Are motorcycle trailer brakes necessary?

[Down Under]

I've been seriously toying with the idea of sporting myself a trailer.  Towing a trailer with a motorcycle is totally foreign to me, and although I can see the practicalities, I'm a bit concerned about some of the safety issues. 

I'm mainly interested in towing a trailer for carrying camping gear etc for 2 up touring.  I'd imagine I wouldn't be loading it with more than 30 - 40 kgs of stuff.  I'll be towing it with an ST1300.  The big question is, do I need trailer brakes??

My main concern is stopping in emergencies.  There's always going to those moments when you need to brake hard for the unexpected.  Besides decreasing stopping distances do you think  trailer brakes help to achieve a better outcome in these instances or are the benefits of having trailer brakes marginal from a safety perspective? (Re lightly loaded trailer)

 Do you have dramas with the trailer pushing the bike in riding situations such as descending tight wet mountain roads etc without brakes?  How does the bike handle towing a trailer on dirt roads etc?  I'd be keen to hear of your experiences and thoughts regarding to tow with or without trailer brakes!

Sorry about all the questions but trailers aren't cheap and I want to make sure towing a trailer is for me.

Thanks in advance,

Tony   

[Biggles]

I would also wonder about any tendency to tighten up a turn by skidding outwards if the surface is a bit slick or loose.  Or maybe a jack-knife tendency?  Just imagining possible worst cases.

I have a bud up in Gladstone who rides an FJR with a uni-trailer and reckons it's the bee's knees.  It has a purpose built coupling so it doesn't tip over.

[alans1100]

And I'll ad mine to the mix.

I bought my first trailer before my bike. Makes good sense. Just that I saw the trailer for sale before I found the bike. It wasn't until after I bought the bike and installed the towbar that I discovered the trailer never had the rotating coupling. Generally on the road it was ok but a different matter when it came to slow speed U turn's etc. Guess i got used to it after awhile. I sold this trailer a few weeks ago.







In January 2011 I found my current white Classic trailer. It's about twenty years old and has been well looked after. I upgraded the clearance and tail lights to LED and I was lucky enough to find a set of tail lights that matched the original. This trailer is a little larger than my previous black one but it isn't as heavy. I did notice that when I first picked it up it swayed a little when i was over 80kph. I put that down to it being empty and a fairly strong side wind. Tyre air pressure was a little excessive so I fixed that back to the recommended 12-15psi. It's been stable ever since.







The trailer has an interior light but until I rewire the bike I have moved the wire to the tail light connection. Also looking at installing a 12volt battery and possibly solar/bike charging system.

Under normal riding conditions the trailer is hardly noticable. Maybe the odd downshift when passing or up a hill otherwise 5th gear all the way from 60kph. Most of the time unless I have my partner on I double shift and go from 2nd to 4th with out any apparent complaints from the motor.

Nearly forgot. My average fuel usage when towing at 90kph gives about 400kms before the fuel light comes on.

 

Alan

I've had two trailers both without brakes. (above post)

I think the same laws that apply to cars towing trailers apply to bikes.

In SA the main rule is the laden weight of the trailer shouldn't exceed the weight of the towing vehicle and if it does then the trailer must have brakes. However, just because legally you don't need to brakes there's nothing preventing you from having a braked trailer.

Not to sure about wet mountain roads,  but usually engine braking is enough to hold speed and maybe a downshift to 4th.
Dirt roads, trailer not a problem, however the bike (without trailer as well) is a different matter anything over 40kph and I feel that my bike won't handle it. So I avoid dirt roads if at all possible.

I have noticed on the Classic trailer site some spares for brakes so I would say that some of their newer trailers now have brakes either fitted or optional.

The main item is the towbar which is designed for your bike/model http://www.classicind.com.au/ and the trailer should have a rotating coupling.

Also have read of this

http://ali-lite.com.au/2neville.htm

[Down Under]

Thanks for the info Alan. 

Yep, I also noticed that Classic have brake options for their trailers now.....which got me thinking.  If I was doing a lot of outback/flat country towing I think I wouldn't worry with brakes but we tend to travel around Victoria a bit, especially the Snowys, so brakes might provide some peace of mind on mountain roads.

Still got a heap of research to do, lots of choices!

[Couch]

Just for the record, I have a couple of mates with Classic Mini Tourers, which is the larger of the Classic trailers, and neither of them have brakes. One of them has travelled all over the eastern side of OZ for a number of years and has told me he has never felt a need to have brakes. That's not to say that brakes wouldn't be an advantage at times though! :)

[Down Under]

Just for the record, I have a couple of mates with Classic Mini Tourers, which is the larger of the Classic trailers, and neither of them have brakes. One of them has travelled all over the eastern side of OZ for a number of years and has told me he has never felt a need to have brakes. That's not to say that brakes wouldn't be an advantage at times though! :)

Thanks Couch.

Classic trailers seem to be a bit of favourite with the motorcycling community.  The suspension set-up seems to be a big plus as they get good reviews regarding the way they tow and sit on the road.  It appears that there are a lot more riders out there using trailers without brakes than with.

[Tackleberry]

Have towed my trailer for a couple of thousand K's now and my biggest concern with brakes (electric) if you don't have the set up exactly right, and they touch a little hard (after changing weight or similar) and lock up causing you to be towing a large block slipping around as you go into a corner, or other precarious position that you need full control over. 

If anybody has their trailer loaded with that much weight behind a bike I think they seriously need to rethink their travelling strategy.   

[Down Under]

Have towed my trailer for a couple of thousand K's now and my biggest concern with brakes (electric) if you don't have the set up exactly right, and they touch a little hard (after changing weight or similar) and lock up causing you to be towing a large block slipping around as you go into a corner, or other precarious position that you need full control over. 

If anybody has their trailer loaded with that much weight behind a bike I think they seriously need to rethink their travelling strategy.   

Thanks for that.  I've been warned off electric brakes from a couple of sources.  It appears that surge brakes, similar to caravan brakes which work on inertia are popular.  I've since decided to go without brakes as I don't think the gross weight of trailer and gear will justify it.  Just trying to decide whether to go with spring or independant suspension.  Any thoughts?

At this point I'm pretty keen on an Ali-Lite trailer.  Has anyone had any experience or heard of any good/bad things about their trailers?

http://www.ali-lite.com.au/mid.htm

Cheers,

Tony

[Sicman]

I have now towed my Elite camper trailer behind the ST1300 for over 1200kms over the last week. I just rode the bike as normal and the trailer just followed in all conditions. The only time I found any pushing of the bike by the trailer was a slight sideways movement when coming in and out of service station driveways due to their uneven approaches.
The trailer was originally bought without brakes in 2006 by the original owner, but after towing it he found he felt it needed brakes so he towed it to the Elite workshops in QLD and they retro fitted hydraulic over disc brakes.

I find the hydraulic over disc braking system works great with the braking system of the St1300. The camper is plated with max towball weight of 28kg and tyre pressure of 22psi. I think you probably dont need brakes for a standard classic trailer until you are moving up to the camper trailer models.

 

[Down Under]

Thanks for the reply Tony.

Looking at the pics you posted it looks like you've got leaf spring suspension on your trailer, how do you find it on rough bitumen roads?  Does the trailer upset the bike at all when your travelling them?

Cheers,

Tony

[Sicman]

Thanks for the reply Tony.

Looking at the pics you posted it looks like you've got leaf spring suspension on your trailer, how do you find it on rough bitumen roads?  Does the trailer upset the bike at all when your travelling them?

Cheers,

Tony

Yes leaf springs. I have travelled on some crap roads after the floods here including km long sections of dirt and stone. The trailer never moved or upset the bike once except for entering or leaving driveways at odd angles.
 I tested the trailer with pillion aboard and empty for 100kms up to 110kms/hr and it never wobbled or swayed. I then loaded it so most of the heavy weight including deep cycle battery was over the axle. I then took it on the 1200km trip last week and it performed perfectly.
Just ride your bike as normal as if you didnt have a trailer attached. The trailer will just follow wherever you go.
If you do get some sway check tyre pressure or check your towball weight.
Hope this helps
 

[Down Under]

Thanks for the reply Tony.

Looking at the pics you posted it looks like you've got leaf spring suspension on your trailer, how do you find it on rough bitumen roads?  Does the trailer upset the bike at all when your travelling them?

Cheers,

Tony

Yes leaf springs. I have travelled on some crap roads after the floods here including km long sections of dirt and stone. The trailer never moved or upset the bike once except for entering or leaving driveways at odd angles.
 I tested the trailer with pillion aboard and empty for 100kms up to 110kms/hr and it never wobbled or swayed. I then loaded it so most of the heavy weight including deep cycle battery was over the axle. I then took it on the 1200km trip last week and it performed perfectly.
Just ride your bike as normal as if you didnt have a trailer attached. The trailer will just follow wherever you go.
If you do get some sway check tyre pressure or check your towball weight.
Hope this helps
 

Thanks again mate.  That was the answer I was looking for!