Canoe Trailer Kit I built to pull behind my Goldwing
In the summer of 2007, I bought a canoe and built a kit trailer to pull it behind my Goldwing. I found this Trailex trailer on the internet, and it was the best one suited for pulling behind a motorcycle. Lightweight and sturdy, made out of aluminum, and only 90 pounds fully assembled. It was the best I could find... but not the cheapest!
The Kit was excellent. Delivered by UPS in two boxes. Upon unpacking, it was obvious that it was a quality trailer. It was raining the day it was delivered and I was anxious to get started on it. So I built it in my living room... counting on the prospect that I could get it out the door once it was assembled. Here it is:
Two boxes delivered by UPS.
The packing was fantastic!. It was a liquid foam sprayed inside a plastic bag in the box that once "hardened", completely surrounded and protected the components. Great idea.
Here's the components in the two boxes:
Inspecting the components :
Instructions read, ready for assembly. Main beam assembled:
The patented design is pretty slick. A sturdy square main beam with adjustable "T" bolts in a slotted channel:
Bow stop/handle and forward cradle assembled:
Rear cradle, axle and suspension assembled:
Add the wheels, fenders, light brackets and loading roller and it's done. That was too easy!
OK... got it outside, now it's time to wire it up. I had to buy a custom 5-pin plug to replace the standard 4-pin plug on the trailer and make it Goldwing savvy. I had to add additional lights for the turn signals also, because on a Goldwing, the brake lights are separate from the stop lights. The plug was re-wired to the Goldwing configuration that matches my cargo trailer, so now it's "plug and play". All the wires are marine grade.
Here's the wires before I ran them through the main beam from the hitch to the back:
To pull the wires through, I ran a tape measure up through the main beam from the back to the front, attached my wire harness to it and pulled it through:
Here's the wires at the back end:
I bought some galvanized steel to make a bracket to add the additional lights :
Lights attached and wired up.:
Before I tighten everything up, I better put the boat on the trailer to check the alignment of everything:
Looks good. Now I can clean up my wiring:
Here's the plug after cleaning all the wiring up:
Done! Looks good! I bought a protective cover for the canoe. This will allow me to store "stuff" in the canoe during transport without it blowing out of the canoe. In there I have 2 lifejackes, 2 paddles, 1 kayak paddle for soloing, fishing pole, tackle box, anchor, bug spray, bailer, GPS, and a cooler full of goodies! :
Here's the rig next to the Wing stable:
Ready for a road test run. I road tested the trailer with the cover on it to 100+MPH. She pulls just fine!:
The place of my maiden voyage! This is fun!:
I hope to get alot of time in this canoe. This was a fun project!:
