Towing the Falco

[Moose]

I am after a bit of advice I have one of these http://motorcyclecarrier.webs.com/

And I am going to tow the Falco with it tomorrow,
(Car in for service, garage 8/10miles away, I work 20miles from garage ) I will only be towing it for about 20 miles in total

I was thinking about it this morning as I have not used it yet, will it be ok as we have a dry sump?

Thanks in advance

Moose

[kiwi_rsvr]

The dry sump wont be an issue.

I would say the big issue is that the rear of the bike is free to wander around and also there will be a fair amount of pressure on the headstock and your cars towball.

Cant see why it wouldn't work though , do you not have to display the cars number plate though (as in towing a trailer/caravan) as the bike will obstruct it.

[Samray]

Could be fun reversing it, bet it would flick round quickly!

[Moose]

Thanks for the reply

Yes I have a light board as required by law, I will be strapping it down from the bottom yolk, compressing the forks.

There is a video on the website showing a bike being towed, it leans (abit) the wrong way round corners, also quite a few folks have commented having towed various bikes.

I was mainly concerned about the fact that the rear wheel will be turning the idle gear without lubrication, like I said I will only be travelling about 10 miles at a time, with a nice ickle ride in between (it is 20 miles by car yets will probably be nearer 50 on the bike )

Moose

[Moose]

Could be fun reversing it, bet it would flick round quickly!

I have already planned the route and can state without question that reversing is not an option

[back_marker]

Not sure on the Gearbox concerns - could be a fair point.

If you do decide to tow it a couple of tips when strapping down bikes to trailers etc, Ideally you want 2 one strap from each handlebar as opposed to one big one accross the top, that way even if either strap is loose, bike cannot physically topple over unless one side breaks or comes off. Secondly do not try to graunch your forks right down to the bump stops as doing this can knacker your fork seals, all you need is a little tension to keep the straps taught.

Apologies if any of this you know already but the amount of people I see trying to bottom out the suspension strapping bikes onto trailers, and then scratching their heads when there is oil all over the front wheel

[Moose]

Cheers BM

I have offered it up several times and i do have to remove the bellypan which is a pain , still, I will get it modified to suit the Falco better.

I bought it with the knowledge I can carry it with me all the time (in the cage) and should I see some poor soul broken down at the side of the road , I could, should the need arise tow them to a garage/home.

[fastasfcuk]

Cheers BM

I have offered it up several times and i do have to remove the bellypan which is a pain , still, I will get it modified to suit the Falco better.

I bought it with the knowledge I can carry it with me all the time (in the cage) and should I see some poor soul broken down at the side of the road , I could, should the need arise tow them to a garage/home.

thats nice of you.

[Nooj]

Looks good, may investigate them further...

[D-Rider]

Nice ..... quite a clever idea - but I'd have a couple of concerns with one of these.

First there seems to be (potentially) a lot of side load at a couple of points on the front rim after you've dropped it in while it's the only means of support before you get the securing straps on - dunno whether that's a concern - I'm probably worrying unnecessarily.

Secondly I wonder just how frequently you'd be dropping the bike getting it in and out of the carrier - the video of it being removed fom the 4x4 emphasises the potential for disaster.

All that said it's not so expensive and easy to keep in the car for when needed - could be very handy .... unless you go to rescue someone that has a rear tyre puncture ....

[Moose]

Yes I had considered the flat tyre senario, which is why I carry puntureseal and a compressor at all times!! (that bit is a lie):smt011 .

I towed the Falco today, and I was quite pleased with the bike carrier, It does lean quite a bit (or it appears to in the rear view mirror, but I cannot see alot I have an Mitsubishi L200 + a canopy and could only just see the top of the (double bubble) screen, I am looking into a rear view camera and I am considering the 46kam http://www.4kam.com/bike_camera_motorcy ... ckages.htm which I can transfer between vehicles)

(back to subject)

The wheel fits well and there is no fear of any pressure on the rim itself (while stationary), I did make sure that the wheel was central as there is about 1/4" (don't do mm unless pallet sizes ) each side of the tyre, when I arrived at the garage the wheel hadn't moved, and did seem to have wedged it self in tighter along the way, obviously if the front tyre was flat it could damage a rim.

I will be using it again soon to take the son(s) VFR400 & ZZR250 for MOT.

But all in all it seem quite a good bit of kit.

Moose

[Samray]

I like the look of it.