Cover for Trailering a bike?

[Luv2LafMcc]

Hi All,

Im going to be trailering my bike about 1200 round trip. I currently have a dowco guardian cover, which i believe is not designed for trailering. Does anyone have any tips, pointers and suggestions for giving the bike some sort of weather protection during the trip? i struggled to find a "trailering cover" online.

i will be using the standard U-haul trailer (pic below)

[parkinglot]

I wouldn't cover it at all. If you insist on covering, boat store can shrink wrap it for more than an enclosed trailer would cost (which uhaul has) not sure why you would want to cover it. Anything that you put on it, unless it is stuck to the paint, such as pgf, will flop in the wind and cause damage to paint, chrome and glass. Bugs and spots from rain will easily was off..

[sangathor]

Don't cover it, as parkinglot said, it can damage your finish. If you must cover it you'll need an enclosed trailer. You can wash of dirt, but you can't wash off scratches.

[picaflor]

agree. dont cover it. the cover can damage the bike.
You can wax it before trailering to help avoid sticky things.

[Luv2LafMcc]

ok, i have been "LEARNED"!!!! thank you all for teaching a newbie. Sangathor: I don't know why i didtn think to look into a covered Uhaul 5x8 instead of the open motorcycle trailer. i went to Harbor Freight and bought a wheel chock. I'll bolt that down and strap the bike into the back.

Covered, dry, unseen...best of all worlds.

[arizonawarrior]

The U-Haul trailers have a floor with long screws holding the box to the frame. If you drill thru the floor they will charge you big bucks if they see it. Their enclosed trailers won't support a Warrior tied to the sidewalls, it'll do damage. Also a chock to the floor needs to be on a support to avoid bending if an aluminum floor. I found that their trailer boxes have long screws to the frame, so I got same diameter but an inch-longer screws/nuts and washers top and bottom to screw the plywood down to the floor by removing 4 of the existing screws and using those holes for my longer screws. I've gone over 1,000 miles up and down the Rocky Mountains with zero troubles, and a couple times I actually had TWO cruisers chocked and tied down to it.

Generally, I got a single 4x8x1 plywood and cut it to 4x6 then bolted the chock and tie-downs to the plywood. Then I set the plywood in the front of the U-Haul trailer and measured-and-marked where to drill 4 holes in my plywood at the widest spacing possible for the best 'grip' and used the U-Haul trailer's factory bolt holes to bolt down my plywood. Over the years I've had to redrill once, most of their enclosed trailers are the same design I guess.

[arizonawarrior]

I have similar to these surface anchors (one each side of the middle of the fuel tank). My anchor cups don't have a gap, its a solid cup with the two-bolt-hole anchor-ties on top of it. These appear to have a gap, dunno if it matters. These appear to have two bolts holding down the attachment point and that was important to me. I can't find my exact ones on-line but I bought them from a good local trailer supply store.

Ref: Surface Mount Rope Ring Tie Down Redline Trailer Cargo Control HW03-040

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[Luv2LafMcc]

Hey guys,

just a post to close this out and let you know that everything worked out perfect. No issue trailering, and soooo glad I brought the bike with me up to PEI. Beautiful Riding country up there.

[arizonawarrior]

Did you notice much trouble with gawkers in other cars driving alongside while looking at your bike instead of the road?

[Luv2LafMcc]

lol.. nope, but it was nice to have some bikes past and get "the wave" or a thumbs up.