I loaded the trailer up with our new camping gear the other day and took it for a check ride to test it out and see how it was going to pull. I used a bathroom scale to weigh it first and found that it weighed about 220 pounds total with about 22 pounds on the tongue. Here’s a picture of it loaded. As you can see from the size of the sleeping bags, we are definitely not minimalists!:

Piggybacker loaded and ready to go...

There are a few more items that will go in the final load when we go camping but I think this is the majority of items we’ll be taking with us. I have read where a lot of other trailer pullers says that they hardly know the trailer is back there but that wasn’t the case for me. I found that it was more difficult to get the bike into a turn and took some extra effort with the trailer connected. Once it was in the turn it took more effort to increase or decrease the lean angle. I’ll need to do some more experimenting with various tongue weights and I’ve also ordered a swivel hitch which may also help to alleviate some of that issue. There are a lot of bikers towing trailers successfully so I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to do so, too…

Out first campout is scheduled for the Memorial Day weekend at the Red Bridge campground west of Granite Falls but I’m hoping we can get out once before then. Maybe run down to Ft. Ebey for a night…

Ride safe,
Zippo and Jax