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What were you towing a 700 lb trailer with? How can that be safe?

Thanks for your input.It has helped.I am going to go with a 450 or 500 and see what happens moving forward from there.You guys are great I am going to like being a part of this forum.

I just read lion ladys beginner riders thread.I am now thinking I am going back to the rebel for at least a year then maybe upgrade to 500.

trout80 wrote:I just read lion ladys beginner riders thread.I am now thinking I am going back to the rebel for at least a year then maybe upgrade to 500.

A 500 is a starter bike as well. The 600 sport bike warning does not apply to v-twins. I started on an 800 suzuki volusia and it was a great bike to start on. An 800 is also about as small as you can get while properly carrying a passenger.

Ivan M wrote:What were you towing a 700 lb trailer with? How can that be safe?

I was using a kawi Voyager XII. Towed much better behind the bike than it did the car. The only time it was a handful was on deep gravel that would scare me. I did have it up to 100MPH once. Cruised at 70 to 75 pretty steady. It was made by a company that has since stopped doing business. It was quite a sight to see set up. It was a 4 person tent trailer with a large kitchen unit on it. 15' x 16' when it was all up. Spent three months going around North America back in 1987. I don't see many large trailers anymore but don't think that you can't pull one.

My 150 HP car can push around about 4500 pounds loaded down with trailer without breaking much of a sweat.

Why is it such a big deal to expect a 40 HP bike to push around about 750 lbs total? 450 lb for the bike, 200 lb for the rider, 150 lb for the boat + trailer...

jonnythan wrote:My 150 HP car can push around about 4500 pounds loaded down with trailer without breaking much of a sweat.

Why is it such a big deal to expect a 40 HP bike to push around about 750 lbs total? 450 lb for the bike, 200 lb for the rider, 150 lb for the boat + trailer...

Suspension, braking, handling characteristics. I thought he was talking about a heavier trailer though.

As for pulling a 700 lb trailer, it can't be safe to pull a trailer that weighs as much as your bike. Did it have its own brakes?

No it didn't. Was it safe I don't know. Did I ever drop the bike no. Came very close but without the trailer. The biggest thing with a bike trailer is to have a very long tongue to axle distance. This trailer never ever pulled the bike around or did that side to side thing that so many do. The reason was the long tongue to axle distance. The bike loaded with two up was well over a thousand pounds. It had something like 110 or 120 HP. So you have a total weight of about 1700 lbs with that much HP it worked really well. Also that old 12 had wonderful brakes on it. That 700 lbs is my very highest estimate with the trailer really loaded. It always seemed the heavier it was the better the rig handled.

Ivan M wrote:No motorcycle can tow a boat trailer like that, especially not a rebel. It can't handle a passenger either.

he said it was a 60lb pontoon boot. A rebel sure can pull it. doesnt mean you can take it on the highway though. I mean my 600cc bike can lug around itself and my wife and I which is about 100lbs shy of 1000lbs at 90mph and its only 39hp.