Print

[The Shed]

In the Eighties we would bump start the Transit and Sherpa Box vans back to back, and a Merc' 7.5 Tonner once. Pushing the fully laden van off the loading bay was always fun 🤔
The shout of 'All Drivers report to loading bay for Morning exercise' always raised a wry smile, and a groan.  😁
I once witnessed a Disco' 2, with soft A-bar, on Race day in York, push an Aston Martin into a garage !
I have also towed a Viva at 70 Mph with my SD1 V8. Friend in Viva most definitely not impressed. I was young and indestructible. And foolish !

[gatekrash]

I have also towed a Viva at 70 Mph with my SD1 V8. Friend in Viva most definitely not impressed. I was young and indestructible. And foolish !

I think back when were all a bit younger that sort of thing was par for the course!  I remember my brother towed me in my broken down mini with his Mk 4 Cortina down a dual carriageway at 70mph on a 6 foot rope, and when we got to the garage complained that I'd had my foot on the brake !

[martinthefirst]

I towed my mate on his broken down Norton Commando with my Triumph Bonneville during rush hour around the Elephant & Castle roundabout and down the Old Kent Rd en route to Penge. Only fell off once right outside Penge nick, when I stopped at the lights and he thought I was going through, rope got caught round his wheel.  A copper looked out & laughed as we picked his bike up .

[Worf]

In 1970's. mate of mine towed me home with his S2 on a 6ft tow rope. I had just bought a LHD 2CV. I was unable to see anything (or regulate his speed) apart from occasional glimpse of a parked vehicle when I tried looking up his inside (He still has S2 but 2CV is long gone)

[The Shed]

In 1970's. mate of mine towed me home with his S2 on a 6ft tow rope. I had just bought a LHD 2CV. I was unable to see anything (or regulate his speed) apart from occasional glimpse of a parked vehicle when I tried looking up his inside (He still has S2 but 2CV is long gone)

Towing a 'bike is always a fete 

Would all the electronic junk on modern vehicles permit it?

I have used this method a couple of times in vans to get me out of trouble.
In my own vehicle ? Only in an emergency.

[w3526602]

Towing a 'bike is always a fete 

Hi,

Did I read, possibly more than 60 years ago, that a motorcycle may tow a broken down motor cycle ... possibly only to a place of safety?
Google says a motorcycle MAY tow another motorcycle, but some differences from towing with a car, in the advice given.

602

[Porkscratching]

Didn't they used to sell funny little trailers for motorbikes at one time? ( to be towed by the bike I mean)

[w3526602]

....towed my mate on his broken down Norton Commando with my Triumph Bonneville during rush hour around the Elephant & Castle roundabout ...

Hi,

OT, but was there a huge stainless steel structure in the middle of that roundabout? My father made the press tool, out of Araldite, for making the panels. I think the structure has since been moved to another location.

602

[Wittsend]

Didn't they used to sell funny little trailers for motorbikes at one time? ( to be towed by the bike I mean)

Yes they did and still do ... you often see camping kit type trailers matched to the bike hooked on the back of the big touring biles, like Goldwings for example.

And there was a device made in Norfolk called a Side-Winder which was a license/cc buster that attached in place of a proper side car.
Subsequently the license laws for bikes have changed.


 

[Robin]

Yes they did and still do ... you often see camping kit type trailers matched to the bike hooked on the back of the big touring biles, like Goldwings for example.

And there was a device made in Norfolk called a Side-Winder which was a license/cc buster that attached in place of a proper side car.
Subsequently the license laws for bikes have changed.


 

Yep, going a little off topic, but we see a few of them at some of the shows we go to, especially weekend camps at steam/classic/historic vehicle shows.
There are even a couple of folding campers towed behind the bigger bikes, which we've seen a few times at shows.

I nearly bought a Sidewinder for my Honda 250 SuperDream back in the late 70s - at the time you could ride up to 250cc on a bike learner licence, but any size cc with a sidecar - the Sidewinder was classed as a sidecar, even though it was just a frame and wheel, and would tilt with the bike.
I went for my full bike licence instead in the end.

[Porkscratching]

I rode a mate's 650 "chair outfit" a few times on my provisional licence back in the 70s... you pretty much never got a tug from Mr Plod back then anyway :)

[w3526602]

Hi,

According to Barbara's Hyundai iX20 (1600cc, but looks like a 1100cc model) handbook, it can tow 750cc unbraked.

Who am I to argue?

Can manufactures change such specifications retrospectively? If YES, can they increase the maximum weights?  I have something in my mind (from the early 1970s) that unbraked? trailers were limited to two hundredweight (2cwt)

I have also read suggestions, more recently, that UK built (and other) 4x4s, imported from Japan (Google ALGYS AUTOS,  do not have VIN plates, so have zilch towing capacity. Is there any respective legislation over-riding such legislation for older vehicles.

602 

[diffwhine]

Morning 602,
A couple of points here.
Manufacturers cannot make retrospective changes to the vehicle specification due to homologation rules. Once homologated to a given market, that's it - no change permitted.
VIN plates. All vehicles built since 1979 must have the standard 17 digit VIN plate. It is a global standard which details the manufacturing country, model type, model year and so on. Japan is no different on this. If a vehicle has no VIN plate, it has no identity. No identity means a whole big can of worms.

The VIN plate itself will vary depending on the destination market, but does not have to state the towing capacity in most countries unless it is a specified requirement. What is usually mandatory on any VIN plate is the GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass) or individual axle weights. Information such as GTW (Gross Train Weight), Max Towing Capacity and draw bar max nose weight are not usually found cluttering up VIN plates. The reason for this is that so few passenger vehicles have a towing requirement. Tow packs are an option, not standard fit, so information is placed on the tow bar itself and in the owner's literature.

The UK rules on trailers for passenger vehicles is quite clear. The max you are allowed to tow as an unbraked trailer is 750kg. That said, that is the legal position. The position of individual manufacturers may differ and apply lower limits (or not permit towing at all). The issue now is that most modern vehicles have enhanced driver aids such as varying forms of stability controls. If you add a trailer, many vehicles now need to know a trailer is fitted to compensate for these systems. As this requires extensive and costly testing, you will find now that many vehicles don't have a tow bar option.

The moral of the story is to do the research and check the specifications of a given vehicle very carefully.

[Genem]

For a bit of levity, here is todays Recovery task, at the gate into our neighbours. Tourists saw the gate and decided to turn around....  I tried to Tirfor it straight back using a tree as an anchor but unusually the Tirfor didn't shift it. The answer was a 90 degree tug from Tonka. Instant success...

[oddjob]

What’s the Scottish word for numpties because you seem to get a lot of them visiting up there?