sknhgy 

I am looking for the easiest way of securing a bike to a trailer. I have a simple Harbor Freight trailer. Right now I've got one of those clamps that holds the frame upright by clamping to the front axel. Wish I could dispense with the hassle of removing the front wheel. I'd like to just lay the bike down on it's side and maybe hold it there with velcro. I can make a metal or wooden fixture. Just wondering if anyone has already done the brainwork and they could save me that trouble. (I would be hauling the bike without the storage bin on there.) Thanks.

soyabean

Why bother, the scrap recyclers in my town just pile them up.

Ironfish653

Laying the bike flat would be my least desirable option, especially on an open -frame trailer like that.
what you've got is both pretty simple and secure, other than having to stow the front wheel separately.

To avoid removing the wheel; I'd use one of those upright tray carriers, intended for a roof rack, and just bolt it straight to the trailer frame. No breaking down the bike, and load / unload is quick and pretty much toll-free
(RockyMounts Tomahawk shown, but there are literally dozens of similar)

rosefarts

What's your budget?

It wouldn't be very difficult to buy a rooftop tray that holds a complete bike and just bolt it on. Those are a couple hundred bucks new though.

Another option, browse facebook marketplace for a while, sometimes people sell or give away older hitch mounted tray style racks. Sometimes ones that have been rear ended so one tray is damaged and the other is fine. Something like that would be a great base to bolt to the trailer.

I assume you aren't taking the bike on long trips but you definitely want to be mindful so you don't create a projectile for other drivers.

Camilo

What you're doing now is in my opinion by far the best simple and inexpensive way to do it. It's the way I'd do it for sure. I've transported bikes in the back of my pickup and Suburban for hundreds of times over 20 years that way. Removing and replacing the front wheel will become second nature, a minute each way.

But as rosefarts said, for between $2-300 (or less - I've bought a couple used on CL and FB) you can get a roof top type rack that holds the bike without removing the front wheel. You could probably easily figure out how to bolt onto the trailer. I have two of those types - a Yakima Front Loader and a Yakima Raptor (I'm into the Yakima key system for several things so just stick with them - there's other, similar, good companies). They both work fine and should be easy to use on a low trailer like that; I'd probably recommend the less expensive one.

If you stick with what you have, you can get a locking fork mount for a bit of security. All the roof-type racks will have locking mechanisms of various types.

tempocyclist

I think your current solution is a very good one! Lying the bike down would be my very last option.

If you want to transport the bike without removing the wheel, as above I'd recommend sourcing a second-hand roof-top carrier or hitch-mount carrier, then modifying it to mount to your trailer. That'd likely work a treat.

Bmach

The only thing I can think that might help is to enclose under the bike to cut down on road dust or stones or anything else.

Pop N Wood

You can put a plywood floor on that trailer. From that pretty easy to make a wood holding fixture that screws to the decking. If you notice there are slots in the side rails for installing 2x4 uprights for sideboards. Put in upright 2x4's, screw hangers on the inboard side of that, then just hang the bikes like a rear rack, velcro strapping them in place.

Third option would be a center board with top tube hangers coming out of either side. Might make it easier to load and unload bikes. Wouldn't take much thought to make something that bolts in or is held with pins.

I have the folding 8' version of that same trailer. I put down decking and removable side and front/back rails. Can do pretty much anything from that.

BTW I like your current set up. But I would add the decking no matter what you do.

Another idea I built these wheel chocks from scrap plywood for my bike shed. Use screws and they can be custom built to fit each bike. Put a pair of these at the front, then strap the back of each bike to an upright 2x4.



Bike chocks in the bike shed

Calsun

What you have is mechanically very strong with the fork secured to the trailer. Clamping to a front wheel or top tube is going to have more bike wobble as you arive, especially with those small tires.

jpescatore

A few years ago I did the Seattle to Portland ride (I think it is this coming weekend) and I flew out and rented a bike from a Seattle bike shop who said they would deliver it to my hotel.

It arrived on this cool setup: