Has anyone installed a trailer hitch on the Coupe yet?

[TrueFaith]

Okay, I know this is probably the ultimate blasphemy, but hear me out. I own a new 2008 Ninja 250R motorcycle that needs frequent warranty service for the first few thousand miles. The dealer is 14 miles away. I was thinking of hooking up a tiny 1-bike trailer to my Coupe to get it there and back when needed. E-Trailer.com has 3 different trailer hitches made for the Coupe that bolt into 4 existing holes in the bottom of the frame and are rated to 1000lbs., way more than I'd need to transport this 330lb. motorcycle.Has anyone tried this yet? Is anyone aware of any reason (besides how horrible it would make the rear of the car look) why I couldn't or shouldn't attempt this?

[Rmuth25]

Cant you just ride the bike there and have someone take you home??? Besides, Hitches on a small car only spell bad news in the future. I had a hitch on my Chevy Corsica and did some light duty hauling, like mulch and stuff and my car had so many problems with it. Im pretty confident in saying that hauling stuff had something to do with the car going so bad so early in its life(like 110k miles is when the engine needed to be replaced, from then on basically everything except the transmission was replaced).

Besides, how long will it take you to get those first few thousand miles? If only like a year or two, and you plan on keeping the A/C for say 8 to 10 years, I dont think its worth getting a hitch on it and KILLING the look.

Sorry if I sound trite, besides the decision is ultimately yours.

[LongBeachCoupe]

the hitch may be rated to pull a F-150.. its the engine and strain that matters... pulling a motorcycle around with a 2.5... idk... not a good idea in my book

[Mr. Music]

the hitch may be rated to pull a F-150.. its the engine and strain that matters... pulling a motorcycle around with a 2.5... idk... not a good idea in my book

Two passengers weigh more than the motorcycle.

...this 330lb. motorcycle...

There shouldn't be any problem at all with installing a hitch and towing that bike around. And as far as the look goes, don't weld the hitch on so you can unbolt it when ever you want/need too.

[LinkNuc]

less than 1000lbs you're fine...but buy a Titan for heavy hauling

[Rmuth25]

Two passengers weigh more than the motorcycle. There shouldn't be any problem at all with installing a hitch and towing that bike around. And as far as the look goes, don't weld the hitch on so you can unbolt it when ever you want/need too.

I may be completely wrong on this, but if you were towing 330 pounds, plus the lets say 75 to 100 pound trailer put more stress on the engine even if the same amount was inside the car? I would imagine it takes much more effort from an engine to tow 300 pounds then to just have 300 pounds sitting inside the car.

[LongBeachCoupe]

its a lot different to tow something than to have it in your car i believe... the bike plus the hitch.. 500 lbs

[spockrock]

Well 500LBs is 500LBS it takes the same amount of Force to move 500LBS and the same amount of energy to move 500LBS x distance. The only thing that would make a difference is that the trailer will add more friction. But the trailer would put more strain on the frame the car. I do not think it would strain the engine any more it will make the engine work more if you put 500LBs behind the car or in the car.

[LongBeachCoupe]

the weight is outside the perameter of the car... towing isnt the same as in-cabin weight.... i know some guys here have probably packed as much as 1000lbs of people in their car before... i still think that towing 500lbs is worse.. but im clueless

[spockrock]

the weight is outside the perameter of the car... towing isnt the same as in-cabin weight.... i know some guys here have probably packed as much as 1000lbs of people in their car before... i still think that towing 500lbs is worse.. but im clueless

Well I think the problem with towing is that it puts the weight on one part of the frame of the car, where was cargo weight can be distributed across the whole frame. I mean I dunno for sure and I have never done the indepth analysis with in regards to the forces involved but I think you may need more torque to pull the trailer weight, then cargo weight. But then again I maybe over simplify the situation and over assuming things.

[TrueFaith]

Two passengers weigh more than the motorcycle. There shouldn't be any problem at all with installing a hitch and towing that bike around. And as far as the look goes, don't weld the hitch on so you can unbolt it when ever you want/need too.

Thanks for all your replies. I was planning on removing the hitch when not in use, both for looks and to avoid the possibility of damage to the frame in a rear-end accident. Since it's only 4 bolts, that shouldn't be too difficult. Checking the Coupe's Owner's Manual, I see that the Coupe is rated to tow 1000lbs. with a Class 1 hitch, which is exactly what I'm planning on getting. The trailer is a small folding one-bike carrier. I really don't think I would try this if I had to tow the bike on the highway, or if the bike wasn't as small and light as it is, but the 14 miles to the dealer is all sparsely-travelled good 2-lane road with a top speed limit of 45mph. Thanks again for your comments and suggestions.

[johnny_d]

i would think towing 500 lbs is less work than carrying 500 lbs. I can push a 3500lb car for some distance but i certainly wouldn't be able to carry the car and move it the same distance.

[tsigoloeg]

Okay, I know this is probably the ultimate blasphemy, but hear me out. I own a new 2008 Ninja 250R motorcycle that needs frequent warranty service for the first few thousand miles. The dealer is 14 miles away. I was thinking of hooking up a tiny 1-bike trailer to my Coupe to get it there and back when needed. E-Trailer.com has 3 different trailer hitches made for the Coupe that bolt into 4 existing holes in the bottom of the frame and are rated to 1000lbs., way more than I'd need to transport this 330lb. motorcycle.Has anyone tried this yet? Is anyone aware of any reason (besides how horrible it would make the rear of the car look) why I couldn't or shouldn't attempt this?

I had a receiver-style hitch on my '94 SE-R. You could barely see it down there. I bought it to tow my bike from MN to CA, I used a 5x8 enclosed U-haul weighing over 900# and the bike was over 500#. Not even close to a problem with the 2.0L, with the 2.5L you will be more than fine. I put 150K on that car and it is still going; the guy with the Corsica, his problem was its a CHEVY...of course it broke.

Who is saying it is only rated to 1000#? Class 1 hitches are the smallest and they are for 2000# w/ 200# tongue weight. That was what I had on my Sentra. Yeah Nissan will say not more than 1000# in their towing guide but that's a CYA recommendation. You are not permitted to exceed your GVWR, which is the weight of your car, you, cargo incl passengers, and the trailer TONGUE weight. I certainly wouldn't push the class-1 spec though. I mean for daily work driving loaded no you're not fine with a trailer on a car, the transmission is going to be what takes the beating. But to haul a bike back and forth a dozen times for 14 miles? You're fine. Just don't drive it like you stole it...smooth gentle starts and stops and keep it moderate speed. Get a proper trailer and center the load over the axle, putting about 10-15% of the weight on the tongue.

And for the whole towing cargo vs inside cargo, yes there is a difference. Properly loaded trailers should only put 10-15% of their weight on the frame, the rest is supported by the trailer frame, that's why they have wheels that touch the ground and roll. Putting equivalent loads inside the car would wear out your suspension that much faster while putting the same extra wear on the powertrain, so technically it might even be considered WORSE carrying it inside the car.

[TrueFaith]

YES! This is the kind of advice I was looking for when I posted this question. You guys have been very helpful and informative in your posts and I appreciate your input greatly. This is a fantastic forum. Makes me damned proud to be a new Coupe owner!

[beeristasty]

i would think towing 500 lbs is less work than carrying 500 lbs. I can push a 3500lb car for some distance but i certainly wouldn't be able to carry the car and move it the same distance.

Your logic is a little wacky - basically stating that it's a lot easier for a human to move something that has wheels than something that doesn't.

Better example would be if there are 2 bikes: 1 that is 50 pounds and 1 that is 42 pounds with an 8 pound trailer attached. And the human is the 'engine'.

My guess would be the 50 pound bike would be easier to pedal due to less rolling and wind resistance.

[MagicM]

I've seen smart cars pull 8 foot trailers with a bunch of junk inside if it makes you feel any better.

[Mr. Music]

...I mean for daily work driving loaded no you're not fine with a trailer on a car, the transmission is going to be what takes the beating. But to haul a bike back and forth a dozen times for 14 miles? You're fine. Just don't drive it like you stole it...smooth gentle starts and stops and keep it moderate speed. Get a proper trailer and center the load over the axle, putting about 10-15% of the weight on the tongue.

The load isn't very heavy (a one-bike trailer will also be quite small, so it won't weigh much either), and You won't be hauling it too often, so you will be fine. As an example of what I think it takes to cause long-term problems: I used to tow a 6,800lb (gross weight) travel trailer with a Ram1500, which is rated to tow about 7,750lbs. After 110,000 miles, the transmission isn't doing too good anymore. Pushing the vehicle to its limit for long hauls quite often will cause some trouble; but thats not what you will be doing, Faith.

[Rmuth25]

Well 500LBs is 500LBS it takes the same amount of Force to move 500LBS and the same amount of energy to move 500LBS x distance. The only thing that would make a difference is that the trailer will add more friction. But the trailer would put more strain on the frame the car. I do not think it would strain the engine any more it will make the engine work more if you put 500LBs behind the car or in the car.

If the trailer adds more friction, then it takes more force to pull it.

[spockrock]

If the trailer adds more friction, then it takes more force to pull it.

This is true but my assumption is the amount of friction between the tires is negligible, but I did forget about wind resistance. I know wind resistance is a huge factor so yeah the engine is probably working harder with the trailer. LOL I can't believe I forgot about wind resistance lol.

[TrueFaith]

Looks like the general consensus is that I can do this without concern, since it's well within the towing specs for the Coupe. Thanks again for your replies.