BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

So for a couple years now I've been enamored with the idea of having a pop up camper in lieu of a tent for my summer adventures. The simplicity of a tent after a day's riding has a certain allure as does the simplicity of setup and tear down of camp in the rain. I've looked around for trailer hitches for the 2011 R1200r and have come up short, no one seeming to manufacture such a rig. This being the case a mechanical engineer friend and I took it upon ourselves to design one. The design is rather robust, taking advantage of the rear peg hangers and fasteners supporting the saddle bag hangers. The hitch hanger is designed such that it will parallel the lower body line to a point where turning horizontal, will run below the rear turn signals, it will then drop vertical to a hitch receiver.

My plan would be to run the camper only with the bags removed, clothes would be carried in the camper and misc gear in a dry bag mounted to the top of the camper. The trailer setup I'm looking at is the "mini-mate" by Kompact Kamp. The rig weighs in at 265lbs with a 25lb tongue weight. My hesitation is GVWR of 1,000 lbs, the proposed setup is pushing the limit pretty close. I've seen these same rigs (R12000r) pushing side hacks and cannot help but think if this setup is acceptable, then a trailer would be no worse. Interested in the groups thoughts. If I've posted this before, I apologize in advance.

thanks,

I've seen lots of R1200RTs of the same era pulling all sorts of trailers. And haven't heard of any weight related problems. While GVWR should be noted - it's mostly the weight carrying capacity of the bike, not so much the total weight of the bike.. ie - it's the weight measured where the wheels hit the ground. If anything, with a 25lb tongue weight, removing the weight of the sidebags and all the gear that would be in them to another set of wheels completely separate from the bike will likely result in less weight being carried by the bike wheels.

You probably will feel some difference in braking since that does include the towed weight (unless the trailer has electric brakes.. unlikely..) but given how well the brakes work even with the bike fully loaded I wouldn't be terribly concerned.

I think it's a non-issue. I'll certainly be interested in seeing the photo of your hitch assembly and trailer setup.

Thanks for your input Don, I have a great deal of respect for your opinion. There is a local custom bike builder who is willing to take on the hitch construction, I'm strongly considering contacting him and moving the project forward later this fall.

As stopping power is a real concern, we discussed both an electric or hydraulic brake option, however this would require the trailer vendor to alter his axles and we were unsure of product availability. I'm also not so concerned about the rear axle loading, as you pointed out by removing the bags, that alone will overcome the tounge weight, my concern is purely stopping.

If and when I move forward Ill be sure to post up some photos.

Thanks for the comment.

How does the hitch mount to the R1200RT? I would think that the rear sections of the R1200R and the R1200RT would be similar. They use the same hard bags for both bikes. If you saw how the hitch mounts to the RT it might give you and your friend some good direction on how to make a hitch for the R.
Below is a link to a Bushtec hitch for the RT.

http://store.bushtec.com/product-p/944708p.htm

Below is a link to the installation instructions for the Bushtec hitch for the RT.

http://store.bushtec.com/v/vspfiles/BMW ... ailers.pdf



I hope this helps
Roger L

Roger,
Thanks for the links, some good ideas there.