Towing Motorcycle Trailer with Bike and Truck

Question:

I want to wire my trailer to pull behind my motorcycle and behind my truck how do I wire to work on both I wired up lites to trailer when pluged in to truck every thing works good except when I brake both amber and red come on and when I signal both lites plink. and when I hock up to my bike same thing except no tail lite and when I brake the tail lites and brake lits all come on

asked by: Dan W

Helpful Expert Reply:

If the lamps on the trailer are incandescent, I have a solution for you.

Trailers towed behind motorcycles are usually wired differently from those pulled behind vehicles. A motorcycle trailer will usually have separate turn signal and brake lamps, amber lenses over the turn signal bulbs or amber bulbs are the dead giveaway for this.

What you'll want to do is wire the trailer in such a way that it'll work when being towed by either vehicle. I'd use a vehicle to vehicle taillight converter, part # 118158 and be sure it's wired as shown in the diagram I've provided. You'd install a 4-pole trailer side connector like # 18004 on the trailer. On the motorcycle, you'd install a taillight converter like # C56175 on the bike. This will allow the trailer to work with either vehicle.

If the lamps are LED, I'd wire the trailer as shown in the FAQ article I've linked you to. Instead of having separate turn signals, use a single 3 function lamp on each side of the trailer. This would work fine when being towed by your truck, but you'd need to install the # C56175 converter on the motorcycle.