Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm in the planning stages for my teardrop and have decided that I would like my teardrop to be multifunctional, meaning I'd like to be able to use it to haul stuff, such as my scooter, furniture, basically anything that would fit into a 5X8 rectangle. So I'm thinking that I'd like to make the galley removeable, without tremendous effort. Anybody out there do anything like this before?

I made my TD so the galley can be removed.





Some where on this forum is a TD that had room for a motor bike. I hope someone remembers and posts a link for you....


Dee Bee

Dee Bee wrote:Some where on this forum is a TD that had room for a motor bike. I hope someone remembers and posts a link for you....

Ask and you shall receive:



But did this thing actually have a cabin? It doesn't look like it.

Ira wrote:

But did this thing actually have a cabin? It doesn't look like it.

Man ... that thing is tight! Wonder why I haven't seen this one before ...

Judging from the little "bug" in the lower right hand corner of the pic, looks like it was on eBay? No matter ... look closely at that pic ... there is a lot going on inside that teardrop! Very well thought out, wonderfully executed, and whoever planned it and built it deserves a BIG

Certainly got some gears turnin' in my head ...

CHEERS!

Grant

That trailer was on ebay. It also has an air ride suspension. One quirk that it had was that the doors were really high up. I think the bed was raised.

This is the original ebay listing but unfortunately the pics are gone.

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?p=59032

qq

Grant Whipp wrote:Man ... that thing is tight! Wonder why I haven't seen this one before ...

Did you mean "tight" in a cool, literary way...or just literally, that it's a tight squeeze with that bike in there?

HAH!!!

I'm no builder, commercial or otherwise, but I THINK I can recognize a market for something when I see it. I had mentioned this to Madjack way back that I thought this thing would fly off the sales lot for bike riders:

These guys take long trips, but a lot haul their bikes anyway. What better solution than something that will haul your bike, AND that you can cook and sleep in?

Ira wrote:

Grant Whipp wrote:Man ... that thing is tight! Wonder why I haven't seen this one before ...

Did you mean "tight" in a cool, literary way...or just literally, that it's a tight squeeze with that bike in there?

Both, Ira!
It is literally cool and a tight squeeze!

Ira wrote: ... I'm no builder, commercial or otherwise, but I THINK I can recognize a market for something when I see it. I had mentioned this to Madjack way back that I thought this thing would fly off the sales lot for bike riders:

These guys take long trips, but a lot haul their bikes anyway. What better solution than something that will haul your bike, AND that you can cook and sleep in?

There have been several attempts to build-and-market motorcycle-hauling "normal size" teardrops, but none have met with any measurable success. One of the reasons, I believe, is that in order for you to use the trailer for sleeping mid-trip, you have to remove the bike to set up the bed and galley, and that's just too inconvenient on a long-distance haul. I think the motorcycle-hauling crowd is just waiting for a cool trailer that can carry a couple of bikes and include basic lodging features like a bed/dinette with a mini-galley.

I may start a firestorm, here, but for the most part, long-distance scooter-jocks fall into two basic catagories: 1) the hard-core iron-butt scooter tramps, and 2) the weekending half-butt RUBs. That may seem a bit harsh and much too "black and whait" to many, but I used to be a 1), and it's burned forever into my psyche ... no appologies. I understand and appreciate the views and concerns of the 2)s, but it's just not the way for me (though it won't hold me back from hanging and partying 'em, either!). I look at it kind of like a couple pulling their teardrop to a Gathering with a huge motorhome ... fun for a laugh once (yes, it has been done), but let's keep it real the rest of the time ...

JMO

CHEERS!

Grant

Here's the profile of the hauler.... I had a bunch more pics somewhere and will post them when I find them...IIRC the manufacturer's gone out of business, at least the website no longer exists...

Another couple pics of that motorcycle hauler:





Both pictures taken from http://www.airstream.dk/teardrops.htm

(ran across this while poking around for ultra-light and removable galley info)

Donkro,

I used hindged doors to separate the body of the tear with my galley. My counter-top lifts right out. This makes it possible to have the whole tear area for tranporting large items, sheets of material etc.




Todah

Grant Whipp wrote:I may start a firestorm, here, but for the most part, long-distance scooter-jocks fall into two basic catagories: 1) the hard-core iron-butt scooter tramps, and 2) the weekending half-butt RUBs. That may seem a bit harsh and much too "black and whait" to many, but I used to be a 1), and it's burned forever into my psyche ...

I'm not or ever was a biker but I worked with so many #1's that they kinda made me into one. When we'd go out to lunch I'd see (what they called) a "Yuppie Biker" and ask if they knew them (just to stir the pot). Of course, they'd get all riled up about it.

The easiest way to spot the Yuppie Bikers for me, was that their shirts were still black, they had not faded into the old gray shirt that would be fitting.

asianflava wrote: The easiest way to spot the Yuppie Bikers for me, was that their shirts were still black, they had not faded into the old gray shirt that would be fitting.

Yep... I still know a few "hard-core iron-butt scooter tramps" ...And they occasionally tolerate me riding with them some. And, you're right. If they wear leather it is usually faded way beyond black... Most of the guys I know wear more faded out denim than leather anyway. Boots are usually well worn and not black either... I see more old combat boots and engineers boots than anything like "motorcycle boots". I've never seen any "colors" that were leather either? Always denim and pretty nasty at that. And, if it's raining and lousy weather, leather chaps suck bigtime. Most either just get wet or use rain gear. Now, if you want to go riding with the Southern Cruisers Riding Club, a large and growing all brand riding club... You'll se a virtual fashion show of shiny black leather?

Me? Jeans and (if its cold) my 30+ year old brown USAF bomber jacket... It's worn out, but I still like it better than any of my newer ones and some scruffy worn brown western boots... Maybe that getup and the fact I'm plenty ugly enough to qualify is why they let me ride sometimes.

Ira wrote:I'm no builder, commercial or otherwise, but I THINK I can recognize a market for something when I see it. I had mentioned this to Madjack way back that I thought this thing would fly off the sales lot for bike riders:

These guys take long trips, but a lot haul their bikes anyway. What better solution than something that will haul your bike, AND that you can cook and sleep in?

Around here, those guys drive full-size pickup trucks, and for this purpose they just get one of the "toy hauler" trailers which have recently become popular. They don't need it to be teardrop-sized.

I saw one recently which had the bed as a Murphy (fold-up) in the front, a dinette which folded against one side, and the galley and bath strung along the other side so almost the whole length was garage space. It put a lot of toy space in a moderately sized trailer, but had the same problem as mentioned earlier, of needing to remove the toy(s) to use the RV functions.

Now for an interesting variation, could one build a tear like the one featured here, but light enough for the bike to tow it? Haul the long distance with a truck (bike in trailer), then park the truck and tour more locally by bike, towing the tear... unlikely, but amusing to imagine.