trailer towing and MotoCampers. Might want to join up and dpoing some reading on the Mini-Mate reviews and opinions. Plus some farkles and problem/solutions are given.

I have no personal experience with the Mini-Mate, seen a few, they look well made. I have my Travl_Lite and a Roll-A-Home. Both have pluses and minus. Just have to make your trade-off.

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Thanks for info . yes I joined motocampers.com last week and have been following it religously. Suprised by how many st forum guys I have found there.

I did pull a MiniMate camper for a few years with my old ST1100. Also pulled a Time Out camper with my old Gold Wing GL1500. Both seemed to pull about the same. The biggest differences from pulling a cargo trailer is the camper is much heavier. You will need to plan ahead for stopping and also take care in turns (2 wheels side by side rather than one inline with the bike). Starting up from a stop will also take a little more with a camper. But once up to speed on a highway it really didn't seem to make a difference what was being pulled... if anything as to maintaining speed. When pulling any trailer, and more so with a camper, I always recommend to keep in mind it's more like driving a truck than a bike. My MM did well tracking right along behind the bike and I never had any issues with it. Just maintained a very conservative ride. I loved the MM camper, but when I sold the ST I didn't want to make a hitch for my new bike just yet so sold the camper as well. Decided a tent was good enough for me (always solo). If my wife wanted to come along I'd still be pulling the camper. Check out my gallery for some photos of my set up.

This is my 2nd year with my mini mate. Love it! You feel it when leaving the line, but once you're rolling you can hardly tell it's there. I would recommend getting the swivel hitch as well. You won't have to worry about changing the flasher relay either. I didn't have to!

I suggest you thoroughly explore buying used rather than new - you can save a lot of $$$$ this way.

Karl, I bought a used MiniMate last year. I have yet to pull it as I am giving it some updates. The info above will be helpful for me when I start towing!

I think it will work very well for us. A bit "tight" for two, but that's OK! I suggest that you get the "Add a Room" option for the additional covered space once set up.

It shouldn't be any problem to tow with your Spyder, and I'm thinking that those 2 front wheels will help greatly with stopping.