tongue weight motorcyle hitch carrier (AHC)

[Ramathorn15]

Hey all.

I'm considering buying a new motorcycle this weekend and I'm a bit of a rush to find an answer. I quickly searched but didn't find anything specific to what I'm looking for.

Is ~350 pounds too much weight on the tongue of the LX470 with the AHC? The bike I'm considering buying is in Fort Collins, about 7 hours away. I dont have a trailer, and I'm staying downtown Denver for the weekend so using a trailer is kind of out of the picture.

I'm thinking about buying one of those hitch carriers for the bike but I'm not sure if the AHC can handle that extra weight without getting stuck in L.

Anyone ever do this?

Thanks!

 

[loeky]

For what it's worth, I hitch carried a KTM 650 on the hitch of my old FJ60 with no problems. I believe the 100 series is rated for 500lbs at the tongue, so at least similar and woudn't see a problem.

350 is pretty light and wouldn't sweat it.


As another plan, call the Uhaul there in Ft. Collins and see if they have a dedicated motorcycle trailer available [it has the built in chock]. I did this research with my FIL in Boulder and they usually store them there for use ... pick up there and do a 1 way trip back to origin point.

 

[Ramathorn15]

I've been trying to see about a u-haul but for some reason, it keeps saying a motorcycle trailer is not available no matter which u-haul starting location I use. It seems they may not allow them for one-way trips.

 

[loeky]

I guarantee you that they do, especially intra-state. My FIL used one to travel one-way to NY from Boulder just one month ago. Get someone on the phone as they sometimes have to move them around, or direct you to a different location that has one nearby.

 

[Ramathorn15]

I guarantee you that they do, especially intra-state. My FIL used one to travel one-way to NY from Boulder just one month ago. Get someone on the phone as they sometimes have to move them around, or direct you to a different location that has one nearby.

I called earlier and they said the motorcycle specific trailers were for in town only. They said you can get the 4x7 but it's over $100 and the hitch trailer is only $120 from HF. Seems more economical to get something for my money that I could use in the future.

 

[Ramathorn15]

I just still don't knkw if it's going to overload my suspension. I have king springs I can install (was waiting to get my rear bumper) but I'm worried the ride will be super bouncy for the drive up without the load on it.

My ahc is in spec as it sits.

 

[camino70]

Bring the springs with you.

 

[Ramathorn15]

Bring the springs with you.

That would require bringing tools, a floor jack, and jack stands. Not really possible with the dogs.

 

[camino70]

I'd leave the springs alone for the trip, put the springs in when you install the bumper.

If you're worried about the trip home, how about air bag to help? May not be worth the expense though.

 

[Ramathorn15]

I'm driving up tomorrow and I don't think I can source the bags locally.

 

[nnnnnate]

I think I'd be more concerned about the HF moto carrier than the weight on the back. I've loaded my rig up pretty heavy + the trailer with a ton of fuel and water and haven't had any issues (other than being able to tell I was pulling an anchor.) I think that you'll be fine.

 

[Ramathorn15]

Haha I'm decently confident in the carrier. A friend of mine I used to ride with had the same one and it worked pretty well

 

[TXLX100]

I wouldn't worry about the weight too much. Worst case it drops it to Low and you can load new springs when you get back.

 

[nnnnnate]

I can't remember how it looks on the dash but there are visual indicators when the AHC is taxed to its full ability and any additional dampening is done only by the springs. Its like a flashing AHC light before moving to "low" or something like that. I've seen that once and kind of got nervous but came back here and saw that it was just telling me that things were still good but that the system was too taxed. Even though the light was on low the height was still at normal.

This happened a while ago and I haven't seen it since so I may be mis-remembering a detail. I did want to give you the heads up so if you did see something odd on your dash you would know it wasn't all hell fire and brimstone with your system. I'm sure King Paddo has the deets on this and will deliver, or he has already and will a little digging it can be found.

 

[Ramathorn15]

Thanks for the input guys. I actually went ahead and installed the king springs. It was a lot more difficult than I anticipated these 100s are hard to get the axle to droop enough on each side to get the springs in and out. Had to do a lot of jack and stand manipulation using 3 stands and 2 jacks. I also had to do a lot of prying.

The good news, even unloaded the kings ride well. I can tell they're a bit more firm in the rear but not bouncy at all.

The bad news, I read my before pressures then after installing the springs, my old laptop's hard drive crashed and the think wouldn't even boot in recovery mode. I'm going to have to try and get techstream working on my windows 10 (I think it's been done before) so I an get an after reading.

 

[abuck99]

650 lbs on the tongue weight for the factory hitch

 

[DanInDenver]

Thanks for the input guys. I actually went ahead and installed the king springs. It was a lot more difficult than I anticipated these 100s are hard to get the axle to droop enough on each side to get the springs in and out. Had to do a lot of jack and stand manipulation using 3 stands and 2 jacks. I also had to do a lot of prying.

The good news, even unloaded the kings ride well. I can tell they're a bit more firm in the rear but not bouncy at all.

The bad news, I read my before pressures then after installing the springs, my old laptop's hard drive crashed and the think wouldn't even boot in recovery mode. I'm going to have to try and get techstream working on my windows 10 (I think it's been done before) so I an get an after reading.

It can be done. I have TS running on a Win 10 Surface Pro 4.

 

[Ramathorn15]

Just wanted to update. The king springs rode wonderfully unloaded all the way to Denver. I loaded up the bike and it still rode well, just a lot more firm than unloaded.

Anyway, got this 08 wr250r with 7k miles for $2700. I used to have the same one a few years back and always regretted selling it. The market on these is artificially inflated due to high demand and low availability. So I searched for about a year and couldn't find one less than 4k. This one popped up and I just happened to look at fort Collins Craigslist 2 hours after he posted. The guy was super cool and held it for me but said he was getting dozens of calls each day.

That's the sellers house by the way.

 

[Ramathorn15]

Ohh and the harbor freight aluminum rack is really good quality. It's nice that it's so light.

 

[abuck99]

Good deal on the WR- fun little bike. How would you rate the HF carrier?

Hook up with this group for some organized dual sport rides in the CO area: RMAR- nice group of people.