Towing your Trike

[terry t]

There has been a lot of talk about trike towing trailers. But have you really thought about what your trike is doing once you’re all hitched up and towing it down the highways.
Well there are several types on the market. There is the one that bolts on to your towbar.  The dolly type with it own wheel. Trail a trike one that clamps to the forks. So lets take the first one.  It bolts on the towbar once the trike is strapped down the no movement the trike will follow.  There both are of the same principle they stay in line with the tow vehicle. Now the second one similar the first but it has some movement as it has its own wheels. The third one clamps to the fork just under the yokes hitches on to the tow ball the trike follows plenty of movement as the trike is just being towed
Now look at these photos of what the forks of your trike are doing
this is a mock up of a towing frame weather its bolted to your towbar or it got it own wheel the principle the same
wheel straight

Towing your Trike

wheel being turned to the right 

Towing your Trike

wheel being turned to the left

Towing your Trike

as you can see the tow frame that the wheel is strapped to don't stay parallel to the road. so the stress is being forced on the wheel and forks. and the steering head bearings. plus if it the dolly type it may lift the wheel off the ground when your turning

[snafu]

Glad you bought up this subject Terry, when I looked at making a trike tow frame I came to the conclusion that the only way to allow the frame /forks to be unstressed was to use a wheel  hub to allow rotation, I have seen a video of a car being recovered on a spec frame that is not parallel to the road where the inside wheel leaves the ground due to the lift height not parallel to terrain, a similar principal.

[Manky Monkey]

So what do you recommend then guys? (I've never towed a trike).

[snafu]

Simple really, where the front of Terry’s wheel support meets the fixed point add  for example a trailer hub to take account of / allow rotation and make sure the plane of support is parallel with the ground. 

[terry t]

i use the Trail a Trike type. the ideal type would be a flat Bed trailer. but who's got the space to park one.
also when thinking off towing your trike is the rake of your forks. my rake is standard but sum are 45 degrees the steering will be different again  . there is one like boom trike uses lifts the front wheel off the ground. but again watch out for the kerb weight on the back of your vehicle

[BikerGran]

Simple really, where the front of Terry’s wheel support meets the fixed point add  for example a trailer hub to take account of / allow rotation and make sure the plane of support is parallel with the ground. 

Sorry, don't understand a word of that!

[snafu]

If you put your  trike on a full lock you will see that the front wheel cants at an angle, when its towed the front wheel should be allowed  to lay at the angle naturally, not being restrained, this means that the front forks / wheel need to be able to rotate to follow there natural position.
If this makes no sense then Terry will probably explain it more clearly. 

[terry t]

If you put your  trike on a full lock you will see that the front wheel cants at an angle, when its towed the front wheel should be allowed  to lay at the angle naturally, not being restrained, this means that the front forks / wheel need to be able to rotate to follow there natural position.
If this makes no sense then Terry will probably explain it more clearly. 

thanks mate

basically BG you want the trailer to keep both wheel on the ground when your turning. so not to put your forks or wheel under and stress. i done a simple sketch on what i think it should be doing. the outer frame being the trailer stays parallel to the road. the inner part pivots that's what the trike wheel get strapped down into. so when you turn the wheel is under no stress

Towing your Trike

[snafu]

Terry
not easy to explain is it

[terry t]

Terry
not easy to explain is it

NO. you right there.   that why i use the trail a trike just bolt it on and away you go simple. like me

[BikerGran]

Not easy to explain but I get the gist.  The trike dolly I used for my Scotland trip was like this, too tight a turning circle and one wheel would lift.  But it didn't do this in normal driving, ie road junctions or roundabouts, just maybe when turning into a tight driveway etc.

What did concern me a little was that the tie-downs had to be so tight that the forks were completely compressed otherwise they just came loose or came off, surely all that compression can't be good?

[terry t]

Not easy to explain but I get the gist.  The trike dolly I used for my Scotland trip was like this, too tight a turning circle and one wheel would lift.  But it didn't do this in normal driving, ie road junctions or roundabouts, just maybe when turning into a tight driveway etc.

What did concern me a little was that the tie-downs had to be so tight that the forks were completely compressed otherwise they just came loose or came off, surely all that compression can't be good?

no its not good. that why they came off as you turned one side got tight the other side became lose. as you said BG one wheel lifted off the ground. now as your trike is about 260kg. the weights  being put on the trikes front end  as you turn. slight turn may be taken up on the trailers suspension.
but at the end of the day these don't seem to do the front of the trike any good

[BikerGran]

Can't say I've noticed any problems with the front end though - and almost no-one will tow as far as I did!  (500+ miles x 2)

I don't think it was the turning that made the tie-downs come loose, it was the bouncing before I strapped them right down.  I did wonder if they were necessary at all as the front wheel was in a cradle and I wrapped a cable lock round wheel and cradle - but the dolly came with anchor points for tie-downs so I used them.

[Cabman77]

I`ve used a towing dolly a  few times, even took Cuddles trike to wales with one and had no problem. Like BG says they only show any problems when doing sharp manouvres, and reversing can be a pain as you have two articulated points.
I only ratchet strapped the front wheel to the dolly and not the yokes, as this is unnecessary as long as trike and dolly can`t part company. I appreciate all the geometry involved but it can only cause a problem in extreme circumstances i think.

[BikerGran]

I found reversing almost impossible - much easier and quicker in the long run to unload the trike!