Following up after last years Biggest Morning Tea and the logistics required , I find myself in the need to fit Smurfette with a towbar to help get gear to the venues I am attending .
I recently fabricated a steel rod template for the towbar ,and have passed this on to a local welder fabricator near my work .
Should hopefully see his finished work in the next few weeks. 
Found myself an old trailer chassis with leaf spring suspension . The only difference with this trailer to our previous one is it has a fixed hitch , as opposed to the swivel type on the Ali-lite.
I also found a cargo roof pod (800mm x 1400mm) for $30 at my local Re-use/recycle centre , with the key snapped off in the cylinder. 
Local locksmith was able to remove the broken key and recut two new keys , all for $15. Cheering .
so the new kart will resemble much the same as below when finished . 
I'll be retracing my postings for the wiring harness on Smurfette.
The trailer will make it a lot easier for making the 350km return trips to set up .

this is the frame I have ready to go .


and will finish up looking like this ....

I do hope you wont be towing that without a swivel hitch Ed.

Thanks Rick , the swivel coupler is my preference. it will depend on my chances of procurring a suitable one to use on the hitch bar .

It has just occurred to me that the small classic I bought from Garryk100 has a swivel coupling which I wont be using because I will use my own design with the anti-sway bars and load share set up.  If you are going to Jindabyne I can probably strap it on somehow.  No reasonable offers refused.
It is the same type with a swivel on it.

Ed/Rick

have a look at the hitch fitted to this Kwakka 1000GTR. I wonder could something similar be made for the K that would be mounted to the rear frame but not interfere with the luggage?

I cant comment on that Kawasaki but I am sure the K100 set up would not have the strength in that rear section and I would guarantee it would not stand up to the testing procedures needed in Australia to get it past the DOT. The towbar needs to be attached to the same bolts the footpeg plates use onto the gearbox.

I wouldn't put a towbar there.

A sudden weight on the drawbar will be amplified by being far back and up high. That bugger Newton and his Principle of Moments.

Footrest hangers/under the gearbox, keep it low down and central.

Good point !

What I like about that setup is how discreet it is when not in use.

Having the hitch up high, that is more than 5% of the diameter of the read wheel above the axle can be and often is disastrous in that when in a tight radius turn the trailer or bike jerks it can pull the bike down. It is even very noticeable when the set up is as described. This is the reason Dexter recommend that electric brakes are not used because they were responsible for quite a few crashes on roundabouts if the rider touched the rear brake, a common way to steady the solo bike in slow maneuvers.

That really makes sense to me - now that it's pointed out!   

Makes one wonder why Unigo use so many Swan neck type draw bars.

The unigo trailers don't run brakes which makes it a better proposition and they also track almost in line with the bike.
One of the downfalls with the two wheel trailers is that doing a U turn and that is usually done from the edge of the road where the nearside wheel is off the paved part of the road and will jerk sharply when it hits the drop off from the paved section. I know, I almost went down towing my camper and that was with the tow ball at the recommended height.
When I was active with the Ulysses Club I came across quite a few riders who had come to grief towing trailers.

RicK G wrote:It has just occurred to me that the small classic I bought from Garryk100 has a swivel coupling which I wont be using because I will use my own design with the anti-sway bars and load share set up.  If you are going to Jindabyne I can probably strap it on somehow.  No reasonable offers refused.
It is the same type with a swivel on it.

Sorry for the late reply Rick , I just spotted this . do you have any pics of the hitch . I'd be keen to discuss disbursememnts.

Is this the trailer from Gary.

The fabricator has advised me he is ready for a dummy fit up of the towbar , so that will take place in about another week . 
So today I salvaged the rear taillight / towbar harness from Ol' Blue , to go into "Smurfette" in readiness for the towbar fitment . 

As this is the harness from the K100LT ( Ol'Blue) which fits directly into the K1100RS (Smurfettes) rear tail piece, 
we can follow the same steps for wiring as originally posted for O'l Blue. wiring your K for a trailer

Harness is all hooked up , just a matter of feeding the lines out to the blinkers .

When removing the taillight from the ducktail , I noticed a pair of wires , red and black protruding from the lens . upon inspection they are attached to a LED strip on the left side only . Not sure if RossKKo had something to do with this , and if they actually worked at some stage . I'm guessing they were for added brightness to compliment the taillight . 


and running a test of the lights
The white wire ( on the right ) is the Earth coming from the trailer lights , it will need to be attached to the pannier Z bracket bolt .


I've kept the original K1100RS harness intact , and only the broken parts have now been discarded.


The harness is fully operational with a store bought trailer light bar . 

IMHO using the z-frame bolt as an earth is not a good idea. You're forcing the return path through one layer of rust, along the frame and through a second layer of rust to join the main earth. There will be a voltage drop; if there's no rust now, there will be some later and brightness will suffer as a result. You'd be better running an earth right back to the main earthing point up front.

OTOH if you live in one o' them bits of Oz that gets very little rain, you can ignore every word I've said!

Moving along quite smoothly at present , picked up the towbar on friday arvo . Looks good .
Spent today doing a bit of sizing and fitting .

Construction is from 25mm round tube . 
7mm thick chain link . 
50mm towball
Mounting is to the outside of the footplate, just need a couple of flat bar hangers .
Hangers will be 25mm x 3mm flat bar , as previously on Ol' Blue.
 




Alignment down both sides is good with no obstruction . I managed to gain more clearance after these pics .


The towbar needs some slight adjustment before I go too much further.


Panniers in position with no obstruction 



holes will be drilled in the flat plate for the hangers to be bolted on .


I am very happy with the welding . 


A slight adjustment of the location , gives plenty of clearance . I can now drill the holes for bolting onto the foot peg plate . 
The wiring harness will be mounted on the edge of the flat bar hangers .

Dai , I'm hearing your concern of the earthing of the wiring , and although we are on the coastal region , I found the Z bracket , provided good earthing on our previous fitout with Ol" Blue . I'm happy to stay there at the moment . Thanks for the thought . 


This project has gone very smooth so far . The bike has not yet been to the fabricators, all the design has been by the use of a wire template .
Cost to fabricate this towbar was about half of what it would have been through Classic Industries. However it was for charitable purposes.

so far , so good . On time and on budget.

Keep at it Ed , nearly there

cheers

Looking good Ed, nice project and coming on well.

My only worry is - will you be able to take the rear wheel off without removing the whole tow bar assembly? That may not be a big problem, depending how you connect the tow bar to the foot rest plates, but the electrics will need to be releasable too.

The tow bar assembly that I am looking after on its journey to Olaf's K1100 has a single draw bar, probably to avoid exactly that issue. It also has an additional support to stop it drooping (possibly not needed with your 2 bar design?) I'm sure he won't mind me sharing a pic.

And about mounting the tow bar to the foot rest plates: ....it would then
become rubber mounted.....is the rubber mounts up for the extra load?

k1100 inge I think the foot peg plates are bolted directly to the gearbox   where as early k100 were rubber mounted ???

The 1100's (and early 2V) models have rubber mounted foot rest plate.
On top a frame is resting at the rubber mounts used under the battery
tray on the earlier models.
On the bottom it's a couple of bolts into the gearbox, but it's rubber
involved here to.

Born Again Eccentric wrote:Looking good Ed, nice project and coming on well.

My only worry is - will you be able to take the rear wheel off without removing the whole tow bar assembly? That may not be a big problem, depending how you connect the tow bar to the foot rest plates, but the electrics will need to be releasable too.

The tow bar assembly that I am looking after on its journey to Olaf's K1100 has a single draw bar, probably to avoid exactly that issue. It also has an additional support to stop it drooping (possibly not needed with your 2 bar design?) I'm sure he won't mind me sharing a pic.

I've seen a few of those single sided versions during my travels on google . 
It wasn't something I was comfortable designing myself , due to lack of engineering foresight. 
My pics so far do not show the upright support bars , but they will be put in place before I start using this .
Paul , that one looks strange , in the fact it has only one under engine mount hole , which would make you think about sideways movement at the ball.
It certainly has the advantage of easy wheel removal . I have no issues with the effort required for removing the towbar . The electrics will be mounted to the upright support bar , which is left on during wheel removal. 

 I will most likely only have it on the bike for necessary / planned trips . It will be good to get comparisons at a later time when they are all getting some use . 
Glad you shared it with us .I'm sure Olaf is not minding one bit .

Inge I haven't seen any rubber mounts on the 1100 footplates , at least not in the proximity of the bolt holes to the gearbox .
I'm expecting this new bar to provide a lot more rigidity than the previous Classic Industrie version , which had a lot of flex in it, probably because it was made from 20mm solid bar rod .

Do the bolts secure into the cross tubes behind the plates?

Inge K. wrote:The 1100's (and early 2V) models have rubber mounted foot rest plate.
On top a frame is resting at the rubber mounts used under the battery
tray on the earlier models.
On the bottom it's a couple of bolts into the gearbox, but it's rubber
involved here to.

wow ..really ?  I knew there was a bracket in there but ..thanks for the heads up inge

think ill stay with a k100 type system ,,,,giggle

Ed wrote:Do the bolts secure into the cross tubes behind the plates?

The alu plates is bolted into the frame (1) with two bolts on each side where
you have made a circle.

The frame (1) is mounted to the gearbox with four rubber mounts (11).

On the lower part a sleeve (17, 18) with a rubber ring (20) is bolted to the
gearbox and a similar one is on the steel plates (14, 15), the alu plates is
just slided over these sleeves.

Ed wrote:

I've seen a few of those single sided versions during my travels on google . 
It wasn't something I was comfortable designing myself , due to lack of engineering foresight. 
My pics so far do not show the upright support bars , but they will be put in place before I start using this .
Paul , that one looks strange , in the fact it has only one under engine mount hole , which would make you think about sideways movement at the ball.
It certainly has the advantage of easy wheel removal . I have no issues with the effort required for removing the towbar . The electrics will be mounted to the upright support bar , which is left on during wheel removal. 

 I will most likely only have it on the bike for necessary / planned trips . It will be good to get comparisons at a later time when they are all getting some use . 
Glad you shared it with us .I'm sure Olaf is not minding one bit .

 
You're right Ed, it is something of bespoke design and has a few special bends that would challenge many of us non-professional fabricators. I guess the single hole front mount goes to the centre stand mounting rather than the engine and lateral movement at the ball is prevented by the upright support bar which is quite hefty.

Glad you have thought about wheel removal - it can be tight enough with the exhaust muffler in place. When I drop my rear wheel, I use a kevlar stop threaded through the rear grab handles, between the duck tail and the Z frames and under the frame/mudguard. It is then a simple matter of attaching to a chain block hanging from my workshop overheads and hauling the whole of the back of the bike off the ground - the wheel then drops down vertically and avoids me having to fiddle around removing the numberplate & mudflap assembly. Also a useful system for working on the centre stand!

I certainly like the look of your two bar design, but thought it best to chip in with my tuppence ha'penny worth of uninformed opinion before you had it all finished, painted up and looking the business...only to have an "Oh Sh*t!" moment. I've been there too many times myself!

If a tow bar has ANY sideways movement it won't meet Australian Design Standards. There are some that were available that do meet the standard but AFAIK there are none available commercially any more. The only time that a check would show up a bad one is in the case of a large insurance claim.
As far as the various state transport departments are concerned if the manufacturer puts a compliance plate on the thing all is OK because then the maker carries the liability.

It was good to catch up with a few of the krew at Grey Gums Cafe last weekend , to help celebrate the Kfest event .
Whilst there Al and I had a chance to discuss the anchor points on the towbar on his K100/K1100 RT combo. 

This set up is bolted directly to the backing plate behind these K1100 footpeg plates. Much more secure than where I had thought to use .
When I get the chance I wil have a look at whether I can get a better access , as mine has the ABS modules to contend with. 


Al was saying that Classic Ind ( who made this one) have at least three different variants to fit the 1100 frame . 
Not neccessarily guaranteeing that one will fit your specs .

Ok to add to this thread......

Born Again Eccentric very kindly brought one K1100 tow bar to the K Fest.

This presented a new problem.....how to get the darn thing home. Having brought 8 kilos of puddings with me there wasn't much weight difference going home but there was a shape issue.

The photos only show one part, the second part in the end I had to mount on the K1100 to get it home as the shape didn't allow me to strap it on in any way. It uses the four top Z rail to frame mounts. The 'C' unit in the photo bolts under the stand assembly and is suspended from the rear shock top mount and there is a double fixing at the tow ball to the upper part already mounted which completes the triangulation and makes the entire rigid.

At Easter I was at Wills [88] and we removed the gearbox off his K1100. The footrest hangers and everything on them mount on top of the gear box in rubber mounts that on the K100 support the battery tray. No way will any of this take a tow bar. On the K100 the tow bar mounts to the foot rest hangers which on the K100 are bolted to the frame. The two are extremely different and the K1100 MUST go to the under stand fixing as its the only rigid mounting point available. On both the tow bar is completely separate from suspension movement.

I don't have a photo of the other part but will be taking it off during the week to have it cleaned and painted.

It came with the regular 7 pin plug but I plan to ditch this using an option Will has suggested. I will have to get a 7 pin multi connector to do it.

wheres the pics Olaf   . you know we like pics .
I have to say that the towbar on Al's RT is far more secure than what I had on my LT. 

This shows the K75 towbar rested on the ground , with the K100 towbar fixed to the bike .
Both of these towbars are made by Classic Industries and NOT for ABS models . The reason for mounting further back from the gearbox. 
The flat plate bracket comes as standard with the towbar . The left side is bolted directly between the gearbox and footplate. 

No photos....my son invited me out yesterday so at 8am we headed off to Kerry and West Cork in perfect sunshine for breakfast and a good run around the Cork and Kerry mountains....we got two favourite places with not a car and let the bikes do their thing. A cracking day so wasn't near the computer.

I didn't know what his plans were as we left but knew I needed a breakfast stop somewhere and thought it would be Killarney. So 10am we arrived at Killarney only to carry on.

To this. Pancake Cottage! What a name.

http://strawberryfield-ireland.com/about/


Now I'm used to a good Irish/English/Ulster fry but this place beats all. It's got to be on our route trips, located between Moll's Gap and the Black Valley [no durty laughs].




Starter course.....for two.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:Ok to add to this thread......

Born Again Eccentric very kindly brought one K1100 tow bar to the K Fest.

This presented a new problem.....how to get the darn thing home. Having brought 8 kilos of puddings with me there wasn't much weight difference going home but there was a shape issue.

The photos only show one part, the second part in the end I had to mount on the K1100 to get it home as the shape didn't allow me to strap it on in any way. It uses the four top Z rail to frame mounts. The 'C' unit in the photo bolts under the stand assembly and is suspended from the rear shock top mount and there is a double fixing at the tow ball to the upper part already mounted which completes the triangulation and makes the entire rigid.


I don't have a photo of the other part but will be taking it off during the week to have it cleaned and painted.

It came with the regular 7 pin plug but I plan to ditch this using an option Will has suggested. I will have to get a 7 pin multi connector to do it.

Here you go...
Loaded for KFest delivery - strapped on with sacrificial WHITE cable ties...an unusual load to carry!



Tow ball bracket (two bolts attach to the rear plate assembly)


Rear plate assembly (upside down)

Rear plate assembly (right way up) - two bolt holes to attach to tow bar bracket. Four bolts (2 on each arm) to attach inside of Z frame mounts...which wasn't a fiddly job at all inside the KFest tent workshop! (and now it needs to come off again for a good wire brushing and powder coat/lick of paint).

Paul many thanks for that post.

The part on the Z bars went on easy enough once it was all figured out. One part needed a little adjustment to align with the mounting and then it was done.

The long bar takes the load to the gearbox mount and the rear shock top mount.

The connection at the number plate between the two is essential to prevent flexing which would crack the weld to the rear shock mounting.

I will put it all on as a test before stripping and painting it. Rustoleum satin black as sued in heavy marine works. Lasts well and easily repaired. Shot blast and prime first.

Paul the white cable ties held on some of the chamois around the rear shock leg which then rested very securely against the top box. [Beer deserved for leaving them at K Fest. In fact if you are over a visit to Pancake Cottage on the Ring of Kerry is in order. Can't guarantee you will be able to move after it].

The K100RT one is completely different, no commonality whatsoever.

Finally fitted the towbar to Smurfette this past week , as I had an upcoming charity engagement to attend . 
This pic shows the towbar alignment with rider weight added.