Towing

[sc_BK]

OK since I aint found a decent transit at the right price yet, I'm gonna be towing a bike trailer behind a pug 405 estate tomorrow. I've never towed before apart from low speeds on quads and tractors, so anyone got any advice or things to watch out or?

[MrMPuk]

As you are only 19 you'll need to check that the maximum permissable trailer weight is less than 750kgs unless you have done a trailer test.

[Luke]

make sure the weights in the middle and if it starts to snake - then DONT brake or it will jack-knife, slowly ease off the accelerator untill it stops

[sc_BK]

Phew, what a trip it was! Took about 20hours longer than planned


Few pics:


The A9 just past Dalwhinnie:







Clydebank at 10.30pm



Some business park on the outskirts of glasgow at 6am:



Breakfast time!



Me + a car full of bike in inverness:



Back home 500 miles later!

[FredTransit]

20 hours more than planned! Good pics, pity there wasn't a transit in any of em!

[Terry]

And there me thinking Dalwhinnie was a single malt............

[transitgeoff]

was it worth it?? that hairdryer on the trailors not a bike

[sc_BK]

Well if you're bored, here's the story to go with the earlier pics
(copied from one of my other forums so you probably won't know who/what I'm talking about)


The other night i was talking to Jake, he said he'd seen a drag for sale on drag.com that sounded ok, then started going on about selling "jases" runner frame + plastics etc, so we aggreed on £150 for it and he'd get someone to bring it up the next time he was passing Jake's house in Kirkcaldy.
Then we came up with the idea of me driving down to jake's and both of us going to see this drag that was through in Cyldebank.


So i left Tuesday morning at 9.30, coming down the A9 (main road in/out the highlands) and it's absolutly pissing down with rain, got the wipers on FULL pelt, pulled into one of the wee villages (about 40 mile down) for a quick slash and noticed the passenger side wiper wasn't going.
So I got out, had a look at it and guessed that it must've lost the gearing or whatvever underneath as it was easy to move, so thought hmmm I could manage with just the drivers side wiper, so headed off back down the road

After about another 10mile the passenegers side blows up to vertical position, the other wiper smacks it and snaps the blade
It was pissing down.
I couldn't see a thing, just pulled into the first bit i could.
So then after an long phone call with some annoying prick in the aa call centre, they were on the way

The local agent arrived, looked under the bonnet and said he couldn't FIX it, but could repair with some wire, and sold me a new drivers side blade for £9

So i headed off down the road again using the wipers as little as i could, but now i was almost 2 hours behind schedule

Got lost at the m/way junctions after perth for about 20 minutes

Near kirkcaldy (where jake stays) i f*** up, ended up going the way i'd just came along the dual carraige way
Which wasted another 30 min, then get into kirkcaldy and EVENTUALLY find jakes house

Pick him up, then we head up to his work (bike shop) to collect their trailer.
Loading it on we realise that the lightboard/no. plate combo I'd taken was no use, so we had to make up a plate for the trailer using reflective backing off bike plates and a marker pen.......

EVENTUALLY got going on the road!

We start heading for Edinburgh to drop a bag off round at my bro's flat, luckily with Jake acting as a navigator I now managed to stay on track most of the way, but the route was right through edinburgh city centre.....most of the time we were stopped

Got to my bro's and went to a takeaway where the greek/turk (whatever he was) tried to take our order, whilst we laughed at the local neds pressing doorbells.

Ate that, then back on the road again, heading for glasgow,managed to stay pretty much on course. All the way through glasgow on the motorway, then into clydebank.

Jake got the streets mixed up on the map and i ended up down a dead end, had to disconnect the trailer and drive on the pavement to get out

Then going along a wee street, forgot the trailer was wider than the car, and kinda hit a jeep and set off it's alarm

I asked jake to jump out and check the trailer but he just went "DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE"

I think we only hit it's wheels anyway

EVENTUALLY got to the guy's house about 9.30pm, the orignal plan was to get there at 3pm

Then we were checking over the drag, and i left jake to sort out a deal, took him fookin ages and the guy wouldn't move on the price.
The guy wanted 730 as the lowest he could go, we went back to the car, scraped together all our cash and offered £690
Luckily he accepted, or we'd have been f***

It took us almost an hour to load the drag onto the trailer, in the pishin rain, we got back onto the motorway between clydebank and glasgow (unlit section) when the temporary repair on the wipers packed in! (almost midnight now)

So we were on the hard shoulder, bonnet up in the pissing rain, when a copper pulls up. I stood there waiting for him to come and talk to us, but he didn't move so I went across to his window and he said he aint gettin out the car as he didn't wanna get wet!

I told him our wipers were f*** and HE TOLD US (no joke!) to drive along the motorway to the next junction, about 5 miles on (pissing rain remember) and pull into a car park or somit.
He didn't even offer to make sure we got off without crashing!!

So me and jake were going along the motorway, heads out the windows trying to see the road , eventually found the junction then went a few miles along this road to some business park, found a nice carpark outside some office, blocked 5 spaces with the trailer and went to sleep!

Not exactly a good nights sleep,by gawd my back was sore - kept waking up every hour pretty much aswell

Got up at 6am when it was light, and the rain had almost stopped so we kinda bodged up the wipers with cable ties, and prayed it didn't rain!!!
The office workers were starting to turn up when we were about to leave, you could tell they were thinking "WTF?"

Then we were heading back through glasgow city centre in rush hour, with a drag on a trailer in a pug 405 with f*** wipers! With all these people in suits in the cars around going about their daily commute -was nose to tail for miles on the motorway.

Heading out of glasgow we found a little chef to get a fry up, paying by card as we were completely skint

Then scraped together the pennies in the car to buy a bottle of irn bru in the filling station next door


Then back up to jakes, took off the drag, dumped the trailer then loaded up with runner gear (jase's old runner!)

Back up the last 150mile on me own, with no wipers, still praying!

Got home at 4pm, almost 20 hours later than expected!!

500 miles in total BTW

:yawn:

[transitgeoff]

well sounded like a waste of time, effort and money to me

[MrMPuk]

He's only young Geoff!

[Terry]

When wipers went AWOL, we used to disconnect at the motor then run a piece of string from left wiper in through passengers window across and out through drivers window tie to drivers side wiper,then passenger (driver at a push)just had to pull string left/right to operate wipers !

[FredTransit]

He's only young Geoff!

Cos you're about pensionable age eh Mike? . Yeah Geoff, I bet you did stuff like this, er, fifty or so years ago......

[transitgeoff]

50 dont confuse me with your era Fred im only just about 40, il have you know, and still only 25 at heart(and loins )

[jay]

When wipers went AWOL, we used to disconnect at the motor then run a piece of string from left wiper in through passengers window across and out through drivers window tie to drivers side wiper,then passenger (driver at a push)just had to pull string left/right to operate wipers !

I have actually done this to a truck once coming back from italy when ever it rained had to tug on the bit of string to make them wipe the screen..

[FredTransit]

:shock: 50 dont confuse me with your era Fred im only just about 40, il have you know, and still only 25 at heart(and loins )

Just about 40? Hmmm, you are the same age (ish) as me. Is your heart in your trousers then?