Harbor Freight Trailer

Question

Question.. on tongue weight. I will soon be pulling my first trailer with a motorcycle the trailer is a piggy backer cargo trailer same as Harbor Freight trailer except for the 12″ wheels and torsion suspension. that I’ll be pulling with a 2014 Honda F6B Goldwing that I am running a car tire on the rear. What is the ideal tongue weight what’s too much or not enough how do you calculate it. Also what is a good tire pressure. I will be changing out the factory tires to radial tires.

Bobby 6 years 21 Answers 2064 views 0

Answers ( 21 )

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    when the front end sits up on thie bike,,,,,,,,go for it I do

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    havent made the front end sit up on mine yet tho

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    10% of the total trailer weight is a good tongue weight. And I run max pressure in my trailer tires, but I also pull about 500 pounds

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    I have found on my goldwings that 20-25 lbs tounge weight is the best on any trailer I’ve towed in the past 60,000 miles of cross country trailering. I tried the 10% of the trailer weight and that is not for motorcycles. You get into steep downhill twisties with over 30 lbs tounge and you’ll find the trailer will start swaying a bunch as you brake hard. Not a good situation to be in.

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    12-15 kgs on the ball \nRadial tyres go with the manufacture recommendation

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    This is why I asked the question here on this page to get knowledge from the ones that have did it or still do it. 3 replies three different answers and have read or been told all three ways in the past couple of months

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    Typically 10% of total and a fish scale from a sporting goods place works real well.

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    I have a fishscale and I have used it on the tongue of the trailer with it loaded with every just about everything I’m thinking I’m taking on a trip other than one sleeping bag and 2 medium sized suitcase and have a tongue weight or fishscale weight of about 34 lb

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    I’ve had anywhere from 20 to 110 lbs on mind and never had a problem. But never load trailer to heavy behind the tires of the trailer. that will get you in trouble.

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    As Jerry Rogers said, your tongue weight should be about 10 – 15 percent of your total weight. Another factor is to have about 60 – 65 percent of your load in front of the axel. That is very important. Many people use an inexpensive luggage scale to check the weight on the tongue.

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    I pull a bunkhouse and also have the HF tagalong, with both I run 10-15% tongue weight. When my bunk house is full loaded it weighs in at 750lbs and I run 75lbs tongue weight, tried less and made trailer swag. And before anyone says way to much tongue weigh everyone has options but this works best for my setup. You just need to weigh your trailer, each wheel and tongue and go from there.

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    I start out at 10% once I think I have trailer loaded where I want it I take it out on the road at about 30 mph. I push the bars back and forth causing the trailer to sway side to side. When I stop the movement of the bars the trailer should stop swaying immediately. if it sways even once after I steady the bars there’s two much weight in the rear. I stop-move something from rear to center and try it again. I’ve move a 12 pack forward and made a difference. Better too heavy on the tongue than on the tail. That’s what I do.

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    I use whatever tongue weight it takes to stop downhill and deceleration sway. Once I started loading my trailer the same after 2 years on the road, I didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Its not so much the gross trailer weight as the actual weight distribution which determines tongue weight. If the trailer is built right, you will find that you don’t need a ton of tongue weight.

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    I pull a Bunkhouse and also a cargo trailer occasionally with a VTX 1800. I always shoot for 25 lbs but will settle for 32ish when two up. I find that one up my outfit handles better with a little more though. We’re actively shopping for an f6b

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    I had bought an Aspen to be pulled with my VTX1800, over the summer. The wife and I took a trip (as our trial run with never having pulled anything before on any vehicle). We stayed in state but did a 3 or so hr trip each way. It was definitely a process to get the tongue weight. We packed…repacked…and repacked 10 more times. We even repacked it while on the road a couple of times. We went high on the tongue weight (30’s I think) to the low 20’s. What we found worked was around 26lbs. You will know if its not right just by how the bike rides. When we first left the house, the tongue weight was on the high side and I was actually a bit frightened to be on the bike. That was only about a 2 mile ride though. Anyways….point to all this. Play with the tongue weight. Figure out the packing days before you take her out for the first time. Pull it in your neighborhood…for a bit. Get one of those 10 buck luggage scales from Walmart…and just play with the weight. Good luck

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    Thank for all tje reply. Be glad when the weather gets better so I can actually get out and do some test rides..

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    Bobby, can you let me know what tow hitch setup you used for the F6B? I want to add one to mine

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    Bobby, when I read this,I’m wondering,you pulling 2 trailers at one time or 2 different trailer separately??

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    I think he only mentions one Don. Piggy Backer is the make of the trailer and he was just saying it looks like the Tag Along from Harbor Freight. But he’ll probably come along and set us both wise on that. 😉

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    I don’t think there is a right answer for tongue weight? It’s really what feels best to you. You know you have to have some tongue weight but you can also have too much tongue weight changing the handling of the motorcycles steering. If you keep the heaviest stuff over the axle or a little forward of the axle you should be fine. I run with between 20-30 lbs of tongue weight seems to handle the best even when loaded to close to 500lbs. I used to try and calculate 10-15% like a car and trailer but found it upset the suspension on the bike and lowered the tongue weight to correct it. You’ll really have to just try it for yourself to see, kind of like running a car tire and what air pressure on a motorcycle, feels different for everyone?

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