Modern Vespa

I'd like to build a trailer for the GTS250. What I have in mind is something with a gross weight of roughly 100 pounds, probably made mostly of aluminum for a net weight of half that. I'm thinking of a single wheel with an articulated hitch. What puzzles me is whether there are good attachment points to the body and also the physical questions of a high mounting point versus a low mounting point.

Thanks for any comments, even negative ones are welcome!

magoo

I'm getting trailer hitches in stock for GT/GTS.

Trailer hitch to tow something behind the GTS or car/truck hitch?

Something like this?

This is a PAV trailer made in the Czech Republic, don't think they make them anymore and are sought after by scooter enthusiasts.

Don't know how you'd go making a hitching point on a GTS, it would look
absolutely fantastic if you could make it work!

Yes, something like the PAV. There are a couple around town here, one hitches low to the rear of a Lambretta (not high like the one pictured) and I forget how the other one hitches, haven't seen it in a while. There is also a Bella (German scoot from the 1950's, 4-stroker, IIRC something like 200 cc's) that has its own similar trailer, not the Czech model, but is similar in that it is a one-wheeler. The owner of the Bella tells me it doesn't track very well at higher speeds, say 80 kph.

From what I've seen of bicycle trailers, the ones with the lower hitches seem to track better, however I wonder if this is part illusion since those also attach more or less to the rear axle which would seem impractical for the GTS.

The two kinds of scoot trailers I mentioned seem to have a weight of something more than 50 pounds as they seem to be mostly made of steel.

Hello Magoo,

Take a look at the thread: "small trailer to pull behind a vespa" in the 'for sale' forum. There are links in it to a couple of possible ideas you could follow up on.

My trailer project is on hold 'til early spring when my broken scapula heals up.

Feel free to badger the 'scooter media' folks - the more people who hound them about their trailers, the more likely (I would hope!) that they will consider selling them to the public.

Desi B.

Hey Vespa Burlington,

Please divulge more info - enquiring minds (or at least my slightly addled one), want to know more!

Desi B.

If you want to do something really, really cool. Make one with a lidded collapsible metal box that works like this:



To be even cooler, use wooden or bamboo slats so that it can be used for bulky or oddly shaped objects when collapsed.



For serious, how cool would that be? Especially if it looked something like a mini Airstream with beautiful hardwood slats.

Last edited by Bryce-O-Rama on Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:10 pm; edited 1 time in total

Here are some links you might find interesting. My favorite is the first link. That is a French Canadian site, although it is bilingual. If you look at the specs for the small model I think it would fit very nicely behind a GTS. Click the bottom left button on the log-in page to access the high speed site.

The second link is for a trailer design that facinates me and the idea could be adapted/shrunk to work with a Vespa as well, although I doubt it would have the same appeal to the eye as a PAV style trailer.

Uni-go Trailers were originally built in New Zealand, but are now produced in Texas.

Link number 4 has info on single wheel trailers old and new for cars, bikes and scooters from around the world.

I have also found some good ideas by studying single wheel bicycle trailers.

Dave

http://www.cyclope2000.com/

http://www.eaglematetrailers.com/

http://www.uni-go-trailers.com/

http://www.singlewheel.com/

I like your second idea Bryce,

I was already thinking of doing something with a 'stake bed' but adding some airstream styling would be awesome!

Speaking of - I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Bisbee, AZ over the weekend called the SHADY DELL. It consists entirely of restored 50's travel trailers (mostly airstreams), a 50's bus, and even a 50's power cruiser boat.

Loads of fun if you are ever in the area (it would be a nice place for a scooter too....)

Desi B.

I saw Shady Dell on the travel channel at one point. Definitely wanted to go there at some point.

I decided to visualize my idea for a trailer to share with all of you. It's pretty rough, but you can see how the metal part expands and collapses like those crates. When in the collapsed position the wooden slats can hold in just anything you could fit in there. I've based it around a P series wheel, which means easy tire changes, and many tire options. It's a steel fframe, powder coated red (just because). All the shiny metal is aluminum and the only woodgrain I have that shows up will is walnut. I'd probably use something else for a real one.

And the back end isn't likely to stay the way it is. I'm cooking up something that's a bit more reminiscent of a Lambretta LD.











Minus the hitch, it's about 3'8" long. With the case fully expanded it is almost 3' tall, and it's 20.5" at its widest point.

By the way, this is a good illustration of how the case expands and contracts.

Bryce,

What are your thoughts regarding the suspension for something like what you have designed?

It seems that maybe a cut down/salvaged fork might work?

I like your concept overall!

Desi B.

That's a good idea. I was basically thinking of doing an upright with two links and a shock and spring. It's simple, effective, and would be inexpensive to build. However, if you had a Vespa fork on hand, it would work pretty well if fixed in place.Thanks. It's obviously missing a lot of details like rear lights and the like, but overall it gives an idea of shape, size, and proportion. There are several tweaks I'd like to make though.

One of these days, I think I'll actually attempt making something like this.

Ah...the illusive Vespa Trailer!
I was thinking of doing one in wood. Quicker to prototype, and certainly strong enough. I did a bike trailer once using two wooden crutches. One trailer wheel ran inside each crutch, replacinig the "hand hold" with an axle. It worked very well.

Anyway...recently there was mention of Vespa billboard trailers. I think here in San Francisco, though I haven't seen one yet. There were pictures. So, somebody has definitely created a Vespa trailer attachment.

It would be nice to have a GT or GTS junker to try some ideas on.

Keep chatting...it's interesting.

Russ in Mountain View

Yeah, I could spend all my time talking about this trailer project!

From a design standpoint, I am really interested in doing a trailing arm suspension similar to both of these:

www.rackandroll.com or www.sportsrig.com

For wheels, I am trying to decide whether to do 12" rims so that all the tires on the scooter and trailer are the same size (meaning 1 spare for trips) or to go with heavy-duty wheelchair styled wheels with high-speed bearings. Not sure yet....

I just purchased a spool gun for my welder so I will be able to do some aluminum welding and I think I have a place locally that can 'roll' sheet aluminum into curves for me so I am looking forward to playing around with all of the possibilities that are out there.

I am waiting to get my GTS before I even begin to worry about designing a hitch for it - although Vespa Burlington mentioned they may be selling hitches soon!?

Ultimately I want to create two trailers, a go-to-work stakebed capable of hauling a couple hundred pounds of stuff on a stable two wheeled platform, and then a smaller (maybe one wheeled) travelling trailer similar to what Bryce looks to be designing that could be fully enclosed/weather proof.

Desi B.

The suspension I'm considering would be like that, except it would use two arms instead of one. They would be parallel and the wheel would move up and down more than fore and aft.Your GTS doesn't use the same size tire front and rear. Nor is the wheel the same. You won't have a spare. Honestly, I used the P series wheel because it's small, tires are widely available, and it would be so easy to change a flat tire if needed.Complicated curves are expensive. Alternatively, you could have your tubing bent and then just use thin sheet metal to attach to it. It should be flexible enough to follow the curvature of your tubes.Yeah, I read that. Very interesting indeed.Good luck to you on that.

I found a reason to resurrect this thread. Someone built their own single wheel moto trailer using a Honda Elite or Helix 250 front end for the rear wheel assembly. A little inspirational material for those with the DIY spirit.

Interesting...

I like the simplicity and sturdiness of the hitch design. Something like this could sway me in the direction of a single wheeled trailer instead of a double wheeled one.

Desi B.

Sorry, but I think you need a GoldWing.

(aka a 'Hondabago')

I too am interested in trailers. The uni-whatever is cool, but at $2,200.... Too rich for my blood. Crystal had one on her girlbike site that I'm sure you can search for. It was for a Honda Metropolitan and the guy hauled firewood in it. It looked like it was an accessory for a lawn tractor, had a high hitch. The attachment point could be a rear rack. I'll go look and see if I can track it down.

Ok, here's the link:
http://girlbike.com/2006/01/13/diy-lap-apron/

Other than firewood for which i have no use, no one has actually mentioned what they would carry in this fascinating engineering whimsy?

Just more stuff that won't fit on your scooter.

Anything to big for the topcase, and small enough to avoid driving the cage?

What about saddlebags? Seems like they'd be much easier to live with.

The MONOGO:
http://monogo.com/Anglais/laRemorque/description.php

And the Uni-Go were my personal favourites:
http://www.uni-go.com/

Thread in the Classifieds Forum on this subject:
http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic5316.html

Although these are store bought trailers...
You might get an idea on how to build one from the above links.
The MONOGO looks like a "Car Topper" that has been modified.




Dave

I am interested in getting a trailer for golf clubs for my vespa GTS 250. Where would I go to bet one?

This might be a bit big but....:

http://www.eaglematetrailers.com/products.htm