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[Dan_Lockwood]

Okay, I have my Bushtec hidden hitch installed and my 1-7/8" ball mounted... 

But I've got the standard hard mounted ball hitch on my trailer tongue.  I've seen drawings and ads for the swivel hitches that allow for more twist between the bike and the trailer.

Who's running standard, non-swivel, trailer tongues?

I realize that if I went down, there's no way that the standard non-swivel tongue hitch not put a tremendous bind on the tongue and bike mounted hitch.



Just wondering what the general consensus on standard tongue hitches versus the swivel (rotating) kits out there.

[JCZ]

Dan I can't speak for others but I've been accused a time or two of being an aggressive rider.  You've probably seen some of the photos that I've posted where the bike is leaned over to the point the floor board is dragging but the trailer is upright.  I don't think that would work well (and even if it did, would put a hell of a lot of stress on the ball itself) with a rigid mount ball without some kind of swivel.

The whole thing is, you might not find out where your limit lean is until it's to late.  Jusayinzall

[JCZ]

Just a thought.....you may be able to buy the tongue from Bushtec with the heim joint already installed and incorporate it to your trailer.  There is a lot to be said for those heim joints wether it's a 5 ton trailer being pulled with a 6 by (Marine Corps days) or a lightweight Bushtec being pulled by a motorcycle.  Any kind of trailer would benefit from the heim joint and captured ball vs. the standard rigid ball.  And.....the bonus is that you don't have the "slop" in the captured ball that you have in the standard rigid ball. 

[Dan_Lockwood]

Just a thought.....you may be able to buy the tongue from Bushtec with the heim joint already installed and incorporate it to your trailer.  There is a lot to be said for those heim joints wether it's a 5 ton trailer being pulled with a 6 by (Marine Corps days) or a lightweight Bushtec being pulled by a motorcycle.  Any kind of trailer would benefit from the heim joint and captured ball vs. the standard rigid ball.  And.....the bonus is that you don't have the "slop" in the captured ball that you have in the standard rigid ball. 

I appreciate you insight and experience on this matter.

Even a heim joint will have limits.  So in the case of the Bushtec, "IF" you went down, it would hit its limits and bind, correct?

Do you have any close up pics of the Bushtec heim joint attached and un-attached?  Just curious.

With the Bushtec heim joint hitch, do you have to use wrenches to connect/disconnect the trailer?

Again, being a newbe to trailers, I greatly appreciate letting me ask some probably common knowledge questions.  I look forward to using it on the way to ES.

Just one last question, I've been told that tongue weight is in the 50 to 60 lbs range.  Is this a good rule of thumb?  More? Less?

Thanks again... 

[Twolanerider]

Dan,

The American Eagle trailer I got last year has that swivel adapter on it.  I've used the Bushtec hitch that was already on the bike but with a newly purchased ball rather than pin insert for the hitch.  The swivel piece on the trailer works great.  Go for it.


Don

[danner55]

Dan,

 I also have 1 on my American Legend Trailer.

It works great! Worth the money!

Danner

[MIKEYTEE]

I have a 1 7/8 ball hitch and coupler. I don't use a swivel adapter and it works fine, just make sure the coupler nut is tight and use loctite. It even survived the wreck on I 40 last year. 
Mike
 

[Chains]

Bushtec trailer Heim joint is not a fixed joint relying just on the swivel of the ball.  The entire Heim joint is set up to swivel 360 degrees.  In essence you could pull your bushtec on its top not for long though.

[Rooster]

I once knew of a guy that had veered to the right and his trailer ended up flipping upside down on its top he didn't drop the bike so he figured the swivel hitch saved him on that occasion. I still don't know how he kept the bike up. Only damage was to the top of the trailer so I would call him lucky.

[Dan_Lockwood]

I once knew of a guy that had veered to the right and his trailer ended up flipping upside down on its top he didn't drop the bike so he figured the swivel hitch saved him on that occasion. I still don't know how he kept the bike up. Only damage was to the top of the trailer so I would call him lucky.

I would also call him very lucky...

Like Mikey said, he went down with his HF trailer last May on his way to ES and didn't tip the trailer.  He was/is running a NON swivel standard 1-7/8" ball hitch.  So as long as I keep the shiny side up, I don't think I'll be doing any knee scraping with the wife and trailer hooked up.