Newbie with trailer questions...

[Eydugstr]

Hello everyone - Great forum. Have been looking at touring bikes for a little while now, trying to find something that'll fit the budget and give the G/F a comfortable passenger seat. Some of the bikes I've seen come up for sale have trailer hitches mounted on them.

My question is this...Has the extra weight of the trailers ever caused any issues with wearing out the shaft drive or the rear hub prematurely on the 1200's?

[Neal]

never to my knowledge.

[Tonyvdb]

My understanding is because it uses straight cut gears they are fairly indestructible.

[trikebldr]

My Voyager 1300 pulled a 250lb sidecar and a trailer (see pic below) usually loaded to around 400lbs all across the U.S. for over 112,000 miles before being hit broadside. Only changed the final drive oil once in all that time but never had any issues. Yes, these final drives are bullet proof. Even after the crash the running gear was used under better bodywork from another Voyager that had a blown engine.

Another way to look at it is using the principles of physics. The most force that can be applied to the final drive is what the engine can produce, no matter what kind of load is on the bike or being pulled. Most riders use a lot of throttle every time they accelerate, and that is no different with a light load as opposed to a heavy load. Granted, pulling a trailer, or a sidecar and trailer, will speed up the wear rate, but only if you try to keep up the same speeds as without a load.

I'm only speaking about my experience with my Voyager 1300's, and they use a "hypoid" (spiral) type gear design, just like in automotive applications. Not sure about the 1200's if they have a straight-cut gear set.

Some guys switch to the synthetic oils with extra wear additives, too, but most experience excessive leakage past the seals using that stuff. Just a good grade of 80-90wt gear oil works great for longer than the rest of the bike will last.

[Eydugstr]

Thanks to everyone for their responses, and the responses that were posted to others that are in the same boat as me (looking at touring bikes). Seems like a pretty stout bike all around.

EDIT - Found one that fit the bill, the pillon seat passed the G/F's comfort test. Just bought a 1990 xii. Bike looked awesome for being 26 years old, owner and wife both took pride in it.