Reciever mount for Honda trail 90, kinda tech?

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buckroseau

buckroseau

May I have another!!!
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I have a 73 Honda trail 90 and I'm thinking it would look kinda cool and handy if I was hauling it around on the back of my 77 FJ40 on a reciever hitch mount.

I'm thinking the trail weighs around 300lbs. The depth of the reciever is 7", so the trail is going to be hanging out from the edge of the reciever mount approx. 16". I'm guessing the mount is going to weigh around 80 to 100lbs. The type of hitch I have said it was rated for 500lbs.

Now, wondering at 16" away from the hitch at 400+ lbs, do I have a problem. I'm assuming the manufacture/engineer calculated the load at less distance. The hitch/bumper I have is pretty stout? Does anyone see a problem with this? Any suggestions? I'm thinking I might start welding this up in the next few days.

Sorry about the crudeness of the diagram, it was the best I could do with Microsoft paint.

Thanks, Matt
 
get a trail 50, you could probably fit in the rear :D

good luck on it, interested in the outcome as Ive got a trail 70 id like to haul around whenever I get it running.
 
Connie want one of those(trail 90) real bad............me I don't I need 4 wheels under me ;)
 
[quote author=thorvald link=board=1;threadid=15103;start=msg142512#msg142512 date=1082513202]
get a trail 50, you could probably fit in the rear :D
[/quote]

A z50 fits fairly easily in the back and you can still fit in camping gear. A lot of fun to ride around on in camp also...
 
Don't have pics but have been hauling my motorcycles on a similar rack for years. Your drawing looks right except the tie down attachment points need to be a bit lower. Put it under the slope instead of at the top. You want the tie downs to mimic the angle of the forks. If they are ahead of the forks it will tend to pull the bike forward too much lifting the rear tire out of the rail.
 
Sweet, thanks for the mount idea. I have a 74 trail 90 with 800 original miles on it. I love that little bike. :D
Although now that I am at school, I had to leave it at home to sit in the garage. :(
 
We'll I bought $22 bucks worth of steel and a hour and a half of time this evening and fabbed up my trail 90 reciever mount. You can see it in the pics on the back of my truck, I didn't have my cruiser at the shop. Wouldn't have mattered, Houston... we have a problem.....

I did not anticipate how much the U channel would flex on the end that the Trail is strapped to. The U channel twists on the bottom where the straps fasten to the 1" square stock, approx. 1 foot of center of the U channel. Twisting at the bottom results in about 6 to 10" of movement up at the handle bars, way to much.

I have an idea, but involves starting over. I guess I wouldn't know what my next idea is unless I tried this, so it's all good I guess :-\.

Any ideas? Thanks, Matt
 
FWIW, some of those 90's have fold up handle bars which may or may not help, but that could be used to keep it closer to the rig.
Secondly, why do cruiser-heads seem to have a fetish for honda trails?
 
[quote author=Kief link=board=1;threadid=15103;start=msg143283#msg143283 date=1082607779]
why do cruiser-heads seem to have a fetish for honda trails?
[/quote]


Not just trails...

XR's, CB450, 350X three-wheeler, 185S three-wheeler...

Honda.
 
[quote author=Otis link=board=1;threadid=15103;start=msg143293#msg143293 date=1082608774]
Maybe you can "borrow" a few ideas from this rack:

http://www.motojackrack.com/
[/quote]

That think looks scary. :-\ It seems like the bike would be able to move a lot on that stand.
 
I'm with Poser on this one... 8)
...2 XR 75s, 2 Z 50s, an XL and an ATC.
Not just Hondas either. YAMAHAs galour in my garage. 8 TT 500s, 1 XT600, 1 YZ, 1 YF, and a half dozen snomos including a really pumped Phazer. Oh, yeah, don't forget a couple Kawasakis, a Suzuki, a Hodaka, and a sweet 1974 Harley that is mostly a show piece ( read to valuable to ride often).
 
Got some more steel on Friday, just welded up the new prototype, finished 15 min. ago. Thought I would post some pics if anyone cares.

As I said before, the problem with the first prototype was that I did not anticipate how much the U channel would twist on the end. I was able to over come that problem by adding 12" of 2" receiver stock beyond the U channel and fasten the straps to the reciever stock. There is no way now that the bike can move towards the Lancruiser or away, the reciever stock is just to stout.

I also drilled 2 holes through the U channel, one in front of the rear tire and one behind the front tire (I think you can see that in some of the pics). I installed 2 - 1/2" dia. Stainless steel bolts to use as wheel chocks. The bike didn't move once I had the straps installed, but figured it couldn't hurt.

Total investment, $21 in steel and 1:45 min. of my time. I'm happy, I guess that's all that matters. I'll let you know if it falls off..... :)

Matt
 
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