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Towing a trailer with your NC? How about a canoe?

MalcolmReynolds

MalcolmReynolds

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I ran across this picture of a guy towing a canoe with his Goldwing. At first I laughed, but then I started running the numbers. A canoe with a trailer and your fishing/camping gear really wouldn't weight that much. Then I started to smell smoke... I realized it was just me thinking about how much fun it would be to tow a canoe and camping gear with the NC...

Ok, so here I am posting to the world just how nuts I am.... And wanted your input on this idea of pulling a light weight canoe behind your NC. Ever done such a thing? Do you think The NC can handle it?

Trailex-SUT-200-Motorcycle-Canoe.JPG
 
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My first reaction was how idiotic it would be....then I thought...Wait, how cool it would be to pull a small kayak with my gear inside (sort of like a cargo trailer), roll into the campground, unload the tent and cooler and drag the kayak to the lake for some fishing. Sure, I could use an inflatable, but by towing a rigid it could double as a cargo trailer....

You got me thinking ;-)

Not sure the NC has either the oats to pull it or brakes to stop it, not to mention nobody with a healthy fear of a lawsuit would ever build you a hitch.
 
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It's all about balance. As long as your trailer is well balanced with CG kept low and it does weight a ton, it doesn't matter whether you pull it with with a gold wing or a NC700. As you can see on the photo, that trailer seems to be well designed with the canoe centered right over the axle and sitting low. I am almost sure you barely feel it when riding, even with a reasonable amount of gear stowed in it. The main question is on the hitch. Does anyone know of a trailer hitch for NC700?
 
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ld_rider said:
And brakes, and pulling power, and surface area, and length, and tongue weight, and hitch design, and a bunch of other stuff ;-)
Click to expand...

And the electrical hookup also would have to be figured out. The canoe I want to get only weighs like 70lbs. Probably another 70 lbs of gear in there, plus whatever you can put on the bike. Trailer probably weighs 100-150lbs. So probably towing a little over 300lbs with all the stuff needed to go to the lake drop camp and get busy fishing...

I love the idea, just not sure how doable it is! It would really be like pulling a hard shell trailer like you mentioned. It is crazy, but it looks like it would be a LOT of fun!
 
I have 10' LLBean recreational kayak that weighs about 40 lbs. I can stuff my 2 man tent w/rain fly, Jet Boil stove, sleeping bag and mattress, fishing pole and tackle box, bailing pump, life jacket, and a collapsible fabric cooler all inside the cockpit. The oars and rod holders are affixed to mounts on the hull. Throw the cockpit cover on and I wouldn't even have to worry about anything getting wet when towing....I'm guessing about 60 lbs total, maybe 20 more if I tossed in some freeze dried eats and a couple of gallon jugs of water.

Crazy for sure but it does sound like it would be a hoot traveling up the coast with a setup like that !
 
telecam said:
It's all about balance. As long as your trailer is well balanced with CG kept low and it does weight a ton, it doesn't matter whether you pull it with with a gold wing or a NC700. As you can see on the photo, that trailer seems to be well designed with the canoe centered right over the axle and sitting low. I am almost sure you barely feel it when riding, even with a reasonable amount of gear stowed in it. The main question is on the hitch. Does anyone know of a trailer hitch for NC700?
Click to expand...

You seem to addressing the matter of tongue weight and trailer weight distribution. That is certainly important, but the total towed weight is a HUGE factor here. It does matter whether you pull it with a Goldwing or an NC700 when it comes to handling (tail wagging the dog), and STOPPING.
 
MalcolmReynolds said:
And the electrical hookup also would have to be figured out. The canoe I want to get only weighs like 70lbs. Probably another 70 lbs of gear in there, plus whatever you can put on the bike. Trailer probably weighs 100-150lbs. So probably towing a little over 300lbs with all the stuff needed to go to the lake drop camp and get busy fishing...

I love the idea, just not sure how doable it is! It would really be like pulling a hard shell trailer like you mentioned. It is crazy, but it looks like it would be a LOT of fun!
Click to expand...

I occasionally tow 200-250 pounds behind my GL1800 and it does have a noticible impact on stopping distance. The brakes on the NC would be taxed heavily. Nofear2Trek can answer to this, since he tows, but I would be very concerned about the braking ability.

One could put surge brakes on the trailer, but the added weight of that hardware almost compounds your problem.

The electrical hookup would be a piece of cake.

As for available trailer hitches, the Unigo rep told me last fall they were developing a hitch for the NC700, but I just checked their web site and they don't list one. The Motomule swing arm style hitch is what Nofear2trek uses, but I don't know if that's easily adaptable to a canoe trailer.
 
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They have folding kayaks/boats and inflatable kayaks that I'd probably look into using with NoFear2Trek's proven trailer setup before I'd consider pulling a 10' or longer kayak!

Orukayak

Still, a cool idea!
 
I too would go with a folding boat and trailer setup. I'd worry about wind pushing the trailer around and undue police/public attention if I were hauling a conventional canoe.
 
greenboy said:
doesn't sound like fun riding to me.
Click to expand...

True that, but sometimes we ride for the destination as well as sometimes we have to compromise. It also depends on your POV. I know I'd rather be riding around the country with a trailer that has a boat and camping gear than driving & staying in hotels. Can set up camp, go fishing and kayaking, take a few days to ride around sans trailer, then move on to another location. Rinse & repeat! Seems like a win-win, but each to their own. I'm sure there are plenty that would prefer to ride to a destination, stay in comfy lodgings and rely on local outfitters if they wanted to do activities like rafting, kayaking, fishing etc. No wrong way, just personal preference.
 
MalcolmReynolds said:
Ok, so here I am posting to the world just how nuts I am.... And wanted your input on this idea of pulling a light weight canoe behind your NC. Ever done such a thing? Do you think The NC can handle it?
Click to expand...
I have over 50k miles pulling my Moto-Mule trailer (Moto-Mule LLC - Beranda | Facebook) and still can't get the silly grin off my face while enjoying it! NC700 Trailer - Xmas in March

With heavy metal bikes (Goldwings, etc.) there are 'off the shelf' ball hitches that can be acquired pretty easily and then a small conventional trailer is an option. Our NC and other dual sport style bikes don't have hard points to easily bolt a ball hitch to. I remember Mike at Moto-Mule did an extended custom version of his moto-mule trailer for a customer wanting to take his kiteboarding equipment with him on a trip to South America. I suspect a short style kayak could also be strapped onto my trailer without too much trouble.

IMG_7656.jpg

IMG_7663.jpg

I (6'4" 225lb) sleep on mine when I set up my 'RV' version in a rest stop for the nite when on the road.

Ray
 
I would 100% do this for short local trips, but almost for sure not consider it for longer highway trips. I would be too worried about the canoe acting like a sail and tipping over the trailer in a side wind.

For (low speed) short local trips you would only really need a portage cart with bicycle wheels, and a sturdy way to connect to the bow of the canoe. A snowmobile hitch would probably work.
 
Little late to the party, but here is my towing setup! Just got it together and tested around the neighborhood today.

NC700x trailer .jpg
 
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