[Buffy]

Two Firsts:

1) First time trailering my scooter
2) First time towing with the SSR

As many of you know, I own a Screamin Eagle Edition (1 oF 1,475) Harley and I attended a Screamin Eagle Gathering in Maggie Valley, NC., in the heart of the Smokie Mountains.

Just wanted to share some pics on a GORGEOUS part of the country.....

1) TOWING WITH MISS DAISY AND THE TRAILER WAS LEVEL WITH NO MODIFICATION TO TRAILER BALL HEIGHT

2) ON THE ROAD TO MAGGIE VALLEY. STOPPED TO WATCH THE WHITE WATER RAFTERS. THEY YELLED, "LOVE YOUR TRUCK!" AND I YELLED BACK, "LOVE YOUR RAFT!" WE ALL LAUGHED

3) TYPICAL ROAD THERE

4) START OF A RIDE ONE MORNING. MY RED SCOOTER IS IN FRONT

5) 318 TURNS IN 11 MILES!

6) STOP FOR A PICTURE BREAK

7) MY VIEW FROM THE SADDLE

8) THIS IS BETTER THAN A VALIUM!

9) PURE BEAUTY

10) WHEELS OF TIME MUSEUM - A MUST SEE IN MAGGIE VALLEY!

 

[Marc NY]

Great Ride!

Hey John,

Looks like an awesome time you had and thanks for sharing those great photos too! :thumbs So tell us how did Ms Daisy handle her new duties when she was towing your bike around?

 

[big-daddy]

Wow!

You Sir, Are my hero!
I want to be just like you when (if) I grow up :thumbs

 

[FUZZY]

Wonderful shots

Terrific photos Buffy,

Sure glad someone had good weather for a cruise this past weekend.

 

[dohyatt]

Great Smokie Mountian area is a great place to ride Beautiful scenery and nice twisty roads Great in a topdown SSr or on a Harley(or the other brands)

 

[wildcat66]

Beautiful pictures, looks like great weather, and nice bikes.

 

[Buffy]

Hey John,

So tell us how did Ms Daisy handle her new duties when she was towing your bike around?

I know that we've all heard this before, but other than seeing the trailer in my mirror, I didn't even know it was back there! Up and down hills were no match for the power of Miss Daisy. (I sure am glad I used the Predator on it BEFORE the trip. LOTS of low end torque!)

With the weight of the trailer and scooter weighing it at about 1,750 lbs and a bedfull of clothes and tools adding about 500 more, no cooling problem at all!

Again, I was pleasently surprised that the trailer ball was the proper height for this trailer.

End or report!

 

[Scheide]

Beautiful for a change of pace! Thanks for sharing the photo's with us. Did your SSR run hot at times??? Scheide

 

[crazyrtr53]

Great Pic's

Hey John
Thanks for sharing those pic's looks like great weather and great times. Life doesn't get any better than that :thumbs So tell me Buffy with a beautiful RED Harley why did you take the second choice color on a SSR. :glol :glol :glol

:seeya Tony

 

[Buffy]

Hey John
So tell me Buffy with a beautiful RED Harley why did you take the second choice color on a SSR. :glol :glol :glol

:seeya Tony

Ooooo! That'll leave a mark!

All of my vehicles are red, so the wife finally put her foot down and wanted the yellow one.

Now please don't throw stones at me, but if I had to replace this one, I'd get another Yellow one. That color looks good in any lighting, any weather, day or night! Love that color now! But I will admit, not all cars look good yellow, but the SSR pulls it off well!

 

[kwhopper89]

Now please don't throw stones at me, but if I had to replace this one, I'd get another Yellow one. That color looks good in any lighting, any weather, day or night! Love that color now! But I will admit, not all cars look good yellow, but the SSR pulls it off well!

You are so correct! Slingshot is perfect for the SSR - it's much harder to spot SSR's of other colors while driving!

NICE photos - looks like a GREAT ride too...

 

[living2be]

Comments?

Hey Buffy.....so tell us, what did all your Harley friends think about "Miss Daisy"?

 

[RickSSR]

Cool Pictures!!

Are going to paint your trailer to match the SSR? :flag

RickSSR :cool

 

[Buffy]

Hey Buffy.....so tell us, what did all your Harley friends think about "Miss Daisy"?

It was funny to watch Harley riders walking past $100K choppers to see my $30K truck! Needless to say, I was voted "Best Tow Vehicle" even though most riders HATE trailers! (It was the only SSR there too!)

I must say, it really was an ego boost............

 

[Peaches]

Beautiful pictures! I needed that this morning. . . . :thumbs

 

[thatrhinoguy]

John,

I couldn't go to Maggie Valley. I did get the CVO tour @ the Harley plant yesterday. Wish you could have been there. They are building Yellow SEEG2s and Silver Fat Boys now. I didn’t ride due to a poor weather forecast, drove “the purple truck”. When MrsCVO saw me in my SSR said she saw you in Maggie Valley. What name are you using on FLHRSEI.ORG.?


thatrhinoguy

 

[Buffy]

John,

I couldn't go to Maggie Valley. I did get the CVO tour @ the Harley plant yesterday. Wish you could have been there. They are building Yellow SEEG2s and Silver Fat Boys now. I didn’t ride due to a poor weather forecast, drove “the purple truck”. When MrsCVO saw me in my SSR said she saw you in Maggie Valley. What name are you using on FLHRSEI.ORG.?


thatrhinoguy

I'm using BUFFY there too!

 

[thatrhinoguy]

I know I don't read every thread, but don't think I've seen any of your posts there. It is a small world, and I guess great minds think alike.

 

[Diggs]

I love the mountains!!

The wife and I rode the Tail last fall. We rent a cabin near Gatlinburg for a week each fall. We rode the Fat Boy and trailer (see my signature) the last couple of years but are planning to take Eeyore this fall. The Tail should be just as much fun this year for us. Maybe we should pull the little trailer behind us again...

Diggs

 

[JimGnitecki]

Buffy: I figured out why you didn't have a hitch height problem like the rest of us normally do. It was the tongue weight.

When I haul my lightweight carbon fiber / alloy bike (weighs only 400 lb even with fuel), on its aluminum trailer (trailer weighs 200lb), I am hauling 600 lb and I have measured the tongue weight as being only about 50 lb. That's 8% of the trailer weight, and that's actually too low from an emergency stability point of view. 10% to 15% tongue weight is more appropriate, but I have no way of altering mine, as the bike is already up against the front rail of the trailer, and the spare tire is hung on the tongue.

Your bike and trailer weighed 1750 ln you said, AND you had 500 lb in the bed of the SSR. U-Haul trailers, for safety reasons, place at LEAST 15% of the weight on the hitch (more is stabler), so you had at least 265 lb of tongue weight, PLUS 500 lb in the bed = 765 lb of downward force on the back of the truck.

GM engineers must have allowed for the fact that the SSR's load capacity being relatively low, the trailer ball height IS depressed quite a bit under load. THAT's how you got a pretty level configuration.

With my lightweight 50 lb on the tongue, my stock hitch height is way too high!

Looks like anybody else planning to pull trailers regularly needs to allow for this.

The hitch extension that John Lehmann (see his thread on it) made for me has an interesting characteristic when I look at the way he built it: I can have a ball mounted on the extension, 4 or 5 inches below my stock ball height AND I can simultaneously have a ball at the stock height by using a standard U-Haul ball & post screw to attach the extension to the stock hitch, instead of using the bolt and nut that John provided.

That may be the best of all worlds.

Jim G