Trailer Queens [Archive]

Bob_M

08-05-2005, 09:42 PM

In todays NY times there was an article about the Sturgis ralley, and the phenomonon of trailering motorcycles. One guy, who gave his name, admitted to dirtying up the bike before going into town. Their Tee shirt of note was "I rode my bike to Trailer Week". I raise a glass to America's (real) newspaper for busting the posers. :drink

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/automobiles/05sturgis.html

The_Veg

08-06-2005, 01:04 PM

I've had an idea to make some $$$ by dirtying up the trailer-queens about 50 miles outside Sturgis. Wait, that may be too far out...

Maybe I can build a small spray-rig to aerodynamically streak on the grime, then switch to a another spray to apply dead bugs. Maybe also have some dirty oil in a spray bottle to apply some 'leaks.'

The kicker would be that I could put all this on a small trailer towed behind a Beemer with tags from ten states away. :p

RebeccaV

08-06-2005, 02:12 PM

I was doing some riding on I-90 in Minnesota and Wisconsin last year at this time and I was seeing a constant stream of trailered bikes heading east. I thought that maybe there had been a bike show in the area, but I finally figured out that the Sturgis rally had just ended. It was amazing how many there were.

To a certain extent I can understand someone needing to trailer their bike somewhere. However, I am shocked that someone would actually 'dirty up' their bike before heading to a rally. It's actually kinda sad. And weird.

jgr451

08-06-2005, 03:24 PM

Spray on bugs!!Now there's a gimmick for the poseurs!!

Funny,I was in Michigan a few weeks ago(the rally was just 6 hours too far;my friends were just too good company).The big buzz after my ride from West Coast Canada to Michigan was the depth of coat,colour and consistency of the bug coat.We took pictures.I didn't wash until I left to return.

Then like you,Rebecca I returned via Route 18 (took the ferry from Muskegon and , yes, passed through your city and thought of you) across Wisconsin,Iowa and Minnesota and took I-90 from Sioux Falls across South Dakota,Wyoming and Montana.Passed through Sturgis just so I could say I have been there.

I had to believe that America has declared war on its bugs,and won.
The windscreen coating was near invisible.What is that?

Boingo

08-07-2005, 08:44 AM

Spray on bugs!!Now there's a gimmick for the poseurs!!

The Aerostich folks already have this in a bottle

http://www.aerostich.com/product.php?productid=17413&cat=324&page=2

jmerlino

08-07-2005, 01:41 PM

I just don't get the whole trailering thing. I mean, maybe I'm nuts, but for me, the whole point of a rally is to give me a excuse to ride somewhere.

username

08-07-2005, 03:08 PM

I just don't get the whole trailering thing. I mean, maybe I'm nuts, but for me, the whole point of a rally is to give me a excuse to ride somewhere.

you're not nuts, you're a rider.

jmerlino

08-07-2005, 03:14 PM

you're not nuts, you're a rider.

Phew. I was worried for a minute there.

jdiaz

08-07-2005, 03:23 PM

I just don't get the whole trailering thing. I mean, maybe I'm nuts, but for me, the whole point of a rally is to give me a excuse to ride somewhere.
If I want to take my 2-year old daughter to a rally, I need to take the car.

My wife rides. We've tried the "one drives the car, one rides the bike" thing, but let's face it: my wife doesn't want to ride my bike, and I don't want to ride hers. I envy couples who can share like that, but we aren't that way. :D

Now, if we use a trailer, we can take my daughter and the bikes that we each want to ride, and each take our own rides when we are there. Hopefully you can understand why some people might want to do this.

BradfordBenn

08-07-2005, 05:14 PM

Think about Peter driving the Toy Box out to a rally. There are perks of that two people can share the driving and then have motorcycles and other items once at the rally. It does make sense.

I have even been known to put my bike in a trailer so I could ride during a business trip. Of course my trailer is a little over the top

<img src="http://www.crownaudio.com/gen_htm/truckfolder/truck_picures/crown_truck_3.jpg" >

DarrylRi

08-07-2005, 05:32 PM

If I want to take my 2-year old daughter to a rally, I need to take the car.

My wife rides. We've tried the "one drives the car, one rides the bike" thing, but let's face it: my wife doesn't want to ride my bike, and I don't want to ride hers. I envy couples who can share like that, but we aren't that way. :D

Now, if we use a trailer, we can take my daughter and the bikes that we each want to ride, and each take our own rides when we are there. Hopefully you can understand why some people might want to do this.
Perfect timing to dump that K75 and get back on an RS, that you both can enjoy, eh?

http://darryl.crafty-fox.com/mcpics/1997/gpndg.jpg

(Sue & Jon are 2nd and 3rd from the right.)

jmerlino

08-07-2005, 06:10 PM

Think about Peter driving the Toy Box out to a rally.

That's a little different, though. I mean, that's a service to the club, and part of the rally infrastructure. It's not like he's doing it because he doesn't WANT to ride.

jdiaz

08-07-2005, 07:41 PM

Perfect timing to dump that K75 and get back on an RS, that you both can enjoy, eh?

Don't start with me. :D An 1150RS is still a bit down the wish list. Not far, but there's some other bikes ahead of it.

And I don't know which one of Gary's sons that is....Marc or Philip. Marc just got his first streetbike this year!!

BradfordBenn

08-07-2005, 08:15 PM

That's a little different, though. I mean, that's a service to the club, and part of the rally infrastructure. It's not like he's doing it because he doesn't WANT to ride.

I guess I didn't make the entire point clear. There was also the advantage the he and Rob could share the driving and make better time overall. So if one only has a few days vacation and can cut 2 days off the travel, then it is definitely worth it.

jmerlino

08-07-2005, 08:28 PM

I guess I didn't make the entire point clear. There was also the advantage the he and Rob could share the driving and make better time overall. So if one only has a few days vacation and can cut 2 days off the travel, then it is definitely worth it.

Okay, point. I wouldn't consider that being a "trailer queen" though.

DarrylRi

08-07-2005, 10:19 PM

Don't start with me. :D An 1150RS is still a bit down the wish list. Not far, but there's some other bikes ahead of it.Who's wish list are we talking about here?

And I don't know which one of Gary's sons that is....Marc or Philip. Marc just got his first streetbike this year!!Cool. I don't think I've run into Gary since Crescent Lake...

jdiaz

08-08-2005, 05:23 AM

Who's wish list are we talking about here?
Sue's. She wants a blue one.

Cool. I don't think I've run into Gary since Crescent Lake...
He's still in PDX. His wife was riding with us in 2002 when we broke down in British Columbia.

dzimbric

08-08-2005, 08:21 AM

The HOG club gives credit for miles if it's on the trailer. Some of the bikes have more trailer miles than road miles. Go figure :dunno

goferu

08-08-2005, 09:11 AM

jdiaz...my hat goes off to you and your wife. There are always extenuating circumstances for why people do what they do. You and you wife have not given up your love for riding or your devotion for your daughter but have figured out how to do it all...cool beans

DLilah

08-09-2005, 10:12 PM

We trailer for a few reasons. One is because we got bikes after we got dogs, so if we want to travel anywhere, we have to take the dogs. Not that easy to board the dogs - would have to take two extra days off work (which we don't have) in order to drop them off and pick them up, or have two less days of vacation (or likely more because you can't drop them off or pick them up on weekends). The other reason is because, as others have said, we don't get that much time off work, so if we trailer somewhere, we have more time to ride when we get there. A third reason I discovered (the hard way) at the Rally. I have asthma, and had a serious attack on my way home (in my truck, not on my bike). If we didn't have our truck/RV and that had happened on my bike, I would not have been able to get back home for at least an extra day or possibly more given the hot, humid weather.

dzimbric

08-09-2005, 10:27 PM

So trailer yer bikes and yer dogs and go visit your Mom. :wave

SCQTT

08-09-2005, 10:47 PM

At least these dudes have bikes, I have heard "Bike Night" stories of people parking their car out back and then walking in the front door in full biker gear like They just got off their H-D FWLYNGRDVOPM II

Uber Poser

SheRidesABeemer

08-10-2005, 08:14 AM

So here is some inside scoop. My Road King riding guy headed out to Sturgis with his club buddies. I rode pillion to Cleveland to pick up my GT - and head home.
They had 6 bikes on the road, 5 on trailers. None of the trailered bikes had any extended circumstances for being trailered, except the owners wanted to ride in the comfort of the Mercedes SUV. Laziness I can understand. Now this is what I don't understand - at rest areas, when running into other HD people, the riders were almost apologetic for NOT trailering. "Oh, I trailered last year and that was great". The people trailering were not the least bit embarrassed by not riding. It was understood that most of the bikes would be to damn uncomfortable to actually RIDE any distance. Culture shock. And of course people wondered how I'd get MY new bike home with out a trailer. :brow

jmerlino

08-10-2005, 08:19 AM

It was understood that most of the bikes would be to damn uncomfortable to actually RIDE any distance.

So much for those badass rebels.

Callmethebreeze

08-10-2005, 08:38 AM

So much for those badass rebels.on

Even HD riders get old and rickety. There were quite a few 'Bagos at Lima as I recall. To each his own. I just hang with motorcyclists. Others can do whatever it is they do. A guy at work has a VStar that he puts 300 miles a month in the summer!!!
Cheers,
Breeze

eddie

08-16-2005, 08:08 PM

The way I do it is if I think I need to trailor to make it somewhere I don't go. :sick

msnden

08-18-2005, 09:08 PM

Try as I might, I just can't get my Beemer in a trailor!!!http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-4/991455/loadingbike.jpg

Den

rocketman

08-19-2005, 08:52 AM

you're not nuts, you're a rider.
Hmmm, isn't being nuts a requirement to being a rider?
:D
(I know it is in my case anyway!)

RM

rocketman

08-19-2005, 09:27 AM

GeneT

08-20-2005, 09:50 PM

While returning from Norfolk VA a few years ago I passed an old hearse with a flame painted on the front and pulling a trailer with two Harleys, of which I believe were headed to Daytona FL. You gotta admit it was original.....

James.A

08-20-2005, 11:35 PM

A trailer is a tool, like a hammer or a chainsaw or a pipe threader. There is nothing better when you need one.

Examples;
Got burned at mid-Ohio when they wouldn't let us take our bicycles into the swap meet. Took the van for cargo capacity and could have easily hung a trailer and had a MOTORCYCLE to use at the event.

I trailered to Daytona twice in the early 90's. Given the weather and the time constraints, it was the right tool for the task.