Now I have something "new" to me... and a new project

Just sitting at my kitchen counter today and decided to do a little work on the trailer harness cable. Added the coil cover over most of it, especially the part that will be exposed to whatever is kicked up from the road. I just happened to have that coil cable cover that fits this sized cable. I also added large heat shrink tubing to both ends of the coil cover to tie those ends off.

While I was at it I added the spade connectors to the 2 wires that will need them. The right turn wire (green) and the left turn wire (yellow) will need those to plug into the relays that I am waiting to arrive later this week... hopefully. The wires for ground (white) and tail (brown) and brake (blue) will simply need to have the insulation stripped and the bare wire ends will fit into Posi-Tap connectors on existing wires on the bike. BTW- existing wires means the relay wires I already installed for the LED light bar I installed and NOT the factory wires. I never take power for any farkles from any factory wire unless it is designed specifically for something.

Many years ago I used to solder all my connections but then was reminded why automotive wires connections, as well as many aircraft wire connections, are crimped instead of soldered. Crimp connections are more reliable in environments where there is a lot of vibration. Soldered connections have a tendency to crack and fail due to the vibration.
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And for those who might not be able to see the attached photo here is the link to the photo that will show in a separate window.
New item by Robert Shwery
 
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Worked to refine the electrical diagram I have for the existing LED bar and also to add the trailer cable harness.
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I know. A lot of Posi-Tap connections but those are better than soldered pigtails that can crack under constant vibration. Most wires are 16 ga. Trigger wires are 18-20 ga
 
DannoXYZ said:
Through-bolt will be good attachment. Be sure to have spacers with large contact surface area. Make sure spacers you use are large diameter with lots of contact surface area on both sides. Looks like they should have angled faces to have full contact on both sides. This will prevent twisting/bending tubing when clamping bolts are tightened. Idea is you want zero gaps between beam and frame before tightening bolts for zero residual stress on tubing. Maybe start with something like this angled washer and mill/grind to fit.

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Will these provide good contact surface area... with nylon washers on both ends against the stainless and aluminum. They were the spacers with the largest sidewall I could find and just the right length as well.
https://a.co/d/2CYMIQe

With the flat bar welded on the ends of the square tubing it looks like there will be flush contact with both frames with one exception. The front end of the hitch frame flat bar on the right side will need to have a very slight twist (less than 5 deg at the very end) to make it flush with the front connection point. That won't be any issue at all.
 
rjs987 said:
With the flat bar welded on the ends of the square tubing it looks like there will be flush contact with both frames with one exception. The front end of the hitch frame flat bar on the right side will need to have a very slight twist (less than 5 deg at the very end) to make it flush with the front connection point. That won't be any issue at all.
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Respect to you for tackling this project.
I am easily confounded just wiring up my ST, and now the GSA for a trailer. But at least I didn't have to invent or design a physical hitch to mount the trailer to. If that were the case, I doubt I'd have a trailer at all.
Carry on; we're pulling for your success!
 
Inspired by Bob I decided to pull a trailer....1709424187038.png6000 gallons of Fireball should last us campers almost all weekend :biggrin:...after burning up 3 clutches and not being able to figure out the electrical I'm scrapping this idea:biggrin:....now what do I do with all the Fireball??!! Russ.1709424616294.png
 
@ardykay54 , you'll have to post what your hitch looked like... before and after attempting to pull that. And as for the Fireball, just set your top case to maximum size and bring a little at a time to the events.

Warm weather is here for a week or more so I pulled one of the cars out of the garage and started with taking apart the AK. I needed to remove the entire rear body of the AK to expose the rear frame so I could drill for the mounting bolts.

First, I test fitted the hitch frame sides and marked them for bending/distorting the flat bar end brackets to lay flush against the bike frame. This took many test fits. Once that was done I marked the bike frames with a pencil where the top of the hitch frames crossed them. This is so that I know where they should be put when the body is off the bike leaving no other reference.

The entire rear body comes off in one piece including both side body panels, the tail light module, the wheel well, and the rear fender/mud flap. I started the removal by first removing the tail cover behind the seat on top of the tail light module. 2 plastic rivets, slide it back a half inch, then lift slightly to clear the hooks and finesse it out from under the rear of the seat. Then I removed the Givi luggage rack and handles in one piece. There are only those 4 bolts, 2 plastic rivets, and 2 screws at the front points of the side body panels on each side that hold the rear body on the bike as well as 3 bolts holding the rear fender to the rear of the bike frame cross plate. I had to remove the clutch/CVT cover panels under the foot boards and then pull the foot boards and clutch/CVT cover panels back a half inch as one unit to pull the clutch/CVT cover panels away from the side body panels since there is one small screw on each side behind those covers. I also had to remove the gas tank cover to get at the 2 plastic rivets under that. Once that was done the entire rear body pulled off to the rear in one unit. Oh, I also had to unplug the LED light bar and license plate light and tail light plugs. The first two pictures are of each side after removing the fasteners and the rear body is just sitting loose. In one of those pics I am holding the little screw where it goes on that side. The next two pictures are of the rear body off the bike.
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Then I clamped the hitch frame tubing onto the bike frame aligning it with the pencil marks I made earlier. I started drilling the bike frame and let the drill bit go through to mark the stainless steel where that should be drilled. I took the hitch frame tubing off the bike to drill that on the marks. That's when I discovered a snag. All the drill bits I have are HSS but not cobalt bits so not really good for drilling stainless steel. I was able to drill through the bike frame aluminum easily but the stainless steel tubing is another matter. I have some cobalt bits coming from Amazon. The local hardware store and Lowe's have them but the cost is a little more. They'll be here tomorrow.

While waiting for the drill bits to arrive I went to work on the electrical connections for the trailer harness. I now have all the connections done except actually plugging in the trailer harness/cable. After I have the bike body back on the bike and also mount the hitch then I'll feed the trailer cable into the body of the bike and plug it in at the connections I have reserved for it. This last picture shows what LOOKS like a mess but believe me it really is a perfect order of wiring and connections. You can also see here the exposed rear end of the bike.
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If the pictures don't show up correctly here is the link to the series for today.
5 new items by Robert Shwery
 
I know. I have a tendency to NOT pull wires tight and end up going the other way leaving wires a little longer. The power running through those wires is not enough to cause any concern. There is a LOT of space between the frames and the body side to fit everything neatly. Once I get the trailer harness connected I'll verify all connections are working as they should. If there is a problem to be fixed at this point I'll be glad for a little extra wire available to make changes.

Waiting on a set of cobalt drill bits to drill the stainless tubing so worked on a few other things today. I started shaping and cutting the hanger bar and figured out where I'll connect it to the tail end of the bike frame. I decided I would use the drilled and threaded M8 holes that are already in the frame. I also decided I would start the upper bend for the square tubing closer to where the tubing exits the wheel well. That will allow me to run a bar across between the tubing just after that bend and I'll connect the hanger bar to the top of that cross bar. I removed the rear fender from the body unit and cut the slot where the hanger bar will drop through under the tail light.
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Drilling stainless is NOT painless. I've done it too many times in restaurant kitchens, to mount their computers and such.
I always try to use a sharp center punch and a big-ass hammer to make a starting point. And penetrating oil.
And it's STILL a great big hassle.
I've burned up a drill bit or two. Start small, get a hole, and the next larger bits will be much easier.
The first hole is a bear.
 
Really windy riding today....thought about how stable your trailer would be as light as it is!?!? (or any trailer)....Russ.
 
The drill bits arrived so I can get back to drilling holes. Even though it is said that cobalt drill bits are best for drilling in stainless steel it still takes a long time to get through with a 5/16" bit. It was only slightly easier starting with drilling a pilot hole and follow that with the bigger bit. The 1/4" stainless bar takes a REALLY LONG time to drill through. The 2 sides of 1/8" on the square tubing are easy by comparison... but still not fast going. I think by the time I'm done with the hitch frame I'll have to look into sharpening the bit or replacing it.

I did finish the mounting of the right side hitch tubing to the bike frame. The 1" spacers I bought were 3/16" short but I could make up the difference with a few extra metal washers. I couldn't find 1.25" or 1.125" spacers with a thick wall so this will work. Next up is to do the same on the left side. I do already have the first hole in the bike frame for the left side and started drilling the 1/4" bar but decided to call it a night. This old body can't take this kind of work for very long.
Here is what all that looks like.
This picture is taken from slightly behind and below the rear frame looking up at the mount points.
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And of course this is straight on to the side.
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Sadlsor said:
Drilling stainless is NOT painless. I've done it too many times in restaurant kitchens, to mount their computers and such.
I always try to use a sharp center punch and a big-ass hammer to make a starting point. And penetrating oil.
And it's STILL a great big hassle.
I've burned up a drill bit or two. Start small, get a hole, and the next larger bits will be much easier.
The first hole is a bear.
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Oil is key for cutting stainless. Even with cobalt bits. Best to mark hole locations on beams. Then remove and use drill-press to make holes. More precise and bits last lots longer.
 
If only I HAD a drill press. But I make do with what I have. Yes, use oil with the bits. I used a punch to mark the holes first. Then removed the square tubing to drill once marked. The drill goes through the aluminum so much easier. Almost like drilling wood... but not.
 
ChriSTian_64 said:
Since this is my favorite brand of chips too... how many bags can you fit in there... :p
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The capacity of that trailer is rated at 44 gallons. That bag of chips is just less than the size of a one gallon jug. So that would mean AT LEAST 44 bags of chips would fit... maybe more like almost 50 bags without crushing them. Or 25 family sized bags of chips. :biggrin:

Is that enough for you for a few weeks?

I think I can fit the big mega pack of Charmin TP or Bounty paper towels from Costco. I've already brought those home on the bike strapped to the pillion. But due to the shape of those packs I might need to unpack them to do it and would then still have room for other stuff. I'm preparing myself for the stares of others when I go shopping at Costco with my mc gear on (making it clear that I rode the bike to the store). :thumb:
 
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