Round trip to Acme PA
Sat Dec 3, 2022
(~1113 miles (caged))

Moto-camping has long been a joint goals for Char and I in getting (back) into motorcycle riding. As a 2-up couple, we’ve gotten pretty familiar with how much stuff we can take with us for a long riding weekend, or even a week or more on the road (not much difference, actually). But the camping aspect adds just that little bit more gear that we can’t fit on our well-laden ST1300. A tent, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, cooking gear, food, etc. All of that needed to be conveyed along with our standard cargo of tools, supplies, and clothing for various temperatures and weather.

For a while, camping plans were put on hold as we explored the possibility of riding separate motorcycles, providing more than adequate capacity for all the necessary gear.  Once Char made the decision to limit her motorcycling touring activities to the pillion seat, it became clear that the answer we’re seeking lies in getting a trailer to tow behind the bike. I quickly became attracted to the single-wheel models by companies like Uni-Go and Third Wheel Trailers. These models don’t  seem overly weighty and would still allow some sportier riding in the curves while traveling to our destinations. I researched everything I could about these brands (and some others), pros and cons, and put the word out with friend and on a few online forums that I was looking for one of these cool add-ons.

Uni-Go trailers were manufactured in New Zealand before the firm moved to the US in the late oughts. Despite making a unique and well-received product line, they now appear to be a company standing on it’s last leg. They were apparently bought up by a large fiberglass firm in Jacksonville FL, who has allowed the brand to gradually wither on the vine. Searches on forums resulted in increasing reports in recent years of non-responsiveness and quality control issues. Buying new from them didn’t really seem possible or at least not a good option any more. I confirmed this suspicion after speaking to “Uni-Go Bill”, an older gentleman in Texas who ran Texas Trailers, at one time the only third-party dealer for Uni-Go. He’s now mostly retired but still a good source of information on one-wheel trailers if you can get a hold of him.

Uni-Go also sold custom-made hitches for various model bikes to pull their trailers. Their ST1300 hitch model is regarded as a solid piece of kit, if you can find one, since the company has discontinued making them. Apparently the four-point attachment to the bike creates a stiffer and more desirable connection for the one-wheel trailer models. I played quite a bit of phone tag with one of the engineers at Uni-Go (the only person I could get on the phone at any point) to see if they could still get one built, but it turned out to be a dead end.

Third Wheel is a Canadian company actively producing a more functional one-wheel trailer design that is also very appealing, though they don’t manufacture hitches. I started keeping my eye out for a used model from either brand, while also looking for one of the ST-specific Uni-Go hitches. I figured if I ended up finding a hitch first, I’d bite the bullet and buy a new trailer from Third Wheel when I was ready. I had a promising lead on a Uni-Go ST hitch package in New Jersey that fell through after several months of waiting.

In early December I spotted an ad on a trailering Facebook group for a like-new Uni-Go trailer in western Pennsylvania. I immediately responded and the poster put me in touch with his neighbor Jake, who was the seller but is not on social media. He turned out to be a friendly guy who rides casually as time allows and had bought the trailer for the occasional longer trip. He’d only taken the Uni-Go on one journey behind his Harley, so it was essentially unused, although several years old. These trailers when selling new, started for around $3500, and the asking price here was $1000 – pretty much a no-brainer. After asking him several questions about the history and condition and getting a feel for his genuine desire to sell, I decided right then that I’d be making a trip to Acme PA to pick it up ASAP!

This was a Friday night. The seller had to work third shift over the weekend, but agreed to meet me at his house on Sunday afternoon after he got home from his long work commute. Since I do not yet have a hitch, I’d be making this run in our car it to haul the trailer back home (it’s small enough to fit in a hatchback). The plan I formulated was to leave home around 0600 on Sunday in order to get to Jake’s house at the agreed hour, conduct the business of the sale, and then turn around and drive all the way back home in time to catch some sleep and get up for work on Monday morning.

So I got a decent night’s sleep the next evening and departed from the house on time, in our compact 2010 Honda Fit. It’s a surprisingly capable, economic, and comfortable (if noisy) car. I have a beaded seat liner for comfort that works really well for long hours at the wheel. I felt like I was forgetting something since I didn’t have to gear myself up and triple-check a bunch of stuff like for a long bike trip. Pretty much just grab my bag, slip on comfortable shoes and clothing, hop in the car, and hit the road! Weird!

Since it was early on Sunday and traffic should be light, I followed the I-95 corridor down out of New England, using the I-287 loop around the NYC area to pick up I-78 westbound. There were some steady rainstorms throughout Connecticut, New York and well across of Pennsylvania, but I just turned on the wipers. Hah!

Despite the conveniences, I don’t particularly enjoy long car trips, but with the total distance being close to 1100 miles, I made up my mind to treat it like a timed Saddlesore ride, with a tight schedule. So what that I could relax a bit more and enjoy a bit of luxury in not worrying as much about critters, road debris, or the hundred other factors that keep your instincts busy riding a motorcycle long distances? I grabbed a quick breakfast sandwich at the Milford CT service plaza, taking it to eat in the car. My first fuel stop was in Lebanon PA.

 

I’d queued up a long audiobook of Stephen King’s latest novel in my Kindle app for this trip, and that did a good job of keeping my mind occupied and off the monotony of the interstates. The hours passed quickly and I was emerging on the other side of the inclement weather into cooler elevations of western Pennsylvania before I knew it. Taking the exit off I-70 into Donegal, I’d made good time and still had time to kill before meeting Jake at his house. I Yelp’d a local restaurant called Brady’s that looked like a good bet to cool my heels for an hour or so.

Being in Pennsylvania, I felt obligated to have a cheesesteak sammy, which was tasty and came with steak fries. This seemed like the homey type of place that might have fresh made pie… sure enough, the waitress was happy to bring me a nice little slice of blueberry with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a cup of coffee. Yum!

I was just a few miles from the seller’s house, so I finished up my meal and headed out shortly before the agreed on time. I marveled at the scenic and curvy back roads of this area as I followed Google Maps to his house. After seeing the trailer was as-promised and in good shape, we shot the shit while he showed me some of the antique cars he works on in his spare time. Just one of the reasons he doesn’t ride all that much and doesn’t need the trailer.

Regarding the Uni-Go, everything was completely in order and I couldn’t believe how spotless it was. He explained that he had had to do some fiberglass work to it after receiving it brand new from the company with the tail light portion being crooked. This jibed with some of the accounts I’d read online about the manufacturer’s fall in quality in the most recent years.

After forking over the money, we carefully loaded the trailer into the Honda Fit’s roomy rear hatch area with the seats down. He also gave me a couple of custom-shaped bags for packing the trailer as well as a few hitch adaptersn that I may or may not use.

Now it was time to shoot back home the same way I got here. So after a final handshake, I headed out. It was already getting dimmer by the time I hit the interstate again, close to 16:30 and headed east. The ride home was uneventful and pretty light on traffic due to the late hour. The audiobook kept me zoned out until I pulled in to the driveway just before midnight.

The next morning, I was able to survey our new prize, noticing a couple new scrapes on the fiberglass. Those were my fault for not securing the trailer well within the car for the journey, but very minor and cosmetic.

For now the trailer will sit in our garage, waiting until I’m able to locate and install a workable hitch solution for the ST. I’m hoping the wiring will be fairly straightforward and the lights all functional when the time comes. We’re hoping to get it rolling sometime in late 2023 and get out for some camping, but there are a few other trips coming up in the pipeline to deal with first.