I had a 2006 Stinger single bike trailer, and now have a 2012 Kendon dual bike stand up trailer. I tow these with my 2002 Honda CR-V with its 2.4L 4 cylinder engine.
The Stinger flexed a little bit, especially with a heavier bike such as a Honda ST1300, and while a little unsettling at first, that is just the nature of how it is designed and not a problem in any way. When towed empty, it rattles a lot and is difficulty to see from the drivers seat, but fits in the back of most larger vehicles and inside my CR-V if I unbolted the axle (only 6 bolts and I would do this if going more than a few miles empty). The trailer is very light at around 150 lbs, must be unfolded to tow, and has a funky receiver instead of a ball mount, but it worked perfectly at the CR-V receiver height. Towed wonderfully when loaded, an aside for a motorcycle in your rear view mirror, you hardly notice the bike is there. Super easy to load, even solo, due to the low ride height and well designed wheel chock. The Stinger is narrow and has a low ride height so be mindful when straddling debris in the road and potholes as the trailer wheels are not going to be right behind your cars wheels. Bought used for $700, sold a couple years later for the same. Would scrape from the dip at the end of my driveway, so I always loaded and and unloaded the bikes from the street. Only sold when I needed a dual bike trailer, I would have kept this if I had more garage space as it is much easier to deal with for a single bike. Several trips in the 400 mile range each way, as well as local usage.
The Kendon dual bike trailer is heavier, at around 450lbs, than the Stinger was but the CR-V still tows it well with either 1 or 2 bikes loaded. Hitch height us much higher and I had to get a 4" rise ball mount to level the trailer. Tows well empty in the folded position. Spare tire mount is intended for storage only. Ramp storage is easily accessible when the tail is folded up, but awkward when unfolded. More difficult than the Stinger to move around on the ground and while I can bring it down from the stood up position by myself, my wife cannot, but she could unfold and hook up the Stinger with no problems. The higher ride height makes loading the bikes more cumbersome than the Stinger but not unreasonably so, even by myself. Wheel chocks are OK, but I don't trust them to hold the bike up while I attach the straps like I did with the Stinger. Trailer is wider than my CR-V. The Kendon's increased ride height handles the dip at the end my driveway without scraping.
I have towed my Brammo Empulse R with a rental U-Haul motorcycle trailer before I got the Stinger. The U-Haul is HEAVY and rattles like crazy when loaded and even more when empty. I did not like using the U-Haul, especially with my CR-V. Two bikes on the Kendon towed much better than one on the U-Haul.
If I only had a need for a single bike trailer, I would definitely prefer the Stinger over the Kendon. A friend who sometimes borrows my trailers prefers the Kendon, but he is towing with a full sized Chevy pickup.
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Topic: Trailers for towing a motorcycle (Read 1372 times)