The owner’s manual for the Gold Wing GL1500 is quite specific. The maximum weight capacity you should carry is 408 lbs. total. The maximum cargo weight is 70 lbs., apportioned as 20 lbs. in the travel trunk, 20 lbs. per saddlebag, 4.5 lbs. per fairing pocket and 1 lb. in each trunk side pocket.

So what do you do if you’re, ahem, a king-sized fella and your better half is herself, ah, queen-sized, and you’ve got a week’s worth of clothes, emergency equipment and a hair drier to tote? A 6-foot-2-inch, 200 lb. friend admitted his 6-foot-tall lady weighs in at about 180 herself. With anxiety written all over his face, he asked what they should do if they want to go on an extended trip faced with their mere 28 lb. margin. (408 minus 200 minus 180 equals 28.)
The answer chosen by many touring motorcyclists is a topic American Honda and other motorcycle manufacturers choose not to discuss for liability reasons. It’s euphemistically called alternative loading, but most of us call it trailering. By putting a week’s worth of clean undies, jeans, jackets and munchies out behind their Gold Wing on a trailer’s separate axle and wheels, our well-nourished couple can remain within the recommendations by keeping the trailer’s tongue weight at or below 28 lbs. But before they do, they need to know something about this new endeavor.
Trailering is not for everybody. It requires added responsibilities and knowledge to avoid adding a host of serious, and potentially deadly, risks to an already risky sport. The key, as always, is knowledge and implementation of a whole trailerful of safety precautions. Hopefully, this article will advise you of some of them.
Before you tow a trailer, read the manual and follow its instructions to the letter. If you’ve borrowed the trailer and there’s no manual, you’d be better off calling the manufacturer for help or skipping the experience entirely rather than making some grave mistakes.
Just as you should give your Gold Wing a T-CLOCK pre-ride inspection, you should do the same for a trailer. (For purposes of this article, I’ll refer to basic cargo trailers, but the same advice generally applies to campers.)
Wheels & Tires
Start with an inspection of the wheels and tires. Check the tires for cracks, blisters, abrasions, punctures or leaks. Inflate them according to the trailer owner’s manual.
Then check the wheels. If they’re spoke wheels, check for loose, bent or missing spokes, any of which could allow the wheel to bend out of true. If the wheels are metal, check for cracks or dents, especially on the rims. Also check the wheel fastener(s). Remove the decorative hub caps or covers. If each wheel is secured by a single lock nut, how secure is it?
Proper care and feeding of wheel bearings is among the most critical owner-applied maintenance. You must inspect the bearings before each major trip, and at least every 3,000 miles. If you hear any grinding sounds, feel any resistance or notice any wheel wobbling when spinning the wheels, the bearings should be replaced by your motorcycle mechanic. Regular greasing (if the bearings aren’t sealed) can forestall early bearing wear, but don’t settle for a halfway fix to a situation that can cause big problems.
Check the trailer’s chassis. If it’s a platform-type trailer, be sure the U-bolts and bushings are secure. Lubricate any areas the instructions demand. Check all fasteners for looseness.
Tongue, Hitch, Ball and Chains
Inspect the condition of the trailer tongue for rust, corrosion, dirt contamination or bent hardware. Check the fasteners—are all bolts secured by lock nuts?
Climb under your Wing and be sure the hitch (receiver or otherwise) is still firmly mounted to the bike’s frame. Look for rust. Give each side of the hitch framework a tug to be sure it’s still solid.
If your trailer uses a 1 7/8-inch or 2-inch captured ball attachment, check to be sure the nut and shoe underneath the tongue are secure. Likewise, check to be sure the ball is secure on the hitch. Is the ball pitted or corroded, adding friction to a hinge that should move with fluidity? If it is, replace it. A healthy dab of Vaseline will provide waterproof lubrication on a hitch ball, and will shed grit and grime better than mechanic’s grease, protecting the ball and ensuring a handsome appearance on your handsome bike.
If your trailer attaches by a Heim joint connector (á là the Bushtec), be sure to inject fresh grease through the two zerk fittings, and rotate both the 360-degree swivel and the captured bearing within the joint to be sure both move without friction.
Be sure to use a locking hitch pin or lock to secure the hitch once attached. It’s a good idea to purchase and carry a spare, too. And just because the pin or lock are in place, don’t trust that the tongue is secure. Reach down and give it a tug. Better the hitch pop off in your hand in the parking lot than a mile down the road.
If that yank reveals any wiggling or wobbling of the hitch ball assembly in the receiver on your bike, have a welder add a spot or three of weld to the assembly shaft to take out any slop in the fitting. Any unintended movement in the hitch assembly will be magnified into unacceptable wobble or wiggle for the trailer when on the road.
Most states mandate the use of safety chains when towing a trailer, and highway inspectors can and do stand on them to be sure they hold. Check to be sure all links and fasteners are in good shape. Since you are legally liable for any damage done by your trailer should it come loose, a stout safety chain may be the only thing to save you from a seven-figure lawsuit. Safety chains should not drag on the ground.
Suspension Adjustment
While you may not have a way to adjust the suspension on a trailer with leaf springs, torsion bar or coiled spring and shock absorbers (or combinations of these), at least two of today’s top-quality manufactured motorcycle trailers have air adjustable shocks. To get the maximum performance from these systems, you must understand their systems and make the adjustments. On the Escapade cargo trailer by California Sidecar, pre-inflate its shocks to 20 psi to ensure best suspension. Totally different, however, is the inflation procedure with the Bushtec line of trailers, wherein one loads the trailer, then inflates the air shocks until the wheels stand at true vertical. Running either of these trailers with shocks either over-inflated or under-inflated may lead to suspension damage and/or poor handling.
Electrics
To be legal, your trailer must have operational brake and running lights. The condition of the plugs, wiring and bulbs in your trailer, and how well they connect with the power source on your motorcycle, is something you must check periodically, particularly if your trailer sees a lot of wet weather. Be sure to do an operational check of brake lights and running lights before you leave your driveway on vacation. Operating an unlit trailer is not only illegal, it’s stupid.

Preparing & Packing Your Bike
Just because you now have a trailer to tote lots of extra stuff, don’t assume you can ignore how you prepare your Wing for trailering. This is particularly important if your Wing is close to maxed out weight-wise. Remember our example couple with just 28 lbs. of margin before they exceed maximum allowable weight? They should pay particular attention.
First, measure your total load. How much does the motorcycle weigh with its full compliment of fuel? Don’t just figure it weighs what the manual says, either. All that chrome, those extra lights and that heavy aftermarket saddle have added avoirdupois. How much do you and your passenger weigh as dressed when you ride? Weigh yourselves wearing boots, jackets and helmets. Now weigh all the stuff you plan to carry in the saddlebags, travel trunk and trunk lid carrier. Even weigh your stuffed mascot. Total it all up and what’s left over less than 408 lbs. is what’s available as potential trailer tongue weight. If you’re already too heavy, reduce the load in the bike’s saddlebags and trunk by moving some of it into the load the trailer will carry.
Increase your tire pressures in accordance with the recommendations of your Wing’s owner’s manual and the tire manufacturer’s advice. Your rear tire, especially, needs to be adjusted properly for heavyweight hauling.
Reset your rearview mirrors so you can check the trailer visually while underway. A set of supplementary stick-on convex mirrors can prove helpful. Another neat trick is to post a little reminder sign on your dashboard warning you “Trailer In Tow!” Sure beats backing up, jack-knifing your rig, and looking foolish in front of everybody inside the restaurant.

Check wheel bearings by spinning wheels and listening for friction or grinding.

Be sure your hitch ball is well lubricated. Vaseline works well and cleans up easily.

Air adjusted suspensions on Bushtec trailers should be inflated with low pressure inflators.

Vertical wheels are proof your Bushtec air shocks are properly inflated for your load.

Before you pack it, weigh it. Use a bathroom scale and subtract your Co-Rider’s weight from each measurement.

Arrange cargo to yield proper tongue weight. Maintain the arrangement during a several-day trip.

Use of a simple fish scale is an easy, dependable way to check tongue weight.

Preparing & Packing Your Trailer
Just as you’ve weighed the load you’re going to carry on your bike, you must also weigh the total load you intend to carry in the trailer. Simplest way to do this is using a bathroom scale, pick up each major item, weigh yourself holding it, subtract your own weight and tally up the total. Check the total weight your trailer is designed to carry. (It’s listed in the owner’s manual.) As long as you’re under, it’s okay; if you’re over, start paring back.
Now, apportion the load so the resulting tongue weight is equal to or less than 10 to 15 percent of the gross vehicle weight (GVW) of the trailer. You may have to search for this GVW figure in the trailer owner’s manual, or call the manufacturer. Of course, the tongue weight figure must be equal to or less than the margin you’ve allowed for your motorcycle to carry, but in no case should it be less than 10 lbs. In the case of our example couple, they could have a tongue weight of 28 lbs, and be towing a loaded trailer weighing from 280 to 420 lbs. Whatever you do, don’t apportion the load to yield negative tongue weight, which adversely affects handling. You may have to arrange cargo a couple of times to determine what tongue weight yields best handling characteristics. Too light a tongue weight typically leads to an annoying wig-wag motion behind the bike that can be hazardous in extreme circumstances and will accelerate tire wear.
One of the cheapest and most effective ways to measure your tongue weight, according to Bushtec’s John Preston, is with a fish scale available in the sporting goods section of Wal-Mart for about $5. Suspend the tongue from the scale at the level of your Wing’s hitch and read the dial on the scale. “I’ve used this little beauty for years,” says Preston. “No more messing with bathroom scales, and it’s small enough to go along with you on the road so you can check tongue weight every day.”
The best way to arrange cargo is to place the heaviest items directly on the centerline of the trailer’s axle, then arrange the rest of the cargo forward or aft of this centerline to achieve a balance to yield the target tongue weight.
Once the best arrangement has been achieved, plan to always maintain this same weight arrangement for your whole trip, and secure items so they won’t shift while on the road. Remember, if you’ve exceeded the space your cargo trailer can hold, you may secure items on top, but only if you don’t exceed your weight parameters, don’t alter your tongue weight, and don’t exceed the weight capacity of the trunk lid (again, read the trailer’s manual).
Tongue-mounted ice chests must be factored into the equation, too. Determine the regular daily load you’ll carry and keep it the same all day long. If you drain the melted ice or empty several large drink containers, you can change the tongue weight significantly.

Test For What’s Best
If everything is checked, packed, weighed and in place, take the rig for a short test run around the block. Sense the feel of the trailer. Investigate any feeling of tugging, plunging, shifting or wobbling behind you. If everything’s okay, you’re good to go.
On the road, be aware your riding techniques must now allow for greater distances when accelerating, passing and pulling back into the line of traffic and braking. Also, you may need to take corners substantially wider, and back down on the entry speeds as well.
Finally, when traveling with a trailer, you now have more details to check each day before departure. Stuff happens on the road: tires pick up debris, air pressures change, fasteners work themselves loose, and loads can shift. You have a legal and moral responsibility to perform all these checks so your trailer does not fail and cause an accident due to negligence. And if you’re unwilling or unable to shoulder this responsibility, you shouldn’t tow a trailer at all.
Actually, being a careful, confident trailer owner has its own satisfactions. When you’ve taken on the responsibility of staying informed, doing the preflight and on-the-road checks, and operating your vehicle safely under all conditions, you have reason to be proud, for you’re among the elite on the highways today.

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