Cheers from Minnesota.

[bravebluemice]

Hey there.

Been lurking for a couple weeks reading like mad trying to get a handle on these tears. Ran across the word Teardrop in a motorcycle forum not long ago, and found angib's site when I was further researching. This forum has come up repeatedly in my search so here I am.

Long story short: I would like to go to my buddy's cabin more often, but he has a cat, which means I'm to sleep outside in a tent. I don't mind, but the longish setups when I come and go are starting to get a little irritating. (It's a bigger tent, and a cheapie to boot, so it's a little convoluted in the setup and takedown).

I like to ride my motorcycle up there, and thought: Gee, wouldn't a nice little M/C trailer be nice? But most of those involve a tent on them. I really would like some nice hardsides, even if it is just painted canvas over foam...

So now that I've soaked up as much information as I possibly can, I'm going to start aksin' questions...

Cheers!
~BBM

[hotrod]

hello from up north!!

[tearhead]

Welcome! I know some of the smaller trailers are pulled by motorcycles--they would be the four foot wide ones. In fact, we attended a gathering in Indiana this summer where an older couple had pulled their tear with a motorcycle. It might be a little more commonly done in the the UK, so watch for posts by our British friends, or use the Search button above to look around in here. And definitely start going to gatherings with your tent and check out the teardrops. We've only attended two gatherings thus far (our third is coming up this weekend in Mauston, WI and both have eagerly accommodated tenters who are thinking of a teardrop.

Anyway welcome from Wisconsin!

[TPMcGinty]

Hello from a fellow Minnesotan! You can tow a fairly good size tear behind a motorcycle, but it better be a BIG bike!

[bobhenry]

I started with a 3x5 cargo and am now building a 4x7 sleeper only. ( Pics in both ends of my album.

The 4x7 has made its maiden voyage behind my old wore out 86 Goldwing and handles very well. However, it is still far from finished

The one secret I have found is that a very long tongue length will add greatly to the stability and handeling.



Here is a a pic of Dale's rig tearhead was mentioning.

[bravebluemice]

Thanks, Bob! I was digging around looking for some pictures to see how daring I dare.

I've pulled a small lawn tractor around on a 5x8 utility trailer to get the hang of it. I figure that's heavier than I want to build a tear in the first place.

I've got an 82 Honda GoldWing 1100, and per the "general rule" (1/3 gross weight of cycle and rider), I'd be good to almost 450 lbs. In practice, I've pulled quite a bit more than that, but it wasn't comfortable.

My goal weight is 350 lbs before adding my gear, water, fuels (propane, deep cycle)...

I really like the cub profile... I'll be sketching something up shortly.

[bobhenry]

Here is the 4x7 thread if you would like a peek

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=38489&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

The build is stalled at the moment as $$$ is a bit tight.

I need to get with it or it will be spending the winter out in the weather without a roof.

[tinksdad]

You might want to check out Roly's Quarter Nelson (I don't have the link handy at the moment). I borrowed heavily from his design when I built Itty-Bitty which came in just under 300 pounds dry weight. Looking back, there are ways I could have shaved a fair number of pounds from that and still be structurally sound. I totally agree with Bobhenry on the tongue length. I wish I had extended mine even farther than I did. Them short wheelbases are a bugga-bear to back up; but it's light enough that I can just unhitch, manually push it around and do what needs to be done.