Continued from Testimonial Page

The trailer was built like a tank, with great attention to detail throughout. In a quick survey, I noted that it was not only securely attached to the palette with plenty of metal strapping, but that the end of the wiring harness was zip-tied to a retaining pin just to keep it from flopping around during shipment. Other over-the-top touches included fender mounts of 1/4" steel suitable for standing on, with anti-skid pads chamfered at the corners to prevent peel-up, a plastic skid plate on the loading gate, and a rectangular support for loading, to prevent any pressure being put on the trailer hitch. Fasteners were all of great quality, with secure retaining pins.

The trailer mount was definitely a non-standard design, consisting of a captive swiveling pin that mounted directly to the trailer hitch tongue. No trailer ball is used. This is a conscious choice of the designer, to improve stability.

I adjusted the neato front tire capture thing (the "Condor Chock", a patented device that's evidently been OEM sourced and included with every Stinger trailer) to the middle position, and with a small prayer to the gods of verticality, wheeled my bike up onto the rail while walking beside it.

This was surprisingly easy, until I got to the chock. To get the tire up into the chock, a bit of momentum and oomph was required. Still, it was straight-forward and very controllable. The chock grabbed the front tire, and the weight of the bike held it in place. Surprisingly, I was able to (gingerly) release the bike, and have it remain upright purely because of the capture device.

After checking all the ratchets for tightness, I shook the bike from side to side. It felt like it was glued to the trailer.

I raised the loading gate, inserted the final pin, and removed that rectangular loading support thingy.

After procuring a chase car with wife, I took the whole assembly for a spin. After about a mile of city streets, I pulled over and checked the tie downs. No problems. A couple more miles, and then an onramp and some freeway speeds. Not a single problem. Other than the rearview mirror view, I could barely tell that the trailer was attached to the Subaru (which is not known for its pulling capacity).

We looped back to the house, and I backed the trailer into our carport with only a couple attempts. Trailer backing is an art, and (though I know the tricks conceptually) I need some practice.

In a few minutes, I'd removed the tie downs, unloaded the bike, folded the trailer, and slid both into the garage. Sweet. It's a wonderful thing to discover new, superlative products!

This Testimonial is in a personal blog and is edited for space.
If you want to see the entire blog entry click here.