Haha, i should of grabbed a picture, but I passed an auto shop the other day that had a sign out front that read "Texting, the best thing to happen to body shops EVER!"
Wouldn't the tongue weight be really high, given that the axle is well behind the entire motorcycle? Looks like you'd have half the weight of the bike and trailer on the hitch, if not more... Not really ideal, especially when pulling with a (relatively) compact car.
Still, 200 pounds of tongue weight is a decent amount for a small car like that. I two two bikes on a small trailer behind my compact car, and if the total load is like 750 pounds, 10% tongue weight is like 75 pounds. My rear suspension would be pretty unhappy with 3X that!
I've seen offroad trailers built with a rotating + U-joint type of coupling for extreme articulation between the tow rig & the trailer. The same sort of setup would work here minus the rotating coupling. It would allow up & down movement plus side to side for turning.
The backseat is between the axles. The hitch is well behind the rear axle. BIG difference. There is a reason that every trailer in the world (except this one) centers the load roughly over the axle...
More info about the project: http://www.ipdusa.com/blogs/220/ipd-xc60-r-design-project "We drew up a rendering of the project featuring the wild single wheeled motorcycle trailer design shown and sent a proposal to the GEICO / FCR team and they liked it so much that they offered to let us use Kevin Windhams 2011 race bike when we display the concept at the 2011 SEMA show (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association) in Las Vegas this fall. Kevin Windham, or “KW” as he is affectionately known by his fans, was recently voted the most popular off-road motorcycle racer in the history of the sport." I wouldn't expect to see it in production, imagine the lead weight (?) used for counter balance and the extra twisting force on the hitch? Looks cool though.
I had one of those trailers, I think it was $299 brand new. I gave it a workout one day, put a new SxS on it just to get it home. The wheelbase of the prowler was wider than the wheelbase of the trailer and I had to screw 2x6x6's down to increase the width. It was like putting your Festiva on it and I was afraid the tongue was going to snap.
Crap...is this one of those no texting-while-hauling-a-washer-and-dryer-combo-on-my-scooter zones? DANG IT!
Graham Jarvis would wheelie hop the one trailer wheel then land -- perfectly balanced -- on the trailer tube, blip the throttle and seat the front wheel in the chock. At least that's how it plays out in my head! ;-)
