Is that a good thing, or not? The use of swivel is hotly debated on many motorcycle forums.  Folks in the “pro-swivel” camp say that a swivel will help a trailer tow smoother because it pivots easier and further than the ball-and-socket joint that couples the bike and trailer. “Anti-swivel” folks cite that it doesn’t make the trailer feel that much different and is just a waste of money.

I’ve towed trailers with and without swivels and here’s what I think. If your only reason for buying a swivel is to make the trailer “feel” better, it’s probably not worth the money.  (And I say that as someone who sells them! But keep reading…).  When I’m towing a cargo trailer, I can’t really feel any difference, and that’s regardless how aggressive I’m riding.  When towing a heavy trailer, it does make the trailer set up a little faster behind the bike, and that makes it more comfortable. But I’d tow the same trailer without a swivel anyway.

Now, there is one good reason why I do have a swivel on my camper, and it has nothing to do with feel. I put a swivel on my trailer because it’s cheap insurance in case the bike, with trailer attached, falls over in a parking lot. Over the years, I’ve made good money selling replacement hitches and tongues to folks who had their bike tip over in a parking lot with trailer attached, and bent the tongue and hitch.  With a swivel, there’s little chance you’ll damage anything other than your pride.

Swivels install easily,and I’ve created a video showing how it works. Take a look at this:

Safe riding, and happy swiveling!

Photo Courtesy of Alan Cleaver

Thinking about buying a trailer, but need to get it past the home budget czar? Really like a particular trailer but find it’s just a little out of your range? Here’s a list of ways you can save money when buying a trailer. Depending on your circumstances, it is entirely possible to cut your cost for a trailer by more than half. So, I hope this helps you get the trailer you want, and a price you can afford!

Buy Off-Season

This may be the most obvious of suggestions, but making a trailer purchase in the off-season will save you money. In October, we’re still mourning the loss of fair riding weather for the year, and haven’t started looking forward to next year’s rides. Very few people are thinking about trailers. As we begin to approach riding season on the calendar we suddenly remember – Oh yeah, I guess I’d better get that trailer ordered!

Do yourself a favor and budget for your trailer purchase between November and January. There’s a good chance you will find special shipping deals, discounts on leftover models, and incentives on orders for the new year.

Buy a Complete Package

Do you need a hitch and wiring for your bike along with the trailer? You may be able to get a package deal and save money on the extras when you buy everything all at once.

Buy a Trailer Timeshare

Have you and a buddy talked about buying trailers for your future trips? If you have similar tastes in bikes, you may be able to save by splitting the cost of a trailer with your friend. Think of it as a “trailer timeshare.” People buy timeshares of beach condos, exotic sports cars, and airplanes, so why not a trailer?

When traveling together, you’ll find that a 25 cubic foot cargo trailer can easily handle the gear of two couples. You’ll also have the use of a trailer when you go off on solo trips. You’ll need to agree on a common color choice, how the trailer will be stowed, and how to allocate its use when you are not riding together. But if you find you can agree on these things, sharing a trailer means you’ll get all the trailer you want for half the money.

Make a Group Buy

Maybe you and your friend like to travel together, but you know a trailer sharing agreement would never work.  You can also save by buying with a friend or with a group if you purchase trailers from the same place at the same time. A package deal will allow a willing dealer to create some incentives for a group purchase.  Shipping two or more units to the same location can also help reduce your freight costs by as much as a third.

Terminal Pickup

Speaking of shipping, it’s possible to save a big chunk on freight by picking up your trailer at the freight terminal of the truck company handling your delivery. Often, delivery to your door is expensive because the shipping company will need to run a special truck to your house. If you have a pickup or a flatbed trailer, or access to either, picking up your trailer at the terminal will often save you $150 or more.

Make It a Vacation

I’ve sold trailers to many riders who avoid crating and shipping fees altogether by making a vacation out of picking up their trailer. Escapades are manufactured in the Virginia mountains while American Legends are made in the midwestern heartland. Mini Mates come from Pennsylvania and WAGS are in Iowa. All are great riding destinations.

Cash Talks

Dealers who accept cash or personal checks for payment may be willing to give you a discount.  They would be paying the discount to a credit card company, so why not give it to you instead? Card discount rates usually run 1.5 to 2.5 percent. Potential savings: A cash discount on a $4,000 trailer would put $100 in your pocket.

Go Color Neutral

If you’d like to have your trailer color-matched but want to keep your costs down, consider buying a neutral color. Most trailers are available at no extra cost in stock colors. Fiberglass trailers are usually available in a white or black gel coat.  Gel coat is a hard finish used to give fiberglass a finished look.  It is not as glossy as paint, but if a black or white trailer would look good with your bike, even if just for a year, you can get it painted later and spread the cost of the trailer over time.

Get Only the Critical Stuff

Finally, take a really hard look at what you absolutely need and order only the most critical things with the trailer. Most trailers have a long list of options you can bolt on to the trailer.  Many of these are cosmetic enhancements that may add to the appeal of the trailer, but don’t necessarily change its performance. Many options such as coolers, luggage racks, spoilers, chrome trim, extra lights, can all be added at a later date.  There are a few options that make sense to have installed at the factory.  For example, if the trailer you choose offers interior carpet as an option, have that installed by the factory.  It would be difficult, time-consuming, and probably more expensive to have carpet added later to your trailer.

Let’s take a real example. Let’s say you’re interested in an Escapade LE trailer (25 cubic feet, air suspension). You really want it color matched to your bike but you need to keep the price down. On an Escapade, as I mentioned above, the only critical factory-installed option is the carpeting. That’s it. Don’t let another dealer tell you otherwise. Everything else can be bolted on later. Chrome wheels? Chrome tongue? Luggage rack? These can all be added later with no problem. Stone shield? Skip that and have a car detailer install a clear stone guard on the front. Cooler? Bolt on.  Garmet bag? Bolt on. Spoiler? Bolt on. Not as easy as adding some of the other things, but it’s still a bolt on.

When you take off all the things you can add later, guess what?  A color-matched Escapade LE that would have cost you $4590 with all the popular options is now $2,865.  Later, if they’re important, you can add your accessories. But for now, the important thing is, you have a color-matched trailer for almost half the price of a full-loaded trailer.

How Do You Save?

I’ve shared a handful of ideas for saving money on a trailer purchase. What’s your strategy?

For popular trailer towers like the Gold Wing and Electra Glide, this is a non-issue. You actually have a range of choices. If you ride a less likely towing bike like an ’83 Suzuki G850 or a brand new model of bike, you may need to turn to other options.

See the complete list of hitch manufacturers on www.motorcycletrailerstore.com to find a hitch for your bike. If it’s not listed among the manufacturers there, drop us a line. We don’t list everything that’s available because the range of hitches changes all the time. If there is no hitch available by any manufacturer you’ll need to find a fabricator, a topic we’ll discuss in more detail shortly.

Hitch Designs

A motorcycle hitch has several tasks. It must distribute the tongue weight of the trailer across the rear of the motorcycle without upsetting handling of the bike. Tongue weight is how much downward force (measured in pounds) the trailer tongue exerts on the hitch.

The hitch must transmit lateral pull and push forces between bike and trailer as the bike speeds up and slows down. The hitch also serves as a critical pivot point, allowing the bike to lean into curves while permitting the trailer’s attitude to remain unchanged. Those are a lot of requirements for such a seemingly simple device.

Hitch designs follow one of two basic styles, one I’ll call the “towbar style” and the other I’ll call the “fender mount.”

A towbar hitch is a steel bar or rod, bent in a u-shape, and attached to a frame point on either side of the motorcycle. Common attachment points include passenger footpegs, exhaust mounts, and rear saddlebag guards. Any two attachment points on opposite sides of the bike that mount to the frame will do just fine. This provides support for the lateral push-pull forces the trailer will exert on the back of the bike when you’re towing.

In addition, support is required to handle the tongue weight of the trailer and to hold the towbar in place. This support is provided by hanger straps. These straps, also made of steel, often attach somewhere under the seat of the motorcycle and connect to the tow bar.

The towbar style hitch may use a single piece, classic u-shape bar, or it may be made of several pieces, as is the case with a popular design used for the Honda Gold Wing. Even though it comes in pieces, when you put it together, the Wing hitch still looks like a U-shaped towbar with hangar straps.

The fender style hitch is popular on cruiser style bikes. It’s necessary to use this approach because cruisers don’t often have convenient attachment points to bolt on a traditional towbar hitch. Fender style hitches bolt on in the same location as the saddlebags bolt to onto the rear of the motorcycle, usually through two or three holes along the top of the fender. The fender hitch then sweeps down the length of the fender, terminating in a plate at the bottom where the hitch ball is mounted.

Exterior fender hitches are usually chrome plated so they complement the look of the bike. On the one hand, a fender hitch does cover up your painted fender when looking at it from the side. On the other hand, if you have saddlebags on the bike, you can’t see much of the fender anyway.

If your fender is wide and deep enough, some manufacturers offer a hidden fender hitch that fits on the underside of the fender. These are powder coated rather than chrome because you can’t see them.

Fender hitches can be tough to install. It’s not uncommon for several items to already be using the fender bolts—back rest, luggage rack, saddlebag sub-frame are typical. Now you’re adding another thing to line up and an additional thickness. The hitch is designed to fit against the fender, possibly with bushings. (Those are a blast to install along with everything else.)

You may need to stretch the other add-ons so they’ll fit the extra width of the fender plus hitch. It’s helpful to have an extra set of hands and a few small sections of dowel rod that will slide easily through the fender mount points. When you remove a bolt, replace it with a length of dowel rod that is long enough to act like a bolt and hold the hitch in place with enough left over to grab so you can pull it out. This will help you get everything lined up so you can bolt the hitch into place.

In either case, as you look at the list of hitches for your bike, you may find a choice between hitches labeled “standard” and “receiver.” A standard hitch has a hitch ball permanently attached to a permanently affixed drawbar. A receiver hitch is designed to work much like a removable hitch on a four-wheeler. The hitch’s drawbar is pinned into place and can be removed when you’re not towing. Receiver hitches are a little more expensive, but many riders consider them worth the few extra dollars for the ability to improve the look of their bike when they are not towing.

Evaluating Options

Much of the success of a particular hitch design can be attributed to two factors: 1) the quality of materials used to construct the hitch and 2) the number and placement of the attachment points used to mount the hitch to the bike.

The quality of materials is important because lightweight (cheap) materials will flex if too much weight or force is applied to the hitch. Flexing, in short, is not good.

Any movement in a hitch due to flexing could apply some undesired input to the suspension load of your bike, likely at a time when you don’t expect it and are least prepared to handle it. Consider only hitches made from 1/4″ or thicker plate steel. Inexpensive hitches can be found that use thin tubular steel. Buy one of those only if you plan to use it on your kid’s Big Wheel, not your motorcycle.

The second significant consideration in hitch performance is determined by the number and placement of attachment points. These attachment points determine where the load of the trailer is placed on the bike’s suspension and how the lateral push/pull forces are transmitted between the bike and trailer.

The ideal hitch allows the trailer to be level as it is pulled and is designed to put the tongue weight of the trailer on the rear frame of the bike in about the same position as the saddle bags. You may think the load of the trailer is being borne at the ball, but it’s actually at the points where the hitch bolts to the frame.

In the case of a tow-bar design, this job is handled by the hanger straps. In the case of a fender style hitch, all the forces, lateral and vertical, are being shouldered by the bike at the top of the fender where the hitch bolts to the bike.

Other Considerations

When considering a hitch, you’ll want to know the answers to a few other key questions as well. For example, what tools are required to install the hitch? Does the hitch require any modifications to your bike? Most hitches are designed to bolt on, but some may require modification. On towbar designs, you may need to cut slots in the inner fender to allow the hanger straps to reach under the seat. Does anything need to be relocated? On a fender style hitch, relocating turn signals is not unheard of.

Another important consideration is to determine how the hitch will affect the bike’s serviceability. An inexpensive, one-piece hitch may be a good deal until you find that your service tech has to remove it and reinstall it to change the rear tire. The first extra labor charges for removing and reinstalling the hitch will likely outstrip what you saved when you bought the hitch.