Monogo Trailer Hitch

Several people have asked me if the Monogo uses a standard hitch and/or how the hitch for the Silver Wing is made. To answer those questions, I prepared this page.

Note: Any photo below can be clicked for a larger version. To allow as much detail as possible, I left the photos very large so, if you don't have a fast connection, it may take a bit to download the photos.

The hitch for the Silver Wing was fabricated by Michel Vachon, the man who also builds the Monogo trailers. Michel had recently made a hitch for Jeff Barnes, another Silver Wing owner so, Michel was able to use the knowledge gained in building Jeff's hitch when  he made mine. Even so, Michel worked on the hitch for 8 hours with interruptions from employees and customers. I estimate he spent at least 4 hours working only on the hitch. He had some pieces pre-cut, needed drilling and grinding equipment to construct others and did the final assembly with MIG welding equipment. Not a project for your casual garage mechanic.

The first thing Michel did was verify that the scoot had 2 hangers under the rear fender. I believe these hangers are used for strapping the bike down during shipment. He found the hangers and set out to construct some parts to use the hangers as attachment points for the hitch. He took a hole bit and cut 2 round pieces, each about the diameter of a quarter,  from some metal stock and then enlarged the middle hole. He then welded these inside the hangers.

  Here's a picture of the metal piece welded into the hanger under the rear fender. In this fender you also see a piece of the hitch bolted to the hanger. The hitch tucks under the fender and out the side.

Once these hangers were ready, Michel took some straight stock and began working on the left arm of the hitch. (Left as you are sitting on the bike.) Apparently when he made Jeff's hitch he found that an arm straight back would not provide ample clearance. The Swing's suspension moves quite a bit and the drive belt area struck the hitch arm. He had to re-make Jeff's hitch arm, so, he knew how to avoid this problem on mine.

There is a portion of the motor mount that has an extra hole in it. Michel used this hole to bolt the front of the arm of the hitch. You can see the bolt in the left part of this picture.   

You can then see that instead of one long arm to the back, Michel cut the arm, welded another piece to the top of the arm, ran that back for a bit and then welded another piece to the bottom of the extension. This allows the Swing suspension to move and clear the hitch. Not so easily seen is the fact that the left arm must also be bent in towards the wheel so it can clear the shock absorber.

Here's another photo of the left arm.

Once Michel had the left arm complete, he began working on the right arm. The right arm was a bit easier since he was able to use the muffler bolt on area for the front connection of the arm. However, there was considerable more bending required on the right than the left arm so that the arm could clear both the shock absorber and the muffler.

Here's a photo of the right arm.     This photo also shows a good deal of the back of the hitch and how it works.

Once both the right and left arms were completed, Michel used a jig he had constructed that holds both arms in the proper horizontal plane. While they were held in place, he cut small pieces of metal stock and bolted them to the hangers under the fender. He then measured, bent and cut them to the exact size and shape so they would provide support for the hitch. Once they were perfect, he tack welded them in place. After that was complete, he took the final cross member (shown in the above photo, the piece behind the fender), measured and cut it so it would center perfectly on the bike and tack welded it into place.

After all the pieces were fabricated and tack welded, Michel removed the hitch from the bike, performed all the final welding, sanded and painted the hitch and replaced it on the scoot. 

  Here's another photo of the back of the hitch. Notice how the hitch allows movement 2 ways. The piece bolted under the cross member, while fairly tight, still allows side to side movement of the trailer. The piece connected to the trailer, secured with a metal pin, allows up and down movement of the trailer. (Note there is no hitch pin in the photo. It fell out on the ride and I will have to find a way to keep this from happening again.)

As you can see, this trailer would not connect to a ball hitch. If the ball of the hitch is removed the resulting hole is too big to accept the piece currently bolted under the cross member. However, Michel advises that he has made a metal sleeve that will take up the extra room, thus allowing the use of a Monogo if a biker already has a ball hitch installed.

That's about it! Hope you enjoyed.

Ride Safe

DOC