Greetings from Georgia

[Justjoe65]

Hey all, My name is Joe and am new here. I am in the process of looking at designs for a teardrop for pulling behind my bike. I have a 2000 Harley Electra glide and want something small to pull behind. I was looking at some of the pop ups online, however after seeing these, I felt that this would not only look better and probably even last longer, it would be something that I could put my touches in too.
Even though I have used my hands most of my life, I am new at trailers, so I may post up some questions and will accept and appreciate any help and or advice I can get.
That being said, Hope all are ready for 2014 because its here and better than ever.

Take care!

Joe

[Redneck Teepee]

Welcome Joe! Sounds like you got it figured out that a teardrop built and stored correctly will have a long life for you to enjoy for many years. Keep us posted!

[steve cowan]

Welcome to the forum,Joe.There is a person in the Build Journal currently building a micro airstream to pull behind a motorcycle.I think he goes by
ST1100.It's going to be very nice. Best of luck.

Steve

[Mary C]

Welcome to the forum Joe. I hope you much luck in your build. You will find a lot of options here. I am sure you will explore them all!

Mary C.

[Justjoe65]

Thanks for the greetings from all. Yes, the more I scout around this site the more excited I get about building it. The big thing to me along with a lot of the projects I have taken on is that when it is all said and done, I can sit back and smile with that sense of accomplishment. I was looking at buying a pop up when I happened to stumble upon a site with one of these and it intrigued me. I know that it wont have ALL the comforts of home but at the same time it will be my micro home away from home!!!!

Thanks again to all.

Joe

[grantstew8]

Joe
This was a design I did for my brother in law, who after seeing this, was not keen on putting a towbar on his bike.
The idea was that this was built using foam planking and fibreglass for reduced weight. There is an extensive foamies section and look up strip planking boats, it seems pretty straight forward.

UK laws are pretty tight however it seems they are pretty relaxed in the US. You may want to make it wider and/or longer.

[Justjoe65]

Grant,

Thanks for sharing this! A very cool design. I have seen some of the teardrops here in the US that have been made small enough to be pulled by a bike. The plans that I have use an existing pre fab trailer to build off of and with my Harley Electra glide I should be ok as far as weight if I don't go crazy with the emanates. Pretty much it will be mainly for me to take on weekend hops and hopefully after getting comfortable with towing it on the bike do some larger trips around the US.

Thanks again for sharing.

Joe

[bobhenry]

Eggbert was a 3 x 5 cargo to tow behing the Goldwing. Made many a trip with firewood and cooler and a drybox of food to a campgrounds some 45 miles from home.




Rip van winkle is 525 pounds and while I have yet to tow it with the bike I think it would be doable with some care......

[Justjoe65]

Bob ,

Thanks for sharing! The larger trailer is similar to the prints that I got "before I found this site" By any chance do you know the tongue weight on it? I have an Electra Glide and think I would be ok with it. Just working on weight transfer front to back so that I don't over load the rear tire.

If you do hook it up to your wing and try it some time, please let me know how it works.

Thanks again!

Joe

[bobhenry]

The tongue is extended 2 feet over the stock 40 x 48 HF length and the tongue weight measured dead level at ball cup was 75 pounds. That's 3 pounds shy of the 15% recommended tongue weight.

525 x 15% = 78.75 pounds

[Justjoe65]

Thank you for the info. I am thinking with that light of a tongue weight, there shouldn't be a problem. I am getting all the things set up to start my build and plan on photographing it as I go along. Is there a place to post updates as I build or do I put them on this post?

THanks

[Mary C]

Joe at the top go to board index and scroll down to the second big box and you will see" build threads" Go to that thread and post your build and that will be your build thread . Post Pictures and such on there. The foamie section is just a little different . glad your going to make dust!

Mary C.

[Justjoe65]

Thanks Mary! Yes, I am getting excited to start but still just scribbling ideas on paper for now. Going to start some what the same way you did your foamy. and go from there. Still researching the base trailer for now. Thing is, it will be mainly my GF and I so should be good to go on a small size like I am planning.
My biggesst concern is I get excited and impatient then mistakes happen, so I have got myself in to the mind set of come up with a plan and if need be, a check off sheet. LOL Probably sounds goofy to some, but hey, it works for me.

Thanks again.

[Rlowell]

Welcome to the madness Joe.
I started with some plans and they started to work out so I stopped using them... and did the build anyway.
That is what makes this so much fun...you get to do it your way.

Good luck,
Rod

[Justjoe65]

Rlowell,

Thanks for that inspiration! Yes, I feel that it what will happen. I will start with a general layout for the profile, but what I see happening is when it comes to building the Galley and the sleeping area, I will just go with what I find to be functional for me. Been talking to a few of my co workers here who are excited to see what I come up with as they are now thinking, One is another biker and the other is just a guy who likes to go camping with his wife. I am looking for pictures of how people put shelves and cabinet areas as well as the general lay out of the sleeping areas. Seen a bunch of pictures of the Galley which I have pretty much figured out in my head and just keep writing notes every time I look at pictures online.

The two at work are waiting to see what happens with my trailer then they will be wanting to build theirs. As for the girlfriend, she loves the bike and loves camping so she too is pretty happy with the idea.

The big thing I see here is other than insolating and leaks, you really cant make a mistake on your build! LOL I am sure you can, but just saying that there is no set pattern for what you can do. That is why I am glad I am building from scratch instead of re building someone else’s or doing a kit trailer.

As with most of you Im sure, I like working with my hands and enjoy the accomplishment of knowing that I built it. Got that from my old man. RIP dad! Know if he were here, He would be dragging me out to work on it! LOL

Once I get started I will be photographing it and posting my results as I move along. and throughout the build will be hitting up the help topics for knowledge and advise. Thanks to all the veteran builders on here in advance!