ROADTRIP: Yamaha XT250 Pulling a Trailer // Arkansas Meetup Days 1-2
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ค. 2024
- Today is Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Adrian and I are leaving Houston to meet with Neil for some motocamping again! Skip to the end of this description for clickable time indexes.
This was my first trip with my KipMoto SherpaX trailer. I needed a good shakedown ride before our big Scooter Cannonball trip in July. I quickly learned that the cargo in the trailer must kept below the centerline (near the hitch pivot) to prevent it from being unstable and creating "tail-wag" situations. I had the box loaded with 50+ pounds of gear, and about 15 pounds of that was in a roll bag sitting ON TOP of the box. That's a bad idea because it raises the center of gravity above the trailer's pivot point. I also had a full 1.75-gallon Rotopax fuel container on the left side of the trailer, which caused the trailer to be unbalanced toward that side.
Tire pressures also played a crucial role in how well the XT250 towed the trailer. I started the trip with all tires aired up rock-hard (36, 38, and 33 PSI for front/rear/trailer). The overloaded trailer and high tire pressures caused a few extreme tail-wag events that forced me to slow down under 35 MPH to regain control of this little road train. My XT250 already tends to exhibit head-shake above 60 MPH, so the trailer's tail-wag exaggerated that effect. Reducing the tire pressures to 28/30/26 PSI seemed to resolve most of the handling bugs, but I kept my speeds below 60 MPH to be on the safe side.
Unfortunately, my XT250's regulator/rectifier (or the stator) died only about an hour outside of Houston. I realized my battery was going flat when I stopped to readjust the tire pressures and trailer load... the engine barely turned over. The XT doesn't have a kick start, so I had to push-start it for the remainder of the trip. It's tricky to push start a fully loaded motorcycle when you have a ~100-pound trailer behind it! 🤣👍 --QM
Time indexes:
0:00 Heading out with the @KIPMoto SherpaX trailer for its maiden voyage!
3:40 Cagers stopping to take pictures of the SherpaX trailer
8:50 Adjusting tire pressures to minimize trailer tail-wag, and a dead battery?
11:41 The rain found us again, as usual!
13:25 Resuming the following day with dead camera batteries, the XT's charging system is DEAD!
18:47 Stopping at Road Track & Trail Yamaha to install a fresh battery
21:58 Arriving at Ft. Gibson Dam to camp for the night
--
QM
quasimotard@gmail.com
#xt250 #supercub #motocamping
2008 Yamaha XT250
2019 Honda Super Cub C125 ABS
2013 Yamaha Zuma 125
C125
C125A
BWS125
motorcycle touring
scooter touring
motorcycle camping
motocamping
single wheel motorcycle trailer - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Just loving these small bike touring videos! Thanks for putting in the many hours of effort to bring them to us.
Great trip !
I 💘 the guy looking for Shade...my dude.heeeee
Awesome video and scenery!
Thanks, Jesse! We really enjoy touring AR and MO back roads. Rain or shine... it's still a good time! 😉👍 --QM
Wow just wow!
Thanks for the feedback! I'm editing the rest of this series now, and I should have it uploaded soon. Cheers! 😉👍 --QM
just seing the bit where you mention the speedo - if the bike runs fine its not the rectifier or stator itll be something on the wheel thats dirty/broke sensor or similar - also LOL at the sat nav at the begining telling you right you state youre going left haha
Geesh! Loose that trailer! Load your paniers, and get on down the road!
The trailer's misbehavior was my fault... too much load, and the weight was too high up instead of being low and forward.
This was a trial run to see how the trailer would behave on our Scooter Cannonball Run. We pulled these trailers around the USA behind our little Honda Super Cubs: th-cam.com/play/PLLXxDh3JumLnSK37lF4AcrF28frAIfLfA.html . We didn't have a single mechanical problem with the bikes or trailers throughout that 10K mile journey! Cheers! 😉👍 --QM
Wonder if adding a few washers between the front fork springs and the spacer tube to add a touch of preload to the front would help with your head shake? I done that to a dr200 once for off-road riding but I did notice it was “more true” on the pavement as well.
That's a good point. I actually have preload spacers in the forks already. I made some out of copper pipe to minimize front fork dive several years ago when I was taking lots of road trips on the XT with my son. The added weight on the bike really made the front dive a lot under braking, so the preload spacers firmed up the forks a bit. I think the squirm is due to the long, skinny forks and the street tires (AVON Trail Riders, AV53 front, AV54 rear).
@Tom Wagner mentioned dropping the triple tree down a bit, so I might give that a try. I've done that for decades on my street bikes, but I can't remember if I tried that yet on the XT. Cheers! 😉👍 --QM
Hey Quasi have you tried lowering the fork tubes in the triple clamps? Might help that front end from being so skittish. A half inch might change the geometry just enough. Good video!
Good idea! I've done that for decades on my street bikes, but I can't recall if I've tested that on the XT or not. I do have preload spacers in the forks to manage the front end dive under braking, so that makes it sit even taller than normal (less rider sag). Cheers! 😉👍 --QM
You should have tied a quick detach line to the cub for the jump starts towing it
Thanks for having this video. I’m struggling to make a decision on what I’m looking for. I’ve owned a bunch of Harleys, Triumphs, Yamahas, Kawasaki, Honda but trying to find that perfect something is killing me.
If you had it to do again, would you chose the XT250 again over others in that size realm? Say over a 300 Rally or something close.
Thanks for the feedback! I'm very pleased with the XT250 overall, but I would get the fuel-injected version if I did it again... more reliable and less maintenance.
I think the Honda CRF300 would be a better bike overall (more power, better suspension), but the 34-inch seat height is just a bit too tall for my 30" inseam. I rode the CRF250 and 250 Rally before the 300's were released. The Rally seemed too heavy and the suspension wallowed more then the lighter 250 did. So, I'd probably opt for the non-Rally and then add the other bits as needed (e.g. fairing, lighting, larger fuel tank, panniers, etc).
I've been very pleased with my Happy-Trail aluminum panniers and their rigid structural mount. However, I'll probably go with a soft luggage system the next time around. Green Chile Adventure Gear has a modular strap mounting system (Hardcore Soft Rack) that lets you attach nearly any type of drybag or adventure luggage onto nearly any type of motorcycle. I have several of their products and I've been thoroughly impressed. Cheers! 😉👍 --QM
That's why you have an extra key on your belt loop you do carry an extra key right.? Just asking😞
Those freakin' mosquito's at the car wash
Yeah, they were THICK! I kept all of my gear and helmet on with the visor closed most of the time just so I wouldn't get eaten alive. 😉👍 --QM
Where did he purchase the extra fuel tank that sits infront of him. Got myself a 2022 super cub and want to have an extra tank when I do long trips
Our friend, Neil, fabricated those custom fuel tanks for our Super Cubs. He doesn't have any plans to produce more of those, but maybe he can setup a short production run if there is enough interest in the project. Cheers! 😉👍 --QM
My sherpax trailer splash guard broke. Where did u get the one u use? Thx
I don't know of a direct replacement for the rear fender (spash guard). I believe that these are standard mountain bike fenders... I can take measurements for you if you'd like. 😉👍 --QM
That's to fun...john GRAHAM Cincinnati Ohio 06 stratoliner 49k.enjoy make more videos.💗
Thanks for the feedback, John! I'll have more of this series coming soon. Cheers! 😉👍 --QM
Interesting ! You are also watched in Russia.
Thanks for watching, and greetings from the USA! I'm truly amazed where some of my videos have been received. I've received comments from viewers all over Europe, UK, USA, India, Russia and other countries. It's amazing to share rides with people on the other side of the planet! I'm sure that Google's machine translation and captions probably make many mistakes... particularly where slang and local phrases can be confused. Cheers! 😉👍 --QM
Спасибо за просмотр и привет из США! Я действительно поражен тем, как были получены некоторые из моих видео. Я получил комментарии от зрителей со всей Европы, Великобритании, США, Индии, России и других стран. Удивительно делиться поездками с людьми на другой стороне планеты! Я уверен, что машинный перевод и субтитры Google, вероятно, допускают много ошибок ... особенно там, где можно перепутать сленг и местные фразы. Ваше здоровье! 😉👍 --QM
I think that gas can way on side could even a problem
The added weight on the sides of the trailer is definitely noticeable when fully-loaded. I found that the bigger issue with this setup was the extra weight on top of the box. The 20-lb bag on top created too much inertia above the CG and pivot axis, so it tended to create a pendulum effect and tail-wag became a problem at certain speeds. This was a shakedown run to see how much I could "comfortably" load in the trailer and to understand how it might affect my Super Cub during our 10K-mile Scooter Cannonball Run trip ( th-cam.com/play/PLLXxDh3JumLnSK37lF4AcrF28frAIfLfA.html ).
I started that adventure with a different loadout, but we quickly realized that we were still overloaded. The trailer cargo weight was 85+ pounds, so we had to thin that down to ~45 pounds for better handling. I still carried the RotoPax containers on the sides, but I was more proactive about depleting them evenly and keeping all of my weight low in the Rubbermaid cargo box. Cheers! 😉👍 --QM
Yo - lemme axe you sumpmm.
You ever thought about working for meals on wheels?