Easylifter Hydralift help (1 Viewer)

[crossy]

We currently have a Burstner 726 2016 and I’m trying to decide the best way to take a Suzuki Burgman 400 (215kg) with us on our trips away.

My dilemma is ,do I buy a trailer/side loader trailer to tow behind the van or do I buy an Easylifter Hydra lift with the two wheels behind ?..

Pros and cons required please?...

Trailer / Side-loader


Pros
Cheaper to purchase £300.00 +
Lots to choose from
I will be able to tow a larger / heavier bike if required

Cons
Firstly I’ve never towed and I’ve heard that the smaller the trailer, the harder it is to tow?? If I got the side loader from Armitage trailers , which look great buy the way, it may be difficult to manage especially when reversing.

Storage of the trailer, I’ve limited space available

Ease of getting the bike on the trailer????
————————————————

Easy-lifter
Pros
Looks easy to fit and easier to load the bike onto the van
Storage is better, smaller and lighter to shift around
Easier to reverse where required
Cons
Expensive to purchase £1400.00
Not able to use without a vehicle being carried and attached
Risk of twisting the chassis upon heavy braking

———————————————————

I’ve spoken to the guy from Easylifter and he’s said that the tow bar will need to be strengthened with box sections if it’s onky a two bar tow bar. He said the reason fit this is that under heavy braking the weight shifts forward and could twist the tow bar .

This in turn could shift the chassis

Could those who already have one of these please give me their opinion and expirences with both set ups ?..

Your help would be appreciated please.

 

[StitchesnFluff]

We get on well with our hydra easylifter and carry a Honda forza 300 at 195kg. We use the lifter mechanism and a ramp (well my wife does nearly all of it!) and no problems so far. We’ve covered a few thousand miles with it. They sent the box section that bolts onto the chassis after tow bar removed.

 

[crossy]

Thanks for that info. If you have any photos of the towbar structure could you send them to me please ? How do you find it over the bumps and when reversing??

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[StitchesnFluff]

Both fine, just need to be aware and slow down for ‘bumps’ etc.
We have a reversing camera that helps.
I don’t have any pics but can do so.

 

[zac]

We currently have a Burstner 726 2016 and I’m trying to decide the best way to take a Suzuki Burgman 400 (215kg) with us on our trips away.

My dilemma is ,do I buy a trailer/side loader trailer to tow behind the van or do I buy an Easylifter Hydra lift with the two wheels behind ?..

Pros and cons required please?...

Trailer / Side-loader


Pros
Cheaper to purchase £300.00 +
Lots to choose from
I will be able to tow a larger / heavier bike if required

Cons
Firstly I’ve never towed and I’ve heard that the smaller the trailer, the harder it is to tow?? If I got the side loader from Armitage trailers , which look great buy the way, it may be difficult to manage especially when reversing.

Storage of the trailer, I’ve limited space available

Ease of getting the bike on the trailer????
————————————————

Easy-lifter
Pros
Looks easy to fit and easier to load the bike onto the van
Storage is better, smaller and lighter to shift around
Easier to reverse where required
Cons
Expensive to purchase £1400.00
Not able to use without a vehicle being carried and attached
Risk of twisting the chassis upon heavy braking

———————————————————

I’ve spoken to the guy from Easylifter and he’s said that the tow bar will need to be strengthened with box sections if it’s onky a two bar tow bar. He said the reason fit this is that under heavy braking the weight shifts forward and could twist the tow bar .

This in turn could shift the chassis

Could those who already have one of these please give me their opinion and expirences with both set ups ?..

Your help would be appreciated please.

Make sure you do strengthen the Towbar as when I had one it twisted my Towbar twice. Once it was strengthened it was ok but on the standard detachable ones they are really flimsy. I sold mine as not got a bike anymore but it was easy to use. I purchased a ramp to save keep lowering the bike as believe it or not this can be a pain. It is far easier than a trailer but it is a lot of money to fork out. They are still quite heavy though if like me you only connected it when using it. We did a few thousand miles on ours with no issues aside from the Towbar twisting when we got home. My MH had a long overhang as well and this could cause some grounding coming out of certain fuel stations with the HydraTrail on the back. Once it did I knew what to look for so avoided it.

 

[Silver-Fox]

Having towed a short bike trailer behind a car and the issues I had trying to reverse it. There is no way I would have a short trailer behind a 6 or 7 m MoHo.

There very often is a hydra for sale on here or eBay

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[tuscancouple]

We tow a trailer with our Harleys on behind the RV when we travel. When towing there's no problem going forwards the art is reversing. With a trailer our size it's visible in the mirrors so easy to manoeuvre in reverse, with a smaller trailer that cannot be seen it's a nightmare! Best to just un hook and push.

Another con with the easy lifter is that you'll take a least the weight of the bike and easy lifter off your motorhome payload, if you have spare capacity then no problem.

Enjoy the riding!

Mick

 

[crossy]

Cheers for that. The guy from Easylifter said that the wheels can take 500kg which would be good as I’ve not got loads of payload to play with really.
Like you said, going forward will be ok, it’s reversing that will cause me problems.
Thanks for the info

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

Another con with the easy lifter is that you'll take a least the weight of the bike and easy lifter off your motorhome payload, if you have spare capacity then no problem.

Why would the entire weight of bike and Easylifter Hydratrail be taken off the motorhome payload? Surely the 2 caster wheels on the Hydratrail carries a large percentage of the weight?

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[TheTwoOfUs]

I've had both a Hyratrail and short sideways loading trailer and while I was happy with the Hydratrail when used with the Frankia the Dethleffs wouldn't cope with the weight and it wouldn't lift the scooter (260kg) off the ground. So I changed to the sideways scooter which with the help of the reversing camera I find easy to reverse.
One advantage of the sideways trailer is that it can be uncoupled with the scooter still on it and manoeuvered manually.

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

Personally I think the design of the Hydra lifter is flawed due to the lever stresses it places on the mounting arms. Far too many cases of bent towbars that were perfectly strong enough originally needing strengthening?
What sort of strain is then passed onto the vehicle chassis extensions?
A trailer is half or a quarter of the price and works properly without modifications to the towing vehicle.

 

[MikeD]

We had a hydra trail and toured around Spain quite a lot during the four years we had it.

Mine never broke but a friends did so I did strengthen it.

Around 80% of the load of the hydra trail and motor bike are taken on the caster wheels. I do not understand some of the comments as the jacking mechanism takes the weight of the bike etc not the motor home when you are lifting it to fit the caster wheels and the only loss of payload should be the 20% of the bike etc.

On a trailer you would have a tow ball nose weight so I expect the loss of payload would be the same for both.

We never bent or buckled our tow bar but have heard some have.

Cons for me was ease of reversing and compact regarding length. Just extra length on the ferry.

Negatives - you need flat ground the jack up to remove the caster wheels, if it is up and down a bit the length of jack travel may not be sufficient to lift it high enough to do this.
My motor home had about 90 inches behind the rear wheels, add another 40/50 inches of hydra trail you have a significant amount of swing at the back end. As a hedge in Salamanca can testify.
It's a trailer on the Chunnel.

They hold their price well once second hand. Buy one off eBay and I suspect if you do not like it and want to sell you will get your money back.

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[tacr2man]

I have a Burgman 400 that I carry on a easylifter (Hydratrail without the wheels) on my RV . First thing it needs to be a similar size vehicle to carry in this way . The Hydratrail will handle a burgman no probs , with the caveats in above post ,particularly when jacking use the support leg ! the big pro is reversing as it basically is a just a tag axle chassis extension , so you just reverse as normal. The thing with a trailer , especially if you go for sideways loading is it is by nature short , and being as the prime mover is long makes it a pita to reverse, even with rev camera.
The best is a long bike trailer , both for towing stability , and also
when you come to reverse. The problem is that it gets more expensive on ferry , and also for storage and on sites/aires.

 

[Nasher]

Problem solved:

But seriously, if you are going down the trailer route, I can recommend Dave Cooper trailers. I had the 2 + 1 model - designed to carry 2 but can be used for one. Link here: http://www.davecooper.co.uk/trailers/trailers-for-bikes

 

[crossy]

Lots of good stuff here guys thank you. Very interesting !

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[Gina M]

Hi Crossy
Just been browsing the threads on Easy lifter hydratrail
We have one and it is brand new never used apart from driving back from easylifter and we have a spare wheel as well.
We are looking for 1200

 

[crossy]

Thanks for the offer. I’m getting a towbar fitted tomorrow and will decide what to do for the best tomorrow.
I’ve seen that they are £1295-00 new and would like the 12 month warranty for this price, £1200.00 seems a high amount to be honest. I will keep you updated and will get in toouch should we want to buy yours.
Thanks a lot

 

[Gina M]

No problem we also have the connection that needs to be fixed to the towbar and it has been kept in the garage since we bought it

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[crossy]

Thanks for the update. I’m hoping to decide which way to go today and will send you a message. Thanks again
Phil

 

[Senojnivek]

Hi Crossy
Just been browsing the threads on Easy lifter hydratrail
We have one and it is brand new never used apart from driving back from easylifter and we have a spare wheel as well.
We are looking for 1200

 

[Senojnivek]

Did you still have your hydra trail?
Kind regards
Kevin

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[crossy]

Sorry. It we sold the Hydratrail last year.

 

[noni]

We get on well with our hydra easylifter and carry a Honda forza 300 at 195kg. We use the lifter mechanism and a ramp (well my wife does nearly all of it!) and no problems so far. We’ve covered a few thousand miles with it. They sent the box section that bolts onto the chassis after tow bar removed.

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

We may have one to sell in mid/late September if our new van purchase doesn't fall out of bed, will post in classified section if selling.

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[noni]

i did not intend to ignore this info hit the wrong key 1000 apoligise

 

[NewboyNB]

I think people are confusing the Easy Lifter - all weight on vehicle

With the Easy Lifter Hydra Trail - where weight is mainly on trailer wheels

 

[The1Hutch]

I have just purchased the easy lifter non-lift scooter rack. Delivered in multiple parts and no instructions. Does anyone have instructions or experience on the assembly?

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[RedFrame]

We use a Motolug, excellent bit of kit, solves the storage issue and comes with EU certificate of compliance, which I understand the Hydra does not.

Cheers
Red

 

[denisejoe]

We use a Motolug, excellent bit of kit, solves the storage issue and comes with EU certificate of compliance, which I understand the Hydra does not.

Cheers
Red

But a pain to reverse

 

[RedFrame]

But a pain to reverse

Not had any issues so far...

Cheers
Red.

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