Project: Build trailer to haul the GL1200 ASPY

[DaveKamp]

dan filipi » Today, 7:10 am[/url]":2nn1bpwm]
Time to find an accountant that knows the rules if you’re paying 66% of your income into taxes. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than 25%, usually much less.

I spent nine years of my life in the 37% tax bracket, which was before children, and renting an apartment... so it hurt... to make it more difficult, I had to pay for sales taxes on small items which weren't deductable, and capital gains taxes... so there was no avoiding it. I'm in a lower bracket now, and have children and a home, but having experience in being in a bleeding threshold, I have not forgotten.

There's always a standing discussion about progressive vs. regressive taxation, but the silent fact, is that complex tax laws disfavor small business in one simple fact: The cost of having a staff of experts on-hand to properly manage tax burdon is inevitably higher for small business and sole proprietorship, than a major company... because of economy-of-scale. The prevalent argument, is that a small business or sole proprietor can still have that advantage by hiring an accounting firm, but the stricken reality, is that a dedicated inside staff will ALWAYS be more successful, being dedicated-for-purpose.

The unfortunate reality, is that it doesn't matter how well one is able to conduct their business, maintain their customer base, or expand their market... if they lack ability to manage their tax burdon, they will fail.

 

[OldCrow]

DaveKamp » Today- 2:37[/url]":3vcif5yc]

OldCrow » Yesterday, 1:35 pm[/url]":3vcif5yc]
Cool project, wish I had the time and skill to build my own.
I went the relatively expensive($1500) route and bought a purpose built air ride MC trailer. Just turn a air valve and the deck comes down to about 1" off the ground. Ride the Wing on easy as you please, strap and reconnect the power and the onboard air pump brings the deck back up to traveling level. SWEET no more ramps and iffy moments with a heavy bike

I've seen a few really cool trailers, but never did find reference to 'em. Where did you find yours, Crow? I'd like to see it!!!

Found it on Maine Craigslist. I think the builder was bought out by another trailer builder( TheultimateTrailer.com) but the air springs are standard Firestone stock, and the pump is just a car like tire pump, pulls about 10amps.

 

[DaveKamp]

That's cool, Crow... and if you got it for $1500, you got a DEAL... (or you spent time in jail...)

Looks like they start at $3600 for the base model... and that's a great idea...

If you ever happen upon opportunity, could you snap a picture of that suspension setup? I'd like to see their geometry.

 

[saganaga]

dan filipi » Today, 7:10 am[/url]":tp4xs1mn]
Time to find an accountant that knows the rules if you’re paying 66% of your income into taxes. I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than 25%, usually much less.

I second this. That seems extremely high.

Depends on what type of business you have, and how you're counting income, admittedly. But I suspect an accountant could pay for themselves.

 

[OldCrow]

DaveKamp » Yesterday- 18:21[/url]":3ayfohvc]
That's cool, Crow... and if you got it for $1500, you got a DEAL... (or you spent time in jail...)

Looks like they start at $3600 for the base model... and that's a great idea...

If you ever happen upon opportunity, could you snap a picture of that suspension setup? I'd like to see their geometry.

Yep I feel like I got a good deal. Part of the negotiation was the pump was not turning on automatically. Without opening it up I honestly told the seller it could be anything from a simple micro switch to the pump itself, so she dropped the price right to the price I was going to offer! Awesome deal was done, the best deal is where both seller and buyer are happy campers!

Once I got it home I was tickled to find the issue was just a little tab on the micro switch had gone on a walk about. A small screw and nut and it pumps auto again :clapping:

But it does have a slow leak that I haven't tracked down yet. Fingers crossed it's not in an airbag.

The suspension geometry makes a mechanical engineer proud. With all air out and at proper hitch level the suspension is on a bump stops that keeps the deck tail about 1.5inch off the ground, I don't know the exact since I've not lowered it on a flat pavement just on my rough gravel parking lot.

 

[DaveKamp]

Yeah, that's a clever setup... trailing arm suspension. It looks like a common 'helper' type airbag... like a LoadLifter helper spring kit and one of their little compressors.

I see what appears to be a red bump-stop oriented vertically off the frame... but it'd contact the swingarm at TOP, rather than bottom of stroke... and I'm certain if it's that way, it's entirely intentional... but where is the other bumpstop located- inside the airbag?

And yes, the major downfall of pneumatic primary suspension is loss of air containment can cause the load to drop tragically... we had locomotives and railcars with primary and secondary suspension all being pneumatic, primarily for ADA ride-height control (has to be level to the passenger platform), but also to provide comfortable ride from empty, to fully loaded railcar. We performed stationary demonstrations- a simultanious loss of primary and secondary was NOT pleasant... losses underway were not something I had any desire to be present for. :nea:

I've seen other lift setups, too... there's some downright clever ideas out there. If I had an opportunity like you did, I'd snap it up, but at the moment, I have what I have, and will build this one for now.

I DO like how nicely that fender dismounts... so I'll keep that in mind. So often, a trailer shreds a tire, and extracting the wheel on side-of-road is a PITA... being able to yank the fender easily would be incredibly handy. I wonder why they didn't 'skirt' the fender a bit...

 

[OldCrow]

DaveKamp » Today- 11:10[/url]":3hbgln7f]
I see what appears to be a red bump-stop oriented vertically off the frame... but it'd contact the swingarm at TOP, rather than bottom of stroke... and I'm certain if it's that way, it's entirely intentional... but where is the other bumpstop located- inside the airbag?

The picture from the rear shows the bump stop connected to the deck frame at the rear under the trailing arm extended beyond the wheel axel. Picture is kinda dark but it's there if you zoom in a bit If the sun come back out I'll see about a better picture.

You played with big trains, sounds like a ton of fun. My work for others days were more in the Dilbert environment, building flight sims for the Army/Navy, fun in it's own way.

 

[saganaga]

So is there any reason why you are making this a single motorcycle carrier? MBS is a very serious danger for us, and it is nice to be prepared.

 

[DaveKamp]

Hee Hee... MBS...

Yes, the reason why I'm only making it single, is because I plan on having it spend lots of time behind my company service truck, and I'll only have time for one bike. While the company allows me to be accompanied by family or friends when I travel, I'm basically always alone. The only reason why I'd ever carry TWO... is if I was transporting a bike for someone from one place to another, or recovering one for myself... and if I did that, I wouldn't be towing my 'wing when I did...

but yeah, I've got plenty more 2-wheelers than just this Aspy. My CX-500D has almost 300K on it now... and I've got others, but they're not ridden any (sigh).

if I need to pull more than one, I can put trays on my car hauler, it'll easily carry six... :headscratch:

 

[DaveKamp]

You played with big trains, sounds like a ton of fun. My work for others days were more in the Dilbert environment, building flight sims for the Army/Navy, fun in it's own way.

Yeah, I was self-employed for 12 years, teaching people how to maintain, troubleshoot, and repair passenger trains, rail equipment, signalling and control systems... everything from cutting wheel profiles to brakes, gearboxes, propulsion, suspension, door controls, HVAC, auxiliary power, traction inverters, train control systems, and telecom. Prior to that, it was government contracting, and then electrical power distribution monitoring (fault data recorders) and prior to that, escalators, elevators, and power walks. Always machinery. Nowdays, it's truck scales... :whistling:

 

[saganaga]

DaveKamp » 8 minutes ago[/url]":3aj9r3pu]
Hee Hee... MBS...

Yes, the reason why I'm only making it single, is because I plan on having it spend lots of time behind my company service truck, and I'll only have time for one bike.

How will you ever buy an oldwing for a good price that you pass on the road?

Remember, purchases made on a whim, with the justification of "the price was right" can never, ever go wrong.

 

[DaveKamp]

Hee hee... gotta love a guy who's as willing to be the Devil's Advocate as ME!

Yes, there may be a case where there's something I just HAVE to bring home.

I'll blow up that bridge when I get to it. ;-) I've been known to bring home machine tools, Allis Chalmers tractors, oilfield engines, overhead cranes... steam engines... Frito-Lay step-vans...

Lord lead us not into temptation...

...For I shall find it on my own... k:

 

[joedrum]

Lol...

 

[joedrum]

Wow smart hands guy ...interesting path

 

[Ansimp]

OldCrow » Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:35 am[/url]":2tjczkat]
Cool project, wish I had the time and skill to build my own.
I went the relatively expensive($1500) route and bought a purpose built air ride MC trailer. Just turn a air valve and the deck comes down to about 1" off the ground. Ride the Wing on easy as you please, strap and reconnect the power and the onboard air pump brings the deck back up to traveling level. SWEET no more ramps and iffy moments with a heavy bike

:good:

 

[DaveKamp]

Okay, had some absence - out of town on vacation, doing some bicycle riding, canoeing, and wandering around the 'driftless' area of northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and western Wisconsin. Now I'm back, and at it again...

So a good trailer needs a strong chassis, that supports the intended load. For this load, it'll be a front and rear wheel, in contact in two places, and to keep it from sliding sideways, I'm employing a 'tray' which will also serve as a very strong 'backbone', AND be the connection point which all draft forces (pulling and braking) will be transmitted. The frame around it will serve as the method to distribute this load out to the suspension, place for feet when loading, and be where the support for the bike in secured position is connected. As I noted previously, I intend this to be a ride-on, lock down affair. I desire it to lock the bike in very securely, without having to strap everything down... it'll have fixtures to grab it firmly, so that it cannot move.

It will tilt in accordance with the bike's center of gravity, so that I can ride on, and ride off, with no drama. To make it extremely easy, the trailer will naturally have a low platform height, and the axle positioning, besides being the pivot for the trailer tilt on center of gravity, will be back far enough so that the back edge of the trailer is not dragging on the ground. The center of gravity will naturally be very low.

 

[DaveKamp]

And the other criteria for this build is the standard fare criteria for ANY project, as defined by yes... my better half.

Her edict: I am allowed to have absolutely ANYTHING I want, provided that I acquire it at no cost.

(yeah, well... everything has a cost, but sometimes that cost is more obvious than others).

I'm an avid recycler, so it's very common that I 'rescue' stuff that I use to build other stuff. Today is no exception. This is a sign post, recovered from a site that had been blatantly violated by a 'customer' driving a large truck. The pole is 8" square, 1/4" wall welded tubing, and it has a noticeable kink in a spot that makes it unfortunately unuseable as a sign pole. Furthermore, it was cut off in the field by someone who apparently didn't have foresight to cut it in a place that made the rest of (what was once) a 16ft pole reuseable.

It had another serious kink directly over the base gussets, but the base and gussets were still good, so I whacked the base away, measured and placed a straightedge along the path that my torch would follow.

 

[DaveKamp]

The thing about damage to this type of stock, is that it can have a pretty viscious gnash in one spot, but if you place a cut in an area that is far enough away, you'll find that the material along your cut edge may appear to be affected by the damage, but it's not damaged, it's just deflected... and upon cutting it, the damaged area is released from the undamaged, yielding an otherwise unaffected piece.

 

[DaveKamp]

After some fairly easy torchwork, I now have a nice, deep, 8" wide channel to work with, and a shallower channel that will yield some very necessary shapes for suspension mounting later.

 

[DaveKamp]

So now, I've got the channel placed in general position with the trailer's side-halves, and I'm using one of the original center bends to get proper angle for the sides. Since my cuts were rather freehand, the sides aren't perfect in their mate to the channel, but they're not bad for my half-century-something eyes...