Cargo Woody Tear

[kerryb]

I'm starting this thread as a place to journal my progress and gather opinions as to the next step. So far I have narrowed a HF trailer frame to 28" X 48". Extended the tongue and waffled on many ideas. To keep it simple the first iteration will be a teardrop shaped cargo trailer to pull behind my motorcycle for camping.
I went with the tear shape mostly for aerodynamics and the composite structure cause it felt like a good compromise. This is definitely a voyage of discovery.

[kerryb]

Making some progress.
Initial basic assembly complete, now on to skins and hatches.

[kerryb]

Big day...preparing to glue the skin on today!

[kerryb]

Well the top is glued on and a layer of glass applied. I'm working out the details off how the hatch is going to fit and play nice with the tailgate. I supposed I should get busy on tailgate parts!
I did a test fit with the included fenders...I think something else is called for. What do you think. Pretty sure I'm going to stick with the 8" wheels. These black fenders shown are for a set of 12" wheels.

[iregan]

I really like the profile, nice and sleek! Those fenders don't work with it, in my opinion. I think with those wheels you need fenders really rounded. Honestly, for some reason when I look at the profile etc I think it would look crazy cool with really tall skinny wheels, and motorcycle style fenders. It kind of looks like an old salt flats racer, lol!
Regan

[kerryb]

Well iregan you got me thinkin...so I talked with my friends and they said a motorcycle axle should be strong enough to support a light trailer with only one side attached. This little tidbit means I can look for front wheels that match the bike I'm pulling with ('83 Goldwing, cast aluminum wheels). Maybe next season I'll have the tall skinny wheels with fenders that match the bike! Those wheels have allowance for disc brakes...Hmmm...how do you make electric trailer brakes from MC hydraulic brakes, maybe a master cylinder operated by a lever on the solenoid...very curious indeed.
In the meantime, I'm still making progress in short spurts.

[Ron Dickey]

super fun.... any drawings of that you want it to turn out as?? like the tail set up.
Ron

[kerryb]

I have many, many pencil sketches of all sorts of ideas for this build, but none concerned the tailights! I had been looking for LED lighting all summer, it was in harbor freight looking for latches that I saw the lenses and had the vision of a corvette pop into my head. I always liked that look, too bad I'm going to spoil it with the big latches on the corners. The latches were chosen based on price, availability, and convenience, found them at Home Depot. They latch and lock and are keyed alike.

[KCStudly]

Neat little trailer you have going there.

I have found everything I have needed for LED lighting at superbrightleds.com. Good pricing, support and quality (no affiliation).

[kerryb]

Wally World to the rescue!! Inexpensive LED bulbs at Walmart in the auto aisle. The round tailgate lights come with the rubber mounting grommet, The HF tail lights had to have reflectors installed (made from SS soup ladle) to work well with 1157 LED replacement bulbs. But I couldn't find something I liked for a license plate light. Ended up with two domelight bulbs wired in parallel inside a steel tube that doubles as a bumper and a grab handle.

[KCStudly]

Great marker light/hatch handle idea!

As to the added reflectors in the taillights it looks like you have 'cut off' (blocked) the side marker portion of the lens all but completely. Is there still a separate incandescent lamp outside of the homemade reflector for the side marker? If not, maybe a notch or drilled hole in the spoon/reflector would be enough to let it function again (al beit as a flasher when turn signal is called for).

[3GKnight]

Very nice! And the new fenders look much better than the initial ones.

[kerryb]

Great marker light/hatch handle idea!

As to the added reflectors in the taillights it looks like you have 'cut off' (blocked) the side marker portion of the lens all but completely. Is there still a separate incandescent lamp outside of the homemade reflector for the side marker? If not, maybe a notch or drilled hole in the spoon/reflector would be enough to let it function again (al beit as a flasher when turn signal is called for).

The side marker lights have separate bulbs for the side area. they are still incandescent and work fine.

[KCStudly]

[kerryb]

First road test/trip completed! Took the trailer on a 5 night trip to Loleta recreation area in the Alleghany forest of n.w. Pa. It towed very well behind the bike and I'm pleased with the gas mileage figures. Normally I get about 45mpg on the bike in mixed riding. With the trailer in tow, I got 40+ mpg in mixed riding, (65mph two lane and small town stop and go) the final weight of the empty trailer came in at 153lbs and filled with gear I was at about 175-180lbs.
Future improvements will be to mount the spare tire underneath, add a weather seal to the top hinge, and add stiffeners to the main hatch. The only problem I haven't figured out how to solve is the small clanking noises coming from the hitch ball. Any suggestions?