tman's post about next year's mokan goals got me to thinking (uh-oh). on that thread i said anyone think it's possible to use clarence to flat-tow a hambster with a bike trailer on the back of that with the bsa on it? do-able? stupid? safe? other opinions? i've seen multiple trailers behind pickups before (camper & boat, for instance). would this be about the same?
Haven't done it, but I'm pretty sure the answer is no and here's why. I've done quite a bit of flat towing and one simple rule we discovered is that the tow car should be heavier than the race/project/whatever car. It holds the "wagging the dog" factor down pretty good as we discovered when we went to a 57 Buick Roadmaster from a 53 Ford six cylinder four door. Believe it or not, the Ford six towed the 50 Ford coupe pretty well, but with the weight similarities - the 50 = 3000# and the 53 = 3300# - the coupe would start hunting on some roads and the input from the tow bar could get things to going back and forth pretty well. What happens is, when you input a left turn force on the tow car, the towed car gets pushed to the right - moderately, granted, but the forces are still there - and the next thing that happens is the rear of the towed car gets pushed right, you tend to overcorrect which accentuates the problem and the next cycle is worse. After an occasion or two of that you learn to make small steering inputs and if the wagging does get bad holding the wheel straight ahead and keeping the throttle on, but not floored usually straightens things out. After we went to the 4200# or so Buick, towing was a snap. I can see the bike trailer adding to the woes of a flat-towed car up front and the wagging the dog bit would happen in a hurry. The double trailer bit - which I see a lot around here - seems to work ok since trailers, if they're properly set up don't do the wagging the dog bit. Bite the bullet, get a tandem axle flat bed car trailer, put the bike on up front and sideways, load the drag car on so the load is properly centered and you shouldn't have any problems. Make a point to get brakes on the trailer on both axles. I had brakes on one axle of a tandem axle flatbed and it didn't stop worth a darn in emergency conditions. Lotta cool tire howling though. I got my car trailer from Maxwell in Mexico, Missouri. A friend brought back four of them, so there were no real freight charges although three of us gave him $200. apiece to pay for gas. A budget model that cost $700. with brakes in 1994, but the price hasn't gone up all that much nowadays. If the drag car is light enough I see no problems with a single axle trailer. With brakes. You can build your own trailer cheap enough. Now is probably the time to do it. Steel prices will go even higher due to demand from New Orleans and freight prices. Do a search for axles etc. and I think you'll be surprised to find they are of moderate cost and if you buy the stubs and your own axle tubing, the price is even better when you build your own.
C9 in right on the money, its more trouble than its worth, most states require special license to pull "doubles", I know I drag two 28 ft. trailers 325 miles every night. Even trucks hauling a camper and a boat need inspections and permits to ensure the equipment is up to the requirements and DOT approved. Goning with the bike and the car on one trailer is the ticket and the best way to avoid one.!!!!
thanx for the input. your thoughts are appreciated and sound like they are more thought out than my original idea was. the logic for flat-tow plus a cycle trailer is that clarence really doesn't have the horsepower (it's only a 185 horse 283) for a full size trailer plus the hambster plus the bsa. a two axle car hauler trailer alone would probably weigh as much as the hambster and the bsa combined. and i don't want to use a larger truck to pull with 'cause then i'd have to have a trailer large enough to haul clarence AND the hambster. i'll want to be able to run them both. or at least 'til a get a timing slip for clarence in the 19's. after that i could concentrate on the hambster. trying to run three vehicles at the track on the same day (clarence and a hambster and the bsa) probably is asking for WAY too many headaches anyway. sounds like if i ever get that far down the road i'll just leave the beezer at home. i've never brought it yet anyway. i wanted to this year but my efforts to borrow a 'cycle trailer fell through at the last minute. thanx again.
You may be able to do better than you think. I towed the 32 (2400#) on an about 1200# tandem axle trailer behind an 89 Ranger 4x4 with 2.9 liter engine and five speed. You gotta do a little planning while you're driving, rolling stops to take it easy on the clutch, a run at the big hills and trying to keep your speed up. All standard trailer towing stuff - cept for rolling the stops. If I remember right, the HP on the Ranger was around 180 HP. The 4x4 adds about 300# to the Ranger weight and the fibergl*** camper shell added about 150#. Plus tools and a modest amount of luggage. We could carry 45 mph in third gear - at full throttle - going up the infamous five mile long 6% grade from the San Joaquin Valley (south of Bakersfield). Revs were just under 4000 rpm, but it was a short stroke engine so no problems there. I always thought if I ever had to slow down on the grade I'd be screwed. It finally happened and I was brought back to about 25 mph in 2nd until the lane opened up again. Spun the engine up to 42 mph or so in 2nd, shifted to 3rd and it crept back to 45 mph and stayed there. All of which is the long way round to telling you that your 283 in Clarence - and Clarence probably weighs several hundred pounds less than the Ranger did - should work ok in hauling a flatbed and a similar sized car. Your area is pretty flat as well isn't it? In the flat SJ Valley I had no problems running 65 mph. It was the five mile 6% grade at both ends of the G****vine (I-5) that was the tough part. Looking from here, Clarence's only problem may be cooling and if it does ok there, hauling a trailer should be no big deal. The pic below shows the 32, the trailer and my 2002 5.4 liter SuperCrew which really improved the towing bit. It had no trouble recovering to 60 mph on the grades when slowed by the big trucks. That was with the flatbed shown and also with the 20' interior length enclosed race car trailer I now have. that added about 2000# to the equation, but it still towed great. 10-11 mpg at a gross weight of 7000# and running 65 mph with the A/C on going up some of the steep and long desert grades. And for the trailer-whiners TM - we drove the roadster down a couple of times. Sweetie's got a bad back and she's tough, but it makes for a long day for her. Bad part was, second time we drove the roadster the 200 miles to the Southland in July we hit a heat wave that had Bakersfield at 95 degrees F. at 0930 in the morning. I heard about that one for a while . . . Sweetie's not spoiled, but she does like the A/C. After that we took the truck and trailer. I usually had car parts and stuff to haul down anyway so it worked out for everyone.
when i had the original seats in clarence (the right one folded forward) and before i put the 8" over forks on the bsa, i could get the bike into the panel truck but couldn't get the back doors closed even then (i tied them closed). with seats that don't move and the over stock forks i'd have to put it in backwards and use a piece of channel iron or something under the wheels so the wheel sticking out of the back doors would have something to rest on. and the back doors would be open. the couple of times i actually hauled this bike in this truck were short (10-15 miles) hauls. i don't think it would be practical to prop the doors open for 4 hours each way. i tried propping the doors open on a trip one time trying to keep the interior cooler by getting more air circulated through, but the exhaust came in through the open back doors and nearly suffocated us after a very few miles.
You just need a Pace.......trailer......22 footer.....that way the the dragster and the bike will fit. Along with luggage, tools and a cooler... .
...and a 4-door diesel powered pickup with a/c and stereo. unfortunately, i doubt i'll be owning either any time soon. some of us have bigger dreams than pockets.
Not really..........they pull real easy......I have a 22 foot Pace and pull it with a regular short bed standard cab Chevrolet........gas engine ...pickup........ Been everywhere with it.. LA.....California... Ohio Daytona....... Tennessee.....Missouri...... GA, NC, VA and W. VA Ark. New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Kentucky ....well.....you get the picture.... I have had it loaded with 5 thousand pounds of FIREWORKS......and pulled it from Missouri......no problems..I was in the Fireworks business for years.....
i own a towing company and know a little on this subject. flat towing was outlawed in arizona a couple of years ago, and i was given the impression by D.O.T. that it was a going to be a cross country decision as well. you are allowed (in our case) to tow a tractor trailor, no more than 25 miles, no faster than 50 mph. now keep in mind that loaded on a heavy duty wrecker with straps and 50 ton rated safety chains. i know that "personal" or non-commercial flat towing was outlawed due to safety issue by highway patrol, we tow for DPS and deal with alot of "flat-towing" related accidents. and yes we the towing operators have to help the medical examiners scoop people off the pavement! i wouldnt recommend flat towing it. especially with a trailor with another vehicle (bike) on it, DPS will have you for breakfast. my two cents
What kind of car is Clarence? I''M thinking Shoebox. Aside from that, there's a couple of other options. When Sweetie and I had the 53 Ford four door - a gift from her grandparents with only 11,000 miles on the odo - I used to put my BSA Alloy Clipper (500cc) dirt bike in the trunk. That entailed unbolting the deck lid and storing it in the back seat. Along with the luggage and riding gear. That was for trips to the Dez where we stayed with friends in Lancaster and raced/rode dirt bikes. It was struggle to get the bike in, even with two guys, but later on I had a 2 x 6 for a roll-in ramp. then I could do it by myself. Back tire of the Beezer went into the spare tire well, the spare tire laid flat in the left front trunk floor and the Beezer was braced up on something so the front wheel could dangle overboard on the drivers side of the car without bending up any body sheet metal. Worked pretty good. Next step up was a 4" channel with 45 degree front piece welded on for the front tire to nestle in. The channel had brackets that picked up the rear bumper bolts. It was easy to roll the bike up on the narrow ramp and tie it down to the ramp. Some pads between Beezer and car body, things tied off to the rear door handles and down under the quarter panel to the frame kept the bike from rocking back and forth as the car accelerated and stopped. After that, got a pickup and I never looked back.
Quote---Haven't done it, but I'm pretty sure the answer is no and here's why. I've done quite a bit of flat towing and one simple rule we discovered is that the tow car should be heavier than the race/project/whatever car. It holds the "wagging the dog" factor down pretty good as we discovered when we went to a 57 Buick Roadmaster from a 53 Ford six cylinder four door. I know in wv the tow car has to weigh atleast 700 lbs more than the car being towed. This being because if you dont your cars will become one when you brake suddenly. Awwww physics!!!
Option C, put a frame on the back/front of the hambster to carry the bike (like you see on the backs of RV's and the like, make it detachable so you can haul it off at the drags) depending on what you are doing Rails wise on the Hambster you could have the frame slide in/outside the rails and bolt through..... That sound like it will work ?
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