Towing a Motorcycle

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I have a 1970 BMW R75/5 motorcycle.

I have seen devices to tow a motorcycle by holding up the front wheel with the rear wheel on the ground.

Any ideas about it?

2

Not the best way to tow a bike. It’s cheap and dirty. It puts unnecessary stress on the front suspension parts, not to mention wear on the rear wheel. If your bike has a drive shaft, (do BMW’s have drive shafts?) I would definately not do it. If you’re not going to ride the bike, get a proper trailer with a rails for front and rear wheel. A 1970 BMW deserves more respect than that. I rode Harleys for a long time. I would never have subjected my ride to this type of towing arrangement. Officially, the Hell’s Angels have rejected this form of towing a motorcycle. You should too.

3

I would not tow my bike that way.

4

I’d get a trailer for a beautiful bike like that. You might find a trailer on Craigslist.com if there are listings near you. All you need is a trailer that will handle 500#.

5

Those old BMWs had a transmission that had its own separate oil and everything was splash lubed just like a manual transmission in a car so it probably won’t hurt a old BMW transmission. Most modern Japanese bikes have transmissions that share the engine oil and if there is no oil pressure because the engine is off, there is no oil delivery to the transmission bearings and gears. Never tow those bikes on the rear wheel unless it’s just a short distance or you remove the chain.

You can probably buy a proper trailer for not a whole lot of money is you keep your eyes open.

6

I’d put it on a trailer or in the bed of a pickup. Towing it the way you describe does not seem like a great idea.

It may not hurt the bike, but why not just put it on a trailer? If you’re towing the BMW, towing a small trailer can’t be much more difficult, and it will reduce wear and tear on the bike.

7

It’s not the money. It’s the convenience. In the late 60’s I built a device to tow my wife’s 175 Honda for a vacation. It worked well. There was a couple of times that I disconnected the bike to back up. I didn’t have to worry about where to put a trailer. Of course it was an old beat up bike so I didn’t really worry too much about wear and tear on that bike.

I’ve had this one for 38 years now, so I’m much more concerned.