Trailer hitch for K1100

[Johnalan]

Want to make a hitch for '94 Kll00LT. does any one know where commercial hitches mount since set up is totallly different than my '89 K100. does any one have experience with swivel and just a ball type hitch. Used a ball hitch last year and had no issues with it , but have heard riders say they would only have a swivel. I'd like to hear your preverences and why.

[Bobmws]

I can't help with your K11 hitch, bu tif you contact John Brown from Mixit, he may have some pics available of the Reynolds unit. Tell him I sent you. He may have one available from his recently toasted K11.
Regarding the swivel, I've had trailer with and without it. The swivel makes transitions form side to side much smoother. The real benefit comes when (not if!) you drop your bike with the trailer attached. The straight tongue will not allow the bike to go all the way over and will put stress on the hitch and frame mounting points, potentially causing more damage.

[Ridealot]

I have had a hitch on both a K100 and a K1100. I think they where both very similiar in attachment points. Bushtec may still make a hitch for the K1100? I have a Reynolds on my bike, and unfortunately you would have to find a used one as they are out of business. It is a single sided hitch so you can still remove the rear wheel without taking the hitch off. I had a Unigo hitch on the K100 that was something you could make yourself. Since it attached on both sides it was a major pain at tire change time. I don't miss that one at all.

Having owned 4 trailers that I have towed with my bikes I would say that NOT having a swivel on the hitch is just plain asking for trouble. Having a tip over without a swivel can bend the hitch or trailer tongue. Do you really want to have to deal with something like that in the middle of a trip??

You asked about attachment points so here are some pictures of the Reynolds hitch. They do still show up for sale in the IBMWR ads. Unless your a great fabricator it would be a hard thing to make on your own though.

http://beemertom.smugmug.com/photos/141788871-M.jpg

http://beemertom.smugmug.com/photos/141788882-M.jpg

http://beemertom.smugmug.com/photos/141788890-M.jpg

[Johnalan]

good pictures! I wondered if there would be any issues with mounting a rigid hitch to the rubber isolated footpeg mounts. certainly easier to do but not as positve af a place to pull from and wouldn't that transmit the vibration right to the rider? Is there a down tube from the left side of bike as well?

[BlackHoof]

Tom,

Are you sure your hitch is a Reynolds? The reason I ask is I bought a used
Reynolds that has a horizontal plate which bolts to the center stand mounts
under the transmission. Your hitch looks way easier to mount than mine,
could be I have an earlier version, or vice a versa.

Johnalan,

When I ordered my isolation relay device for wiring up my trailer, Bushtec
indicated that they still produce a hitch for older K1100's, you may want to
check them for price & availability.

[Ridealot]

Tom,

Are you sure your hitch is a Reynolds? The reason I ask is I bought a used
Reynolds that has a horizontal plate which bolts to the center stand mounts
under the transmission. Your hitch looks way easier to mount than mine,
could be I have an earlier version, or vice a versa.

Although the hitch was on the bike when I bought it I am positive its a Reynolds. It mounts the same as the one on my K100 did. On this bike and my K100 the only thing that attaches to the centerstand is the one support brace. The K1100 hitch does have a second support brace near the back that the K100 bike didn't. If you look at the third picture you can see the second brace that crosses under the fender and attaches on the other side.

I don't think I have seen a Reynolds with the type of plate you are talking about. But I don't bend well enough anymore to be looking under to many bikes. :)

Johnalan, if bushtec still makes the hitch it would save you a huge amount of time trying to design your own. And a hitch design that is proven would be worth a ton for piece of mind. When zipping through the twisties would be a bad time to discover a short coming of a hitch. Good luck. I have 10's of thousands of miles pulling a trailer and I love it. When my wife and I arrive at a rally we have all the creature comforts we want and then some.

And the best part is at the end of the rally. We have room to take home all the left over beer from our riding friends. We always show up at the rallies with a cooler full of beer and our friends then fill the cooler with beer during the rally. What they may not know is that the beer we show up with is the left overs we took home from the last rally. :nyah