Can a motorbike tow a car?

Check out this article...

https://www.ama-cycle.org/features/2003/towbike.asp

Kind of neat actually, designed in Sweden, if a car is blocking traffic on a busy freeway can easily be driven to the vehicle.

Company website - www.comingthrough.se - with a neat two minute demonstration video clip.

[ 04-14-2004: Message edited by: Sherlock ]</p>

Thats interesting. Never seen anything quite like it before.

Cheers,
Walter

We could really use those around here! In the Hampton Roads VA area it always seems that cars only break down on bridges and in tunnels!

Well that Honda Gold Wing has 1800ccs, which is sufficient for the job. The machine must be awfully top-heavy without the tow gear deployed. Good idea though. I could see a Harley Davidson doing this job as well. Not as much top end as the Gold Wing, but the engine was designed to have much more torque, and at lower revs.

That may work for Europe and its smaller cars but I don't see a bike towing a Ford Expedition or the like here.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr> 78Z said: That may work for Europe and its smaller cars but I don't see a bike towing a Ford Expedition or the like here.
<hr></blockquote>

If ever used over here you could only use it on certain vehicles. But for a car that breaks down in traffic it certainly offers an interesting alternative. According to the website maximum towing weight is 2,500 kg (5,500 lbs).

I actually saw it first as a short story on the "Daily Planet" program on TV last night, then looked it up on the web. On the TV program, the designer of the "Retriever" said weight balance is critical. The current design has just the right balance and that any weight deviation would make the bike undriveable (when not towing a vehicle). He said he thought of the idea back when he was 5! (born engineer?) And that it took him 5 years to perfect the design.

[ 04-15-2004: Message edited by: Sherlock ]</p>

That is cool, I think it could actually handle the Expeditions, at least to get it out of the way. Or that new Triumph bike with the 2.1L or one of those Big Dog things with the V-8 could fit the bill.

4 guys could push an expedition on level ground for a couple of hundred yards, enough to get it out of the way, and guys in good shape put out less than 2 horsepower, and only over 1 horsepower for very short amounts of time.

Assuming the cradle could handle it, a motorcycle, especially a big one like a Gold Wing or larger Harley could easily get an Expidition class vehicle up to 15mph or more to get it out of the way. Stopping, however, would be where the fun is.

Hello Lawguy,
you hit it on the head, braking!!. I would guess you could design and build that rig in two weeks, but the remaining four years and 50 weeks in developing the trailer brakes to cope with the rig empty and with a variety of load weights seems exceptionally short.

Then there is the other factor of the trailer wagginging the tow cycle. Cars have a problem especially if the towed weight is a big percentage of the towing vehicle. Personally I wouldn't drive one.

Alec

Yep, I don't see this thing as a long or medium distance towing solution, but just for a few hundred yards to get it of a bridge, out of a tunnel or off the expressway and out of the way, perhaps. If the speed was kept at 10mph or below on level ground, and enough room were left...maybe it would work for even our bloated family vehicles over here (don't look at me, we have a minivan that gets almost 30 mpg).