New to me trailer, cant get the front wheel pivot to lock

[Kevin Jones]

Im extremely tired which may be the problem but I dont understand why I am unable to roll the front tire over this pivot point to lock the wheel in? Also a little afraid that when I do, the height of the pivot might bite into the underside of the bike. Is the pivot shaft too big? If I put a 1" piece of wood underneath the front of the pivot, would that help? Im doing something wrong, dunno what it is. I tried to load it by hand, no way I could force it over. I tried to power over it with the motor against my judgement, smoked the back tire, still wouldnt activate the pivot to pull the wheel in. **** man. Its a nice trailer, would hate to have to cut that pivot off and stick a chock behind it every time.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Another angle.

 

[RedBusarider]

Does what you have pictured move freely by hand?

What's the other end look like? Most chocks are only for the front tire so not sure what you mean " height of the pivot might bite into the underside of the bike."

Unit looks "homemade" and not a commercial unit.

Did the PO say what kind of bike he used it for?

 

[RedBusarider]

Be careful the fender on a Busa is low and it looks like your fender MIGHT hit the backstop.

 

[Kevin Jones]

It was a Harley electraglide. Yes moves freely by hand, pretty neat design if it would work with my bike. Im thinking the tires on those bikes and the weight probably helps. Let me show another angle. Plus mine being lowered and all, probably has too low a COG to move that pivot at that height. I dunno.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Yeah you are right. What do you think? Cut that backstop off and use something else?

 

[Kevin Jones]

Could cut that whole pivot portion off and use a wheel chock.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Or 2 3/4" pieces of plywood. one on each side of where the pivot meets contact with the trailer. one side would help get it over that COG, the other side help keep the height of the pivot from biting into the fender. Or some sleep or both.

 

[twotonevert]

Get some sleep and look at it again tomorrow. There is no reason shown in the picture you cant roll right over the pivot point. And as said above, measure the height of that back stop and compare to your fender. Looks high to me too. Lowering your bike will not move the fender either.

 

[Kevin Jones]

It looks like if the pivot pin had been welded flush with the platform it would allow the pivot to happen lower easier and it would limit the backstop from raising too high upon transfer. I am going to cut some 3/4 plywood and make a platform inside the bars to prevent the backstop from raising too high and a platform around the perimeter and leading up to the pivot to allow the front tire to get some elevation before hitting the pivot point. Essentially the way it would have been if the pivot pin had been welded flush with the platform. It just wasnt made for bikes with a low profile. Option 2 would be to take it to a welder and have it cut right there and mounted flush with the platform. I have scrap plywood, will test the theory.

 

[RedBusarider]

I think that the angle is wrong for ease of getting your front tire in.
IMO it should be more sloped and less angle for the wheel to roll on.

Here is what I'm talking about.

 

[Kevin Jones]

It is a huge angle. Going in is one thing, getting it out at that angle might be impossible or break something, I have to cut down the backstop but I know someone who has one of those condor pieces like you were showing. I wonder if I should cut this one off, bolt that condor down.

 

[Powers739]

Get a baxley and be done with it.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Damn, that was some work. No racing tonight, I am smoked. Got that condor, cut that old piece out, bolted on, set up, done deal. Has the front cable lowering system but I need to work on the locking mech. I wanna be sure that if the pin comes out on the highway, the crank doesnt drop the back and jackknife that trailer or worse, bike and trailer fly off and kill somebody. Pics are just a test. I will use better ratchet straps.

 

[Kevin Jones]

I tried adjusting the condor wheel locks, I tried about everything. Without the bike running, it cannot be loaded by my 160lb ass. I tried lowering the incline as much as I could, none of it would help give me the strength to load that wheel lock without the engine running. So that makes 2. The condor and the stock homemade lock. As I dropped the bike on an ambitious load attempt with speed and all my might and it hit and bounced back off, which proceeded to fall completely off the trailer and break the nose on my bike, I realized, this trailer is a piece of ****. One look at craigslist and I see how bad I ****ed up. No rails to help stabilize, no wheel track to line up the front wheel. It is steel and not aluminum. You can get a decent bike trailer on craigslist for $600 that blows this thing away. Dont make the same mistake I did. Now I have to treat the underside for the rust that is really bad, paint it, and ask for a best offer. I ****ed up. Get one with rails, and make sure it is easy enough to load and unload without a running bike, by yourself.

 

[nosbig]

Sorry to hear about your troubles and the damage to your bike.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Thank you. Learning experience. I guess I have to screw stuff up before I can get it right Maybe I can find a used Baxley and/or figure out some sort of way to make this thing stay without the lockdown. It could very well be the condor isnt built for the width of the front tire and that is making it more difficult to push through. The Baxley is adjustable. And expensive. I took the front chock off and put a rear wheel stand on there and honestly, that might work strapped down properly. Or it could slide, I dont know.

 

[Powers739]

Here is the Baxley Sport model, but I'd recommend the LA due to the busa size/weight.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Look at that track setup. you could throw a toolbox on there, hell, air compressor for tires. Thats what I am talking about. Good setup!