Kendon trailer

There comes a time in every enthusiasts life when he has to choose whether or not to buy a trailer. After four seasons of tracktime and having to coordinate with other people or rent a trailer I decided to buy a trailer. First I did some shopping around in the lower price range.
-Harbor Freight trailers tow badly. No way around it. Requires some effort to set up right, hard to load.
-Single rail trailers. Either the trailer has horrible reviews or the company who sells it can't be reached.
-Trailer in a bag. Not sure I'd trust it for any distance on the freeway, company went out of business.
-5x8' yard work trailer. You can ride the bike up into it, its cheap, but storing it takes up a lot of space.
-U-Haul trailers are heavy as fuck and the last time I rented one I crashed my car partly because it was too heavy.

Well damn, anything under $1200 has some problems.

Next I looked at Kendon trailers. Their designs are pretty unique and purpose built. They are made in the US, use full size wheels and hubs, and the single bike version weighs 350#. The downside is they run about $2500-3000 depending on the model. I ordered mine from a dealer in Texas and it dropped shipped from Tucker Rocky. It arrived two weeks later on a box truck.

Unpacking it was straightforward, it was wrapped in plastic and crated. Initial setup was easy too, all I had to do was mount the wheels and attach the lights. The wire harness it well made, but the lights are cheap and don't have a good way to attach the wires, you just kind jam them in the holes.

Loading was scary the first time since you have to walk/run the bike up the ramp and into the chock. Unloading takes some muscle since you have to push the bike out of the chock, catch it from falling then walk it down the ramp. I'm getting better at it, so its not much of a problem.

The trailer has easy sensible tie down points for the bike (as a side note, I highly recommend Canyon Dancer straps) and a place where the ramp stores. While folded it doesn't take up much room in my garage.

On the highway with a CBR600RR it tows very nicely. It doesn't bounce around or wander. The trailer's suspension handles imperfections in the road well.

Trailer + sportbike weighs about 800#. Behind a Pontiac G6 with a V6 engine it tows well. I got 24mpg on an 8 hour round trip where I was at 55-65mph the whole way. The hubs got warm, but never hot. Try touching Harbor Freight hubs on an 8" wheel after 4 hours on the freeway.

A very good purchase. I am pleased with the Kendon BB107.

Southern Oregon Run June 2014

For the second year in a row Two Wheel Podcast has organized a suspension tuning and seminar day with Dave Moss. For those who don't know, Dave is an AFM racer/champion, tuner, and all around great rider.

Being that I do work for 2WP I had to go. Also since I had just had my forks serviced, seemed like a good time to get my suspension tuned and learn how to do it myself.

Friday I loaded up my luggage and blasted down Territorial hwy, I-5, then up 138 to Diamond Lake for lunch with my brother and dad. I pulled into the park and narrowly missed an OSP that had just pulled someone else over. Territorial is chewed up but scenic. 138 is a great road if you can avoid the RV traffic.

We swapped bikes around at a viewpoint. I got my dad's bike up to (redacted) indicated, and my brother got my CBR up to (redacted), and really liked it. The rest of the ride back to Eagle Point was uneventful, slow, and legal.

Saturday was the big day. I zipped down to KTM in Phoenix. Dave taught seminars in suspension setups and tire wear between bouts of bike setups. We took a run up hwy 66 to test out suspension setups (mine was a huge improvement). Then we explored carcass types and wear patterns to see what means what.

Something something something, run up through Williams and the back way into Grants Pass. Coffee at Dutch Bros, talking to bikers. Downtown full of meth heads. Then dinner with family, drinks, mild hangover.

Then we ran Hwy 227 on Sunday. It was hella chewed up at the top.

The rest of 227 was cool though.

Then lunch at the world's worst indian casino buffet. Probably the hangover didn't help.

I ran I-5 up to Springfield, then Marcola rd up to Lebanon (hella cool). Then the shitty, but direct, route back to home.

Good weekend. Have to tear down the bike in prep for a trackday in a week.