Not Loving This Hitchdoc Install

curious about the trailer your pullin what kind of weight and how the ride is ?

I have noticed on the RVTC that it picks up side draft winds pretty good and image the trailer might tend to whip Your thoughts ?

 

Thanks

PJ

I cannot speak to the RVTC being affected by side drafts, but i can tell you that my 2013 Goldwing is the worst bike I have ever had for getting blown around by side drafts. I was pulling my Bushtec and was blown about 2 feet sideways by a very strong gust, no problem with the trailer it was fine, no whipping or excessive side wise movement. Bustec Roadstars are not very heavy and most of the time I forget it is back there. I have pulled it with a 98 Royal Star and a 2007 Venture, never a problem.

I'd like to know more about the Rivco Hitch - any issues while pulling your trailer?

 

Also, for those who worry about voiding warrantees its good to know that in 1975 the federal government passed a set of laws called the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. This act states your vehicle warranty cannot be voided or canceled for using any non-original equipment manufacturer (O.E.M.) part or accessory (like a trailer hitch, filter, or oil) unless the manufacturer of the vehicle can prove the use of this non-O.E.M. part or accessory caused a failure of any part or parts on the vehicle. Usually quoting this fact to the dealer or manufacturer changes their attitude pretty quickly!

If Yamaha says the bike is not to be used for towing and the owner used it for towing, I don't think that comes under the Act.

If you are towing after being specifically told not to, odds are that with a trailer you will be over the GVWR, the dealer/Yamaha would have a good case to not cover any issue related to exceeding the GVWR. This could include things like engine, drive line, brakes, suspension. But would not affect other things like entertainment system, computers, bodywork. All they have to do is to prove that you exceeded the ratings and that specific repair may not be covered. The act simply says that can not void the whole warranty. By putting on a hitch, are the point where it is mounted really designed for the loads that the trailer will impart on them? If you are 2 up plus some luggage plus tongue weight, are you sill under the max weight on the rear tire, how about the rear suspension? The brakes were designed to safely stop the max recommended weight of the bike, Will you now overheat the brakes stopping the added trailer weight. There is no bike manufacturer that I know of that does NOT recommend AGAINST towing a trailer available in the USA. This may be more for liability reasons than bike capability reasons. The USA has way to many lawyers.

On the car I drive the owners manual says no towing, BUT the manufacturer makes a hitch that fits the car and in every other country in the world the owners manual has a section on proper towing and max towing loads and all that good stuff. Again I am sure the difference is just the Lawyer population in this country.

See if you can find owners manuals for other countries and see if any of them have towing info.

If you are comfortable with all of this, then go for it. I did all the research and in the end had no problem slapping a hitch on my 88 Venture and dragging a 400 lb trailer around and exceeding all of the Yamaha warnings. A lot of people do it.

Speaking of hitches,, I got a real nice Markland with all the attachements for a MK1 that there is no way on Gods green earth I am ever going to use.. Anyone thinking of playing with such craziness can PM me.. Personally,, I never cared for the idea of having a trailer pile drive Tip, Me and our luggage into the side of some kids car whose driver was busy answering a text message (one would never have been able to squeeze between the tree's on those deer runs we used to traverse to access/camp on the North Rim either but thats a different issue).. I always figured my reactionary time that engages my avoidance skills had not been developed to include a trailer hooked to the back of us BUT - I do know plenty of people who have those remarkable skills down pat and are able to toss their bike around with the trailer attached like it was not even there so I know its doable..

Concerning the whole warranty thing.. This is gonna sound like a little more of Puc's typical babble I am sure but,, back from 99 thru 2001 Polaris had major issues with their new to the market - Victory brand of motorcycles.. It seemed that the trannies in those early models had a major design flaw that caused tranny failures and even caused some rear wheel lockup issues.. I was really close friends with a fellow business man who owned the local Polaris shop (as well as other brands) at the time and we always shared a lot of industry news with each other.. Remember,, this is a time well after the Magnuson Act was passed here in the States.. As the early buyers of those bikes started having issues and started coming back to my buddies dealership for warranty work,, the dealership got notice from Polaris that they would not be honoring any warranties on those bikes but were choosing to forward the decision making of such into the courts.. Concerned,, my friend did some investigating (which he should have done before he ever took the Polaris franchise on IMHO) and found out that this was actually customary for Polaris to do business as such.. It appeared that the Polaris attorneys of that time period (they, as most large corporations had/have a full time staff of attorneys that are paid whether they do anything or not) and bean counters had gotten together and figured out that there was no way possible that court fees/fines of a Magnuson violation would even come close to the costs of funding the warranty work needed to cover the bikes flaws = they just refused to do it therefor! Polaris did hire an outside company to redesign the flawed trannies but those new trannies did not come out until 01 or 02 - all the owners of the flawed bikes ended up having to just eat their losses and the bikes they had purchased never did get warranty repair. My buddie kicked Polaris to the curb over this issue so I remember it all like it was yesterday.. Would another company like Yamaha ever think of doing such a thing?? I am sure not,, they have always stood behind their products and given the customer exactly what they have paid for,, usually even more than what they paid for with continual and prompt customer service being a mainstay to the their business model - SO PLEASE DO NOT MISREAD WHAT I JUST WROTE!! Just saying,, I think it always best, IMHO, to cover my own butt and know what could happen is not impossible to happen.. Know what I mean?