Hello

I am in the process of completing an enclosed trailer for my service animal. While I can relax on the road, and my dog's good for thirty miles. I am starting to add a lot of lights, batteries, and weight. Currently the trailer is 30 inches tall (from the ground) and is 31 inches wide. This was a picture after having the side boards on it.


The measurements also include a canopy which I'll be able to remove.

My current plan is to attach my dinnotte to the rear left which would place it in the road way. Place a hotshot on the middle rear of the canopy door, and an older super flash on the trailer tongue where it starts to sweep back in for the bike, and aimed to the road side in front of the trailer. My bike is also dyno equipped and has the super nova set as running lights for it.

I am also planning on a set of flags with one on rear left 36"(H), rear right 42"(H), and the front right 48"(H). Additionally I ordered a yellow reflective road sign which identifies the service animal on board with the hope that it might encourage some extra room.

Since I do not currently have time constraints the plan is to do 25-40 miles. I plan to be on the road by 8AM, and ready to pitch camp at the next spot no later than 2pm. I may also be on the road before and after dusk and dawn since I like to take pictures.

I have the chargers for the lights, and batteries, and other than the super flash my electronics use AA or mini usb.

too much, or too little?

Thanks

Put a blinkie on on the back and that should be just fine if only 1 put it on the traffic left? side ..

if you stand the trailer on end to store it .. a removable light or a Guard over it.


Out here , I just have lights on the bike and reflectors on the trailer.


Good luck with Detroit it is cheaper to buy a house there, with a bunch of abandoned houses .

I'm told = to the acres of Manhattan Island.

I did just the opposite about 50 years ago; I came from Detroit to Oregon

Some thoughts:
-Bike flags have a fair amount of wind resistance.
-I don't tour with a trailer, but use one to run errands and grocery shopping. One or 2 lights should be more than adequate.
-Distances covered might be dictated by places to stop, water and other services, especially in the west. Expect a few long days.
- Nice looking trailer. Lighter is better with any gear.

Good luck with your venture. I used to say "Michigan was a good place to be from". However, after spending a month riding a loop around the state, I will never say that again. The people were great, the driver courteous, and the country side beautiful. All things that I knew but forgot.

I did a group tour a couple years ago. One guy had a low slung trike with a trailer. I was really surprised how poor the visibility was for the trike with trailer because he was so low to the ground. He used one flag that really improved his visibility. I agree with the suggestion above, a flashing light on the left side should be enough. But, make sure that the flashing light has good batteries, a dim light with low batteries can be a hazard because it makes you think you are safe when it is not very visible. I do not think three flags are necessary, but one or two are really good ideas.

If you are riding a normal bike where you are sitting on the bike up higher, that is much more visible, especially if you are wearing high vis clothing. In that case, you and the trailer may be more visible than most bikers by themselves. On that group tour, two had Bike Friday bikes with trailers, they were much more visible than the guy on the trike with trailer because with the Bike Fridays, they were up high where they could be seen.

The three of the bikers on that group tour that had trailers (one trike, two Bike Fridays), they all were a bit further into traffic than those of us that had panniers because all three of the trailers were of the two wheel variety and both wheels had to be on solid pavement. But I think all three of those trailers were almost a foot narrower than your trailer. Do you really need that wide of a trailer?

There have been a few times where a semi is trying to give me plenty of room, but suddenly on coming traffic from around a bend appears and the semi pulls back and really crowds me. And a couple times I have ridden off the pavement without incident. My point is that even when traffic is trying to give you plenty of room, the situation can change. And that is when a wide trailer might be problematic.

I wish you luck in your endeavors.

I would suggest going to an auto parts store and getting one or two of the 3" diameter red reflectors for the trailer. Many cars and trucks these days run daytime headlights and the reflectors don't need batteries. So if whatever you end up using for a real flasher has the batteries go dead then you'll still have the reflectors. Just a thought.

thanks for the suggestions, especially since I had not thought of the reflectors.

the dog plus trailer is around a hundred so I'm not planning on putting much else in there.

Heres my bike from an over night I did last week. Got woke up buy these two in the morning.