LockH
1 PW
^^ Hehe... Watt HE said. Key word "weight", :wink:
Ebike to tow a caravan?
- Thread starter cwah
- Start date
dustNbone
10 kW
Yeah there's just no way. Even if you managed to get the rig balanced going straight on level ground, any grade or curve is going to throw that balance off enough to make something really bad happen.
There's an upper limit to how much the ratio of tow vehicle to towed load can be, and it's no where near what we're discussing here.
There's an upper limit to how much the ratio of tow vehicle to towed load can be, and it's no where near what we're discussing here.
LockH
1 PW
Hehe... ^^ Watt these folks are saying. Have trailered many thousands of miles... using a "heavy" 1977 Chevrolet Impala car... pulling "light weight" sailboats... (think "catamarans"...) To pull any "serious weight?" Silly... and dangerous.
markz
100 TW
e=mc^2LockH said:
Tent trailers are an expensive tent on wheels with heavy fabric but you can still hear noises and it lets through light too right. It has its marketplace for sure, why buy new though thats the thing. Not much extra to dump into new foam. Tent trailers would be good to buy used, like 18yrs old! I wouldnt want to go beyond mid-90's though, or whenever asbesto's was banned.
A few hunnies, deep in the hood! Tow with electric bike, no problemo
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-travel-trailer-camper/calgary/tent-trailer-for-sale-still-in-good-shape/1389145159?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
cwah
100 MW
So no one ever done that? Is the only open to get an electric truck or something similar? Lol
LockH
1 PW
Watt... to "save "weight"? Silly concept... understood...
Dauntless
100 TW
Some years back I drove past a wreck where a little minitruck was trying to tow a huge house trailer. Apparently the trailer whipped around and turned the little truck over in a way that it couldn't have flipped a bigger truck. What's to keep your caravan from throwing around the bike the same way?
benjamin84
100 W
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
- Messages
- 177
This must be a joke 
Or at the very least started by someone who has never towed a heavy load with a car. Having experienced how much a 3.5 tonne trailer/boat combination affected the handling of my 2.4 tonne picku-up truck I would say that if you, against all odds, managed to get your e-bike + caravan combo up to 30 mph you would most certainly end up hospitalised or dead before you managed to stop that run away train
Give it a go though, and make sure to film the attempt so that future cyclists will avoid the same mistake :lol:
I fear your only electric solution to this is to buy a Tesla Model X and hook a caravan to that.
Or at the very least started by someone who has never towed a heavy load with a car. Having experienced how much a 3.5 tonne trailer/boat combination affected the handling of my 2.4 tonne picku-up truck I would say that if you, against all odds, managed to get your e-bike + caravan combo up to 30 mph you would most certainly end up hospitalised or dead before you managed to stop that run away train Give it a go though, and make sure to film the attempt so that future cyclists will avoid the same mistake :lol:
I fear your only electric solution to this is to buy a Tesla Model X and hook a caravan to that.
cwah
100 MW
Ok maybe not 30mph. What would be the most reliable abd safest speed? Like walking speed? Maybe i just install a jocket trailer going 5mph and walk with me on the road? 
cwah
100 MW
Or maybe the other way around, what's the heaviest I could tow on my ebike? 500kg?
benjamin84
100 W
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- May 20, 2010
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- 177
cwah said:
I hate to come across like an arsehole, but if you have so little understanding of physics that this sounds like a good idea I wouldn't recommend towing anything at all - you are likely to be a danger to yourself and others. Even 100kg behind you on an unbraked trailer would be a recipe for disaster on anything but a completely flat road. Remember it isn't getting the thing rolling that will be a problem, it is stopping it again.
I would suggest that you go and put 100kg on an olympic weight lifting bar, try to move it around, and then picture that weight loosely connected to your bike, rolling behind you while trying to stop. Hopefully that should scare you away from this idea
Alan B
100 GW
Rule of thumb when towing - things get "interesting" when the trailer exceeds 50% of the weight of the towing vehicle. It gets "very interesting" when the trailer exceeds 100% of the tow vehicle weight, and and the maximum values of trailer weight are generally in the range of 200% of the tow vehicle weight for fifth wheel and 300% for tractor-trailer setups in the USA.
For normal hitches the tongue weight is 10-15% of trailer weight. Below this the stability suffers. Fifth wheel hitches place even more weight on the tow vehicle.
For a bicycle even lower percentages are indicated. Towing under 50% of the bicycle weight is suggested. This does not include rider weight.
For normal hitches the tongue weight is 10-15% of trailer weight. Below this the stability suffers. Fifth wheel hitches place even more weight on the tow vehicle.
For a bicycle even lower percentages are indicated. Towing under 50% of the bicycle weight is suggested. This does not include rider weight.
benjamin84
100 W
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Out of interest I had to check the laws for motorcycles. In the UK you can tow up to 150kg or 2/3 of the bikes weight, whichever is lowest. So sticking below 50kg for a bicycle seems sensible, although I have precisely zero experience towing with two wheeled vehicles
Looks capable of a lot of cargo, though with six wheels on the ground at the same time it wouldn't be a bicycle in a lot of places. (and probably not any other defined class of vehicle; bicycles are often limited to max of 3 wheels in contact with the ground).
Depending on local LEO attitudes, it might be difficult to use without harassment.
Depending on local LEO attitudes, it might be difficult to use without harassment.
Dauntless
100 TW
benjamin84 said:
Aw, come on. He saw it on 'The Simpson's' when Nelson towed his family to a new trailer park on his bike.
So you can move the trailer at all, yes. You could even put electric brakes on it to trigger from the bike and it'll stop itself. But there's a whole lot to seriously moving that trailer much of anywhere.
https://trailervalet.com/shop/trailer-valet-xl/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsa2tuqP33QIVFIh-Ch06cQ-bEAQYASABEgKrZfD_BwE
[youtube]QhEsw2G-ONQ[/youtube]
cwah
100 MW
So my dream comes to an end...?
benjamin84
100 W
- Joined
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- 177
Dauntless said:
I'd love to think you were right but I'm not so sure
markz
100 TW
Maybe its a food cart!
Just watch a YT video saying how NYC has only 5000 permits for sidewalk vendors but there are more like 25K, so I have to question why the police dont crack down and impound the carts, then the food safety guys roll on in.
Just watch a YT video saying how NYC has only 5000 permits for sidewalk vendors but there are more like 25K, so I have to question why the police dont crack down and impound the carts, then the food safety guys roll on in.
dustNbone
10 kW
Because some of them sell donuts.
