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Does this hitch carrier seem legit or TGTBT?

10K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  pwr2wh8 
#1 ·
#3 ·
It might be hard to use if the spacing between those pegs is too large for the Grom wheels, otherwise it seems normal price. The discountramps ones are questionable build quality too, I have one of their expensive tilting ones and they welded some of the parts in the wrong direction so I had to do some work to get it working right. Harbor freight has a $200ish folding trailer that I've seen a lot of guys use and most of them are happy with it. If I had to do it over I might go with that and a wheel chock.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I have a Harbor Freight trailer and that thing has worked great for a couple years now, and I've taken some long trips with it. I don't have the folding one though, I have the smaller one, but with the 12" wheels option, and then bought a motorcycle rail, bolted it down, and it's been flawless ever since. I replaced 6 of their bolts with eye bolts for tie down points. It weighs less than 200 lbs so I don't even feel it behind my little Ford Focus haha.

EDIT: then I went back to Harbor Freight and bought a $100 electric hoist so I can hang it from the ceiling in my garage when not in use and it doesn't take up floor space. It's so light I don't think I have to worry about it falling. I think I paid $150 for trailer from Amazon and $85 from motorcycle rail. Best cheap ass trailer ever haha.
 
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#5 ·
I have both a Harbor Freight trailer with their wheel chock, as well as their $90 hitch carrier.

One thing I like about the hitch carrier is that parking is not an issue. You also eliminate all of the potential hassles with tires and wheels (flats/bearing failures). Carrying the bike does reduce the mileage about 5 mpg.

The hitch carrier is aluminum, with a steel mounting plate and is not nearly as heavy as all steel racks. I adapted it to a 1-1/4 inch receiver and removed about 6 inches of the offset from the bumper. It works fine on my 2016 Prius, although it's close to the bumper (but the Grom is small). It's a bit wider than the car, so I plan to trim the ends to fit the Grom. Also, the front wheel is held in place by a clamp, which has marked the rims in a couple of places. I might put a wheel chock on it.

I did add lights and a license plate bracket as well to keep the Po Po happy.
 
#6 ·
How did you modify the hitch carrier for 1 1/4"? I was going to do it the other way, modify my hitch to a 2", but if it's easier to modify the carrier, I'll do that haha. You have any pictures of how you modified it?
 
#10 ·
I bought the receiver adapter for $10 on sale, at Harbor Freight (Hitch Adapter - 2" Adapter for 1-1/4" Hitches).

A picture really wouldn't help much. The adapter adds about 7 inches to the length of the receiver. I just cut that much off the "stinger" that fits into the receiver and drilled a new hole. Later, I chopped off another 4 inches to get the bike closer to the car, trimmed off the ends so the rack was the same width as the car, and then removed the front tire clamp and added a front tire chock (Economy Motorcycle Wheel Chock) to make it easy to load the bike in one motion.

On my car, the motorcycle's extended rear fender hides one of the rear light fixtures. I could modify the bike by eliminating the fender, but I don't want to paint my back with dirt when I am riding. So I put a full light kit on the rack's ramp, with a system to quickly remove it for loading/unloading the bike. The ramp fits on the back of the rack, and is a great mini "cargo rack" for carrying my EZ-Up.
 
#11 ·
I bought the receiver adapter for $10 on sale, at Harbor Freight (Hitch Adapter - 2" Adapter for 1-1/4" Hitches).

A picture really wouldn't help much. The adapter adds about 7 inches to the length of the receiver. I just cut that much off the "stinger" that fits into the receiver and drilled a new hole. Later, I chopped off another 4 inches to get the bike closer to the car, trimmed off the ends so the rack was the same width as the car, and then removed the front tire clamp and added a front tire chock (Economy Motorcycle Wheel Chock) to make it easy to load the bike in one motion.

On my car, the motorcycle's extended rear fender hides one of the rear light fixtures. I could modify the bike by eliminating the fender, but I don't want to paint my back with dirt when I am riding. So I put a full light kit on the rack's ramp, with a system to quickly remove it for loading/unloading the bike. The ramp fits on the back of the rack, and is a great mini "cargo rack" for carrying my EZ-Up.
Is it wobbly? I bought a hitch carrier, but like you, I have a 1 1/4" on my car. I bought a HF 2 to 1 1/4" adapter, and put everything on car and then pushed Grom onto it just to see. I took some measurements and I can cut 12" off. I'd probably only do 11", just in case my measurements were a little off. I haven't cut anything off yet though. Just seemed so wobbly. I think the HF adapter has too much slop in it. One of these days I might cut it to fit, then take it down and see if the adapter can be welded on, fill in the slop, etc.
 
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