Average fuel economy towing

[Roadrunner]

Can anyone give me an idea what their fuel economy is towing say a Classic trailer with box on the front and perhaps light rack on top.
And travelling at your touring speeds? And what average  speed that would be? Like posted speeds? A bit above/ And have you had any stability problems. Obviously braking distances are increased, but is it a real issue, ie a problem?
As I can no longer ride long distances in one hit, due to a stuffed neck I am looking at camping and a few more days to get to where  I want to go, so a trailer seems a sensible?? option.
I have to admit they have never appealed to me, but there seems to be heaps out there.  Any info, tips, reccomendations would be much appreciated.
Cheers

[Brock]

I dont know what the economy is, but the range will be better than a Harley on a good day, and most other bikes as well.

[Williamson]

Can anyone give me an idea what their fuel economy is towing say a Classic trailer with box on the front and perhaps light rack on top.
And travelling at your touring speeds? And what average  speed that would be? Like posted speeds? A bit above/ And have you had any stability problems. Obviously braking distances are increased, but is it a real issue, ie a problem?
As I can no longer ride long distances in one hit, due to a stuffed neck I am looking at camping and a few more days to get to where  I want to go, so a trailer seems a sensible?? option.
I have to admit they have never appealed to me, but there seems to be heaps out there.  Any info, tips, reccomendations would be much appreciated.
Cheers

My experiences towing this outfit:


Fuel consumptions- around 6.5litre / 100km
Touring speeds - around or just over posted speed limits
Stability - very good upto 120km/h - not sure above that.
Braking distance - same as any towing situation, longer, plan look ahead.

With this outfit:


Fuel consumption - around 7.0 litre / 100km
Touring speeds - see below
Stability - excellent, even at 140km/h
Braking - crap, no trailer brakes

Better fuel consumption on the ST (IMHO) due to better/taller gearing, despite the heavier boxy camper trailer.

The sleeker, lighter Classic behind the ST would be better than the Classic.

[Roadrunner]

Thanks for that Michael, the Classic trailer on theCB is what I have in mind. Just the sort of info I was looking for.
Cheers
Stay Safe

[Chatty]

G'day Roadie - I have a Classic Mini Tourer (currently up for sale, but that's another story).

My experience has been around the 6.5 - 8.5 l/100km, depending on the road and your throttle hand - hilly/twisty bits bump the consumption up a bit.  Speed wise - I make no allowance for the trailer, I ride at the speed I would normally, except that I am slower through the twisties.  I would allow 7.5 l/100km, but that's just me.  With the trailer on I try to refuel every couple of hours just so I know I've got plenty.

Stability - the best advice I can give you with the Classic is tyre pressure - don't go above the recommended 14 psi.  Anything above that pressure and it will become unstable.  Try to load a bit front heavy - I find that about 10-15kg at the two ball works well.

Cornering - remember that as you slow down into a corner the trailer is going to push on the back end of the bike, making the bike want to oversteer into the corner.  As you accelerate out it will pull back on the bike, making the bike want to understeer.  I try to slow down and maintain a reasonably constant speed through windy stretches.

The roof rack is only for light loads - I usually strapped my lightweight folding camp chairs on there - try to keep anything on the roof small and light and in the centre of the rack - wide loads seem to make the back a little unstable.

The turbulence off trucks and cars as you come up behind them is going to be felt on the trailer and it seems to be out of sync with the bike so you can get into a sway fairly easily.  If you can't overtake, you might want to hang back a bit further than normal.  When overtaking, I always found that keeping constant acceleration going as you overtake something worked well.

The front cooler box - leave the drain plug in, but only screwed in a couple of turns - that way it stops road muck coming up into the cooler, but allows the ice melt to drip out so you don't wind up with your food swimming.

And finally - when you pull out from a parking spot, remember that the semi trailer you would normally be able to pull out in front of without a risk of him catching you - well, he's going to catch you a whole lot quicker when you've got the trailer on - I speak from experience.

Chatty

[Chatty]

I just re-read your post.  We are getting rid of our trailer because Trish can no longer ride the long distances in a day that she used to be able to.  We found that setting up camp each night after not having traveled all that far was getting to be a PITB.  So we have decided that if we go long distance motorcycle touring in the future we will look at hard accommodation rather than camping.

Having said that, we have had some great times camping with the trailer and would thoroughly recommend it.  Just make sure that you are prepared to set up camp each night and pack up each morning.  If it's just you and a swag, then no problem.  For us, it was the tent, chairs, inflatable mattress, sleeping bags, table, chairs, stove, food, utensils, etc, etc - it just took too long to set up each night and knock down each morning.  If we were staying somewhere for a few days it was fine - but the idea of the trailer was to go touring, not camping (if that makes sense).

We might have reconsidered if we had been able to find a touring tent that fitted in the trailer - but all the ones we liked were just way too big to fit in the trailer with room for anything else.  Our dome tent took ages to set up.

We never regret buying the trailer, but it hasn't been used in 18 months, so time for it to go.

[Roadrunner]

Chatty
I wrote this lengthy reply then hit some key in error and it all disappeared. I have to go out now so I'll get back to you later today,probably tonight.

[Chatty]

Chatty
I wrote this lengthy reply then hit some key in error and it all disappeared. I have to go out now so I'll get back to you later today,probably tonight.

No probs - PM me if you want a phone number to ring...

[Williamson]

...... The roof rack is only for light loads .....

I agree, I've never put anymore than a couple of slabs of VB and a couple of bags of ice on the Classic roof rack.

[Chatty]

...... The roof rack is only for light loads .....

I agree, I've never put anymore than a couple of slabs of VB and a couple of bags of ice on the Classic roof rack.

You are a braver man than me - the Classic roof rack is definitely not designed for loads like that!

Carrying VB I mean - haven't you blokes heard of Cooper's? 

[Williamson]

 Start

......
.... VB ...... haven't you blokes heard of Cooper's? 

That's all that was available at the Wee Jasper pub at time.
My recent preference is James Squire, but this weekend I'm going to bottle six slabs of Dog Bolter, a brew I brewed a few weeks ago at U-Brew-It.
 
  End

[alans1100]

I've only had this Classic trailer since Jan 2011 and it's my second trailer.

My average fuel consumption when towing would be around 16 k/L with a depressing 13 k/L with a head wind when we came back from Broken Hill in Sept 2012. While towing I always have spare fuel for moments like that (10 litres each in side case).

I aim for fuel stops about every 300 km and with spending a few years in WA I got used to the 100kph towing limit so anywhere between 90 and a 100 with the throttle lock set.

Braking isn't a big issue at least for the times we've gone to Adelaide with the trailer. A little slower on take off but that's normal.

My current esky used to be carried in the trailer rather than on the draw bar which is where our new esky will be going.
Sometimes we take the trailer just for shopping trips and at other times I'll toss the fishing rods in as Heather like fishing when we go over to Port Pirie.

[Roadrunner]

Thanks for all the input. I have a mate arriving on the 28th with a 1800 wing with trailer, think I'll see if I can get to take that for a ride to get some idea of what it feels like to tow a trailer. Mind you that bit about understeer and oversteer. Sounds vey much like a HQ holden cab I used to drive in Kings Cross!!! Read scary!!

[Chatty]

Mind you that bit about understeer and oversteer. Sounds vey much like a HQ holden cab I used to drive in Kings Cross!!! Read scary!!

Not that scary - it just reinforces in your mind the need to ride smoooooooooooothly 

Honestly - the worst moments I have had with the trailer are when I have forgotten I had it on and have pulled out into traffic with what I thought was a reasonable opening, but perhaps wasn't... 

[Williamson]

...... the worst moments I have had with the trailer are when I have forgotten I had it on and have pulled out into traffic with what I thought was a reasonable opening, but perhaps wasn't... 

My worst trailer experience was with a well loaded Classic trailer behind the CB13 on the Tantawangalo Mountain going from Cathcart to Candelo. 

The gravel road surface was good to start with (80km/h sections), but then it got narrow, twisty, hair-pin bends, steep (downhill), and with some washouts, ruts and corrugations.   Braking on loose gravel into corners under these conditions and with something like 600kg pushing the front wheel is not fun.

[Chatty]

...... the worst moments I have had with the trailer are when I have forgotten I had it on and have pulled out into traffic with what I thought was a reasonable opening, but perhaps wasn't... 

My worst trailer experience was with a well loaded Classic trailer behind the CB13 on the Tantawangalo Mountain going from Cathcart to Candelo. 

The gravel road surface was good to start with (80km/h sections), but then it got narrow, twisty, hair-pin bends, steep (downhill), and with some washouts, ruts and corrugations.   Braking on loose gravel into corners under these conditions and with something like 600kg pushing the front wheel is not fun.

Reminds me of the time I took the wrong turn out of Moulemain and wound up in the middle of the night riding through 30+km of roadworks, with gravel windrowed up to 600mm high on each side of the road, and lots of loose stuff and mud in the middle.

Sneaky buggers put up a sign at the start that said "Road works next 5km" - not too bad, thinks I, but then they kept on putting the same sign up every 5km.  By the time we realised what we had got into, we figured it would be just as bad to turn back as keep going on.

[spanner]

Kilometres driven:    1241Km
Litres of Fuel used over distance travelled:  88.25 L
 
 
Consumption in Litres per 100 Kilometres:  7.11L/100Km
Consumption in Kilometres per Litre:  14.06Km/L


Start time 1500 03/01/2015
finish time 1700 04/01/2015

[johnnyYTED]

 


spanner,
I have the same trailer,    dont have the details but 1 trip into headwind and rain onda Great Ocean Rd, the leaST I got out of a 27ltr was 320 ks.
  In time I hope to put a nose cone on to maybe increase aerodynamics. 

[spanner]

 

i need to put on a swivel hitch to make cornering a little faster and safer as my lean angles are reduced.

What tyre preasure do you run yours at?

Do you have any issues with speed wobles in the trailer when it is run empty?

[Williamson]

i need to put on a swivel hitch to make cornering a little faster and safer as my lean angles are reduced....

In my opinion, this is a MUST - you wouldn't want to find yourself a bit quicker than expected into a corner and not have the ability to lean that little extra to get yourself out of trouble, or you might end running off to the left (into a ditch) or to the right (into the path of on-coming traffic).

What tyre preasure do you run yours at?

Some mention of this earlier in the thread, extract as follows:

......Stability - the best advice I can give you with the Classic is tyre pressure - don't go above the recommended 14 psi.  Anything above that pressure and it will become unstable.  Try to load a bit front heavy - I find that about 10-15kg at the two ball works well.....

I concur with this statement.  The only time a ran the Classic trailer with PSI above 14, I had swaying problems from around 90km/h or more.

But with the Elite camper trailer, I run the tyres at around 21psi, and around 20kg to 22kg on the tow ball.

[alans1100]

What tyre preasure do you run yours at?

Do you have any issues with speed wobles in the trailer when it is run empty?

The tyre pressure depends on the type of suspension for your trailer.

Classic Industries use a torsion bar set up to keep the trailer height lower and rely on the tyres to act as shock absorbers so a low air pressure is needed. 12-15 psi depending on load and I go for the 13.5 psi (usually) mid point.

When we first got the Classic we bought back up from Adelaide empty and any above 90 k/h I started getting some trailer sway up.

After getting back home I e-mailed Classic and was advised to have something in the trailer while towing and trailers were tested for stability at speeds well above legal limits. The air pressure range was also their suggestion.

For trailers that have standard leaf type springs and shocks fitted the air pressures are higher but not something I know.

[johnnyYTED]

 

i need to put on a swivel hitch to make cornering a little faster and safer as my lean angles are reduced.

What tyre preasure do you run yours at?

Do you have any issues with speed wobles in the trailer when it is run empty?

12 > 14 PSI  I have a swival hitch YOU NEED ONE and I have had speed wobble when empty but only above 110, when loaded right it tracks well at speed

[Lionel]

I filled the tank in Mildura and ran out 5 kms short of Hay.
I was travelling at 110 km/h and thought I would easily bridge the 300 kms to Hay.
There was a nasty headwind.



I subsequently rolled the rig on the last day of the Ulysses AGM in the mountains east of Launceston, travelling back to Devonport. The roof boot was crushed but everything else survived.

The photo was taken in Cardwell on the way back from Cairns in 2003. Annies Kitchen is still there.

The lid has been replaced and the trailer is now white.

[spanner]

They look like full size car tyres....?

what caused the flip over?