Towing With a ETZ250 Outfit

Having at last found another garage to rent (cheaper than the council one I’d been waiting years for and bigger) I indeed to be able to tow my trailer to shift the various bikes and bits of bike that have accumulated in my existing garage over the years to such an extent that I couldn’t get on with any of them for want of space.

I had been keeping an eye open for a bracket for the back of my car since I got it 2 years back with no success. And given the amount of structural shaping in the body I didn’t feel chopping it about to fit my own would be a good idea. However looking at my outfit in one of those pondering moments I saw a way that one could be fitted easily without any great effort and a couple of scaffolding clamps. O and someone said a 250cc would never be able to tow, so I just had to have a go.

A few drives round town looking for scaffolding, I soon found someone who could let me have a couple of clamps. Then a bit of welding to give me somewhere to put the ball hitch on the end of some scaffold tubing and I was ready to go.

I kept the ball hitch as near to the driving axle as practically possible to give the trailer little leverage from the hitch point and subsequently less chance of taking control as it were. This dose mean that some care is needed in tight turns, but with the spare wheel remove that lived on the front it is more than practical for on the road.

The first few journeys I had my stepson Quinn in the side car as “ballast” again to give less chance of the trailer taking control if heaver than the outfit. However as I moved more stuff and got more confidence I found his presence was unnecessary. My main concern had been stopping 5 wheels with only breaks on 2 of them so the first journeys were done when there was no traffic. Turned out I was pleasantly surprise at how easy it was to stop under control only needing a longer stopping distance as you would towing with any vehicle.

So there you have it. My outfit now tows the trailer I bought it home on. Smug Mode.

This page added..11/02/14

Reproduced in MZ Rider ..... Issue 213, January/February 2015