All American 6

Which companies make a light, small trailer specifically designed to transport tandems / triplets / multiple bikes?

just me

I do not own one, so no recommendations other than it looks like a great idea.

Sportsrig

Jack

TandemGeek

As just me mentioned, there is the $1,600 Sportsrig (originally marketed as Howling Dog many moons ago) which was designed for carrying lightweight sports equipment weighing up to 250lbs -- or 450lbs with the heavy-duty shocks. We have friends who purchased these and they look slick and work well. The only real downside was/is the cost. Well, there are also some hidden costs. Unless you already own a collection of sports rack (aka, Yakima, Thule, Saris, etc) bike mounts that you'd normally use on your roof-mounted sport rack, you'll likely need to add the cost of those to your total cost for setting up a SportsRig trailer.... and they're not cheap. Again, the SportsRig is exactly what it's advertised to be: a trailer-mounted sports rack system. So, for a triplet, unless you're good with an arc welder or welding torch, you'll likely find yourself shopping for a non-rotating Atoc triplet mount: again, not an inexpensive proposition. The latter might suggest that a roof-mounted system (towers & crossbars) would be far more cost effective than the trailer since both would require a triplet mount.

The Haul-Master line of trailers sold by Harbor Freight constitute the lions share of trailers that I've seen aside from the Howling Dog models. These cost between $180 - $300 and are comparable to the $1,300 SportsRig model in terms of what you get. So long as you don't go nuts with plywood decking and the like, the weight of these things is usually under 200lbs vs. 150-200 lbs for the SportsRig. The biggest knock on the utility trailers -- aside from the lack of the cool looks of the SportsRig -- is their leaf-spring suspensions which are designed to handle up to ~1,000lb payloads. To be fair, there are two answers to the "jolt" and "vibration" issue. The first is, you can get 12" wheels and run the tires at their minimum psi ratings since you're only carrying less than 10% of the trailer's designed load capacity which will go a long way towards softening up the ride. The second is, the jolts unloaded bikes take on the back of a trailer are no where as severe as the ones they must deal with when they're being ridden on the same roads with one, two or in your case up to three riders. So, while it's nice to coddle our bikes during transit, there are few things short of being run into an overhang or falling off the mounting system at highway speeds that will put a greater strain on the bike than what they are designed to deal with in normal use. As for mounting hardware, you can pretty much get buy using a $25 bolt-on fork mount -- perhaps with a riser block -- mounted on a 2x4x10 trimming to the correct length for your rear wheel. You can simply strap the rear tire to the 2x4 using any one of a variety of different methods.

Now, my one word of caution with trailers and tandems is to hang a red flag and/or an 2"x2" red clearance light on the rear wheel with a velcro strap. In most cases, the rear wheel of your very narrow tandem will invariably be sticking out well past the back-end of the trailer and the trailer's tail lights are usually several feet ahead of the back wheel. Given the nearly invisible rear profile of a bicycle, you'll want to make sure a motorist sees your outsize load so as not to "bump up" against the rear wheel. This recommendation is based on having followed one of our friends hauling their tandem on a Howling Dog trailer. I'd liken it to trailing a sailboat with a kick-up rudder installed: the motorists will see the trailer's lights and the back of the boat, but that rudder is nearly invisible... until you hit it.

All American 6

Thanks for the replies. Exactly what I was looking for. Yakima and Thule's sites say they don’t make a rack for a 06 Town Car. I imagine there is one out there somewhere. I still think I would rather tow.


AA6

sch

Having broken a fork tip off on my Teledyne Titan a few years ago when it was
in the back of my van and I forgot to drape the restraint straps over the seat
and it fell over in a turn,
I would want some kind of side to side immobilization on larger bikes beyond a
rim strap and fork clamp. The rare emergency maneuver can put a pretty large
side to side vector on a bike.

TandemGeek

Atoc sells stablizers for those who want additional side-to-side support, which probably is a good idea for triplet or quad. One could also be fabricated from PVC, an aluminum shaft, or wood dowling.

ricardo kuhn

Also remember in most of the states the speed limit for vehicles with trailers is restricted, in the case of California to 55mph when with out the trailer you can go legally up to 75mph on some highways..

Not to mention the vehicle will not handle as well (tail wagging, braking, etc), or fit on as many places, plus you may forget you have the trailer attach to the car and hit something...

I will say find a way to carry you bikes inside or at least on the car if possible.

glong123

Another option that I took is to modify a utility trailer. Actually the utility trailer is a modified small boat trailer with a 4x8 deck added for hauling caoes, trash to the dump, furniture, or whatever. Performance recently had their xport fork locks on sale for $10. I bought several of them and mounted them to 2x12's at either end of the trailer. That took care of the front half of the bikes.

Then I added a board with several short lengths of pvc pipe split in half lengthwise bolted to the small blocks on the board. The rear wheels fit into the pvc pipe sections and are held with very short bungee cords wrapped around the pvc. The "rear wheel" board can be moved around depending on whether I'm carrying singles or tandems. The reason for mounting the pvc onto small blocks was twofold: First it made it easier to hold the wheels by allowing a bungee to pass around the pvc between the blocks. Second, the pvc has a little give to it taking some of the road shock off the bikes.

We did the mods originally so several of us could vanpool together to a ride in WV. Carried 6 singles with no problems. Then this weekend, we carried 2 tandems and a single to Lancaster, PA for a ride.

Now I'm trying to come up with an addition to hold all the front wheels so I won't have to fill up the back of the vehicle with them. Anyone with ideas please share!

Even with the added hassles of pulling a trailer, it's proven to be very handy. Not for all occasions, but definitely the right thing for some.

Enjoy!

asu_gt

The trailer is a great way to transport bikes and gear. This past summer we transported multiple tandems and 20 single bikes and gear for a week for 32 people in an enclosed trailer. with a few mods it worked like a champ (e.g. addition of a mezzanine level) See attached pics.

Obviously you want to make sure your vehicle can handle a trailer; in most cases, the trailer is going to weigh more than your bikes and gear. A 5x8 utility trailer can be found pretty cheap, will not require trailer brakes, can be modified easily and you can pretty much never pay another delivery fee.

Regarding storing the front wheels, have you considered mounting a front tire carrier in between the bikes? To me, it seems more secure to mount the bike using a fork mount system and the front wheel on a stand next to the bike.

Jay