do you tow a trailer?

I plan to bring some camping gear with me on my trips. I will get my Shineray long march in almost 2 weeks. If i am alone, i can pack everything i need on the bike. But if we are two on the bike, it would be nice if we are pulling a trailer. Being the cheapo i am, i would prefer not to buy anything but build my own. example. this is used to tow a barrel. Not what i need, but close enough. See attachment for easier viewing. I will add a handbrake to the trailer.

I will not carry more than 60 kg; that's a tent and sleeping bag, two foldable kayaks(each fit in a golf bag), and maybe a paraglide wing sometime. Anyone see any problems with this setup? The only thing i cannot figure out is how to attache the trailer to the bike, maybe some kind of a ball socket?

That takes me back thirty years to when I built a bike trailer ... lessons learned the hard way, you can use a ball hitch because they have some play and rotation in them but whatever you do I suggest you make it so it (the hitch) also turns around the shaft because the bike leans and it is dangerous when the trailer doesn't ... if you think about it you will see what I mean. I found a good hitch after a couple of crashes and a few attempts on an ex-army trailer that a farmer had already cut to bits for agricultural use, it rotated in two planes.

The hitch is best taken from at least two fixing points either side of the frame, also if you can build some sort of suspension into the trailer and the hitch it damps a lot of the jumps and bumps that can otherwise affect many things, not least the back wheel traction. You also need to limit the amount the trailer can follow the bike so it cannot whiplash forward into you. I found all of that out by crashing so look at some proper commercial trailers and copy one and perhaps buy a kit or some parts and make it into what you want. There is a lot of energy in a full trailer following you at 100 kmh that you do NOT want to get loose in the wrong direction. You really must make it lightweight but by using aluminium where possible you should be able to make it strong and still keep it to about thirty kg plus your 60 kg load which is plenty enough for a small bike.

Think about a single wheel trailer if it is going to be lightweight and consider your bike's rear suspension - consider trailer brakes too - I never had them on mine but I do think it would help safe straight line stopping! Having said all that, once you have a good trailer following you in-line it seems a lot easier than a sidecar and you can even go bush with it if you are careful.

I am assuming there are no regs about this where you are? I know that here in Aus. they need Australian Design Rules approval because they can be very dangerous.

I'm in Kunming, China. The law allows you to tow 700 kg by car, i have no idea if there is any law for motorcycles.
So here is what my research turned up so far:
single wheel, or N-Line trailers:

• they lean with the bike, means turning will be easier.
• with enough lean, tracks exactly where the bike wheels tracks, means if i avoid a pot hole, the trailer also follows.
• Lighter

i found the following examples, but still looking for designs.
This is the simplest to build, could probably do it in one afternoon. See attachment, ( imgur.com blocked :hellfire: ) never mind the weird container.

my favorite so far, i have yet to find plans. Its an old design, and many are home built. If i ask someone from Czech, should be able to help me 1Czech 2Egnlish Seems like the popular Uni-go in the US is based on it.

This one looks nice, I think i can build one. I don't think i could get the plans for this one. I don't really t like the higher center of gravity on this though.

Obsessed with trailers?

They all look relatively easy to build, but i prefer to follow designs that worked for someone else before.
Any tips?

That hitch method on the left bottom single wheel picture looks good as it moves in two planes, but I do not think I would risk any load over say 100kg tops with such a thin bolt taking the twisting loads, especially in Chinese steel.

I just hope the 'single wheel following the bike' method works well against that twist - as otherwise I still think you would be much better off with a hitch that turns around the hitch shaft. I guess you aren't going to be hauling water but I also think that, or any high load, would give you major problems on a bike, ie like water shifting in a barrel and throwing the bike over! I have unfortunately turned over a half empty fire-fighting tanker once ... so good luck mate.

Wow, you guys are smart. I love this website. I feel like a kid in a candy store. I have thought about building a trailer and the info here has saved me a lot of hardship. Thanks