Can the Maxim be towed using this?

Bike Caddy

I'm may getting a 1980 Yamaha maxim 650 which, of course, has the driveshaft. This device for towing a motorcycle specifically cautions that "some" bikes that have a driveshaft are not recommended for towing with the rear wheel on the ground.

Does anyone with knowledge of the internal workings of the Maxim know if this caddy would work or not? What would be damaged if towed in neutral?

 

I wouldn't do it. If you need to tow it somewhere, use a trailer. I guess you could use this, though, IF you wanted to pull the pumpking off, remove the driveshaft, put the pumpkin back on. Of course, then you would have to do everything in reverse order so you could ride it again.

 

for $600 dollars you could find a cheap small trailer for the bike on something like craigslist.

 

ok if you going to buy that i dont know the cost of that but for a few hundred dollars you can get one that sits right up off the ground and then sides sideways to your truck and is closer so need for neutral.

 

Actually I do have a trailer that I could use, but I was hoping for this to work to save a few pounds on total weight. My tow vehicle that I was planning to use is not....uhh.... exactly overpowered!!!

It's a VW Vanagon Westfalia.

The weight of the bike is already 500# or so, adding my trailer to that would be another 400# or so, while this Caddy would be quite a bit less.

The whole idea would be to get to a campsite, park the VW Camper and use the Maxim as a get-around vehicle. Having to assemble-disassemble the driveshaft and associated parts would be less than convenient. So i guess this option won't work for me.

Shoot.

 

check out that trailer hitch idea that i had i adds minimal weight and is great. requires class 3 hitch though. and power is nothing i tow a boat that weighs as much as my little ford ranger no electric brakes and a small engine. just take her slow. are yo in any rush?

http://www.motorcyclecarrier.net/

thats what im talking about.

 

I remember seeing somewhere a really really small motorcycle trailer but I cant recall the site.

IIRC, it came as a bag and you pinned all the parts together so it was super light and super portable. Essentially it was a channel that you ramped the bike into which held it upright as well. The wheels attached via two rails out the sides to about 90% car width. That'd be rather light for your VW

Wish I could remember where I saw it, I think it was a cragslist thing.

P.S. Is your Westie an air cooled or liquid cooled. If its air cooled, you might as well spend the money and put a 914 motor in it. You can find em pretty cheep and you'll up the ponies under the hood by quite a bit (I'm helping a buddy put one in his 65 double cab)

 

It's one of the later ones with the water cooled, but still woefully underpowered, flat four engines. A 4000# plus vehicle with about 85 HP, and similar torque numbers does not make for a powerful tow vehicle, so every few hundred pounds is important.

Fortunately there are engine upgrade options even on the water cooled Vanagons, and I do have a Zetec engine conversion planned, but that is still a year or so away.

First things first I guess, I need to get the bike and get it running, and then see how much $$$ I want to spend on a dedicated trailer.

 

You should be able to pick up a basic single-channel "dirt bike" trailer for less than $300 from eBay or Craigs' list. They certainly don't weigh 400 lbs.

 

The Trailer-in-a-Bag is available at RPM Cycles Ventura CA (rpmcycles.com). They are made by these folks Trailer In A Bag. 5201 NW 15th Street, Suite C-8, Margate, FL 33063 | Tel: 800.278.8387 | 954.935.0866 | Fax: 954.935.6198
info@trailerinabag.com. Might want to look them up but at $1,300, that is quite a price to pay for light construction and weight savings.