Originally Posted by CommuterRun
Good choice, Donna. I think you'll like that trailer. I've had my flatbed for over three years and it's a great piece of gear.
For a while I was using it almost daily. To the point where, when I went to a rack and panniers on two of my bikes, they felt weird without the trailer back there.
I modified my flatbed by taking the rear reflectors off the aluminum tabs, rotating the tabs 90º so they point outboard, and clipping a Cateye TL-LD500 on each rear corner of the trailer. Two active lights and reflectors on the back. A zip-tie run through the hole in the end of each tab keeps the lights from sliding off the ends of the tabs, although the fit is tight enough that this doesn't seem it's ever going to be a problem.
I have used my daughter's Solo as a covered utility trailer and have found the Flatbed to be much more versatile.
Some thoughts on modifying the trailer to carry more weight:
I think the 100 lb. limit is conservative on the part of Burley.
I know the 15 mph speed limit (do they still put that warning in the owner's manual?) is way conservative.
I think a solid bed and a solid axle would allow the trailer to carry more weight.
It wouldn't surprise me if modifying the trailer like this to carry more weight voids the warranty.
I think if I was going to modify a trailer that much, I would get a couple of wheels off an old kids bike someone was dumping, and built my own trailer. Not hard, with a couple of wheels, and some of that left over lumber in the garage....
I would think, build a frame out of some 2x2 lumber, attach a wheel on either side, use wood or a hunk of metal pipe to rise from floor to saddle height, then wrap a piece of old inner tube around the seatpost, for a hitch. Nail or screw some plywood to the frame, if you want walls, you just build them ontop. Another option to walls, is to get a package of screw eyes (they have a screw on one end, and a metal loop on the other, put one every 15cm or so, around the ootside, add a few bungie cords, and loads do not have to fit within the trailer. If you go with the screw eye method, you might want to build boxes around the inside of the wheel, amf a wall at the front, so stuff doesn't end up in the spokes.