Looking to get a motorcycle caddy, this means the rear wheel will still be touching the road. I need to know if this is going to be an issue for the gs500.
Even in neutral the chain will still drive the countershaft in the gearbox. And I'm not sure if this will cause an issue or not.
Does the engine have to be running to lubricate this part of the gearbox? (engine driven oil pump?
or would the oil in the motor always keep the gearbox and countershaft lubricated regardless if the engine is running?
The oil should be fine. With the front wheel on the dolly, the engine will be tilted so far back all of the oil would be around the drive shaft. You will be putting miles (and wear) on your back tire though.
What kind of master link is on your chain? If you are hauling the bike for a long distance, it wouldn't hurt to take the chain off and get a new master link. Oh yeah: make sure your gas tank is just about empty.
Thanks Big Rich, That was my thinking too. (bike tilted back causing the oil to cover the spinning countershaft)
Planning on doing abit of traveling in my camper van, so plenty of long drives. I did think about buying some spare master links and taking the chain off.
As long as the gearbox isn't going to seize up from lack of lubrication i think i prefer the extra wear on the rear tire as opposed to having to take the chain on and off all the time lol.
Forgot to ask, whats the reasoning behind having the fuel tank near empty when towing?
Just to be on the safe side. The fuel filler cap is made to prevent a lot of gas from splashing out, but it can still leak. Especially if the tank is full and gas is up against it for the entire ride.......
It doesn't need to be completely empty, but less is better in this case.
that makes sense, didn't think of that. thanks for the tip :thumb:
Just run a clip on type master link, take it off when you need to. I know I'll get flamed for saying it, but before you get the burning torches and the pointy hats...................I'm old enough to have spent a lot of time on bikes a lot more powerful than the GS back when everyone used split links and I've never had one come off. Not saying it can't happen, but if its installed correctly there's a lot of other things more important to worry about. By the way, I've got 10,000km on my new chain and sprockets on the GS, with a split link.
I thought about getting one of these as well...only problem is our car has a 1 3/4 hitch and all the caddy's I've seen use 2 inch hitches. But, something else to consider. I have seen the hitch caddys that you roll the bike onto from the side. They will hold a GS on them with full tank of gas. Being on the carrier sideways you get it off the ground completely at least.
Sean
mole: Yeah no problems with the circlip master link on my chain so far (7000km), probably safe with the power of the Gs and a good quality chain (japanese made).
smackdoogie: Yeah i saw those sort of caddies aswell, but i didn't like the idea of the whole weight of the bike hanging off the back of the van and compressing the rear suspension so much. At least with the back wheel of the bike on the ground the rear of the van is taking probably half the weight of the bike. Altho i hear the bike can move around quite a lot and you need to take anti anxiety pills to keep yourself from stressing out when you look in the rear view mirror.
This was the one i was looking at in particular. http://www.motorcycletrailer.com/mag1/caddy1.html
The cost to get it to australia is about the same cost as full on bike trailer. :mad:
For that price I'd say get a small 4x8 trailer and get the bike all the way off the ground. I can see if you're trying to tow it with a tiny little car or something, but I'f you're pulling it with a camper I would go with the trailer. Then you don't have to worry about if you have to reverse or something.. Plus you can haul extra stuff, like chairs and cooler and things on it.
Back in my earlier days when I had a Kawasaki 125 (my first bike) I had a carrier that clamped to the rear bumper (back in the days of steel bumpers on cars). One holder for each wheel then strap to the front edge of the tunk to hold it steady.
It was kind of like this one, but cheaper and simpler.
http://rvmotorcyclelift.net/index.php
Quote from: GI_JO_NATHAN on September 30, 2011, 09:08:15 AM
For that price I'd say get a small 4x8 trailer and get the bike all the way off the ground. I can see if you're trying to tow it with a tiny little car or something, but I'f you're pulling it with a camper I would go with the trailer. Then you don't have to worry about if you have to reverse or something.. Plus you can haul extra stuff, like chairs and cooler and things on it.
What he said ^^^
Just get yourself a trailer. YOu can then carry bike and other goodies too. :thumb: :thumb:
Michael
Get a folding trailer from Harbor Freight. I got mine for around $220 out the door with a coupon they have in most bike mags. Assembled and tagged in about 3 hours or so by myself and I tow it with my 2000 Toyota Corolla all the time. The car is rated for towing 1500 lbs and the trailer's factory limit is around 1200. I've had close to 2000lbs on it once because I didn't have a choice. Still towed just fine and tracks beautifully. Infact, when loaded properly (or towing unloaded), you will barely know it is back there. I can fold it up and stow it away in a corner of my shop in about a minute and it takes up less space than most "compact bike trailers". I've had 3 bikes on there together.. but towing 2 is a lot easier.
http://www.harborfreight.com/1195-lb-capacity-48-inch-x-96-inch-heavy-duty-foldable-utility-trailer-with-12-inch-wheels-90154.html
(http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/370x370/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_4887.jpg)
Yeah that's almost exactly what I tow my bikes on(when riding isn't an option of course.)
If it were me, before towing on the rear wheel, I'd check to see if there's any oil flow to the transmission bearings by way of the fuel pump. If so, it's probably a very bad thing to tow like that. You could however, very easily remove the rear wheel and zip-tie the chain out of the way. Re-install, and no issues at all with the tranny.