In Spain they are anecdotal but motorcycle trailers are quite common among North American and Central European motorcyclists. The reason must be found in a very different philosophy of what it means to travel by motorcycle. While in our country -probably due to a milder climate and because for decades the motorcycles available were not very powerful- the priority is to carry as little luggage as possible, in these cultures it is exactly the opposite and the trailer allows for an enormous capacity burden. It is not a thing of now; the famous BMW R-75 of the Wehermacht -key pieces in the German “Blitzkrieg” during World War II- already pulled heavy trailers loaded with ammunition.
In any case, motorcycle trailers continue to attract enormous attention on our roads, so the question immediately arises: are they legal in Spain? Well, the answer is yes, although nuances must be made.
For many years and until two decades ago, motorcycle trailers were absolutely prohibited for locals to circulate in Spain. Royal Decree 2822/1998 regarding the General Vehicle Regulations still specified that “in any case, motorcycles and three-wheeled vehicles may not tow any trailer or semi-trailer.”
The reality, however, was that despite being prohibited, they used to turn a blind eye to the handful of tourists who crossed the border on the handlebars of a motorcycle with a trailer and in the worst case they were forced to take out insurance. hoc if they didn’t already have it included.
The situation was clearly anomalous and discriminatory with the rest of Europe, so another decree law, 1428/2003, tried to bring some order and fully legalized the use of the motorbike-trailer in its article 12: “motorcycles, three-wheeler vehicles, wheels, mopeds and cycles and bicycles may tow a trailer or semi-trailer, provided that they do not exceed 50 percent of the empty mass of the towing vehicle”.
The same decree specified the three inexcusable conditions that had to be met when hitting the road:
Although the aforementioned decree 1428/2003 solved the essentials – it legalized the use of the motor trailer with the conditions provided – it added to its text a last section that could generate confusion for potential Spanish users: “In urban traffic, the provisions of the corresponding municipal ordinances.
In other words; Taking a motorcycle with a trailer on the road is legal as long as the aforementioned weight, speed, visibility and load requirements are met. However, it may not be by city if so established by the corresponding City Council.
The truth is that, under normal circumstances, there is usually no problem on the part of the large town halls with the circulation of these “oversize” motorcycles, but it is advisable -in any case- to inquire about it if you plan to cross smaller urban centers or during dates high traffic density specials.
After the legalization of the use of the trailer, another Royal Decree – the 866/2010 of July 2 – and later the EU Regulation 168/2013 tried to regulate the technical issues related to the hitch. Both texts made it very clear that the assembly of one of these “balls” is considered a major structural reform of the motorcycle and according to the Vehicle Reform Manual in its section 10.3, this requires a conformity report, final work certification , technical project, workshop certificate, technical description of the anchors and the points to review in the Vehicle Technical Inspection (ITV) once the reform has been carried out.
The result of such bureaucratic gibberish is that, to this day, in our country there is no approved motorcycle-trailer hitch because neither those responsible for the ITV nor the potential manufacturers do not consider that the small number of clients justifies the enormous administrative work which represents homologating one of these gadgets.
So the Spanish motorcyclist who wishes to install a “hitch ball” on his machine will have no choice but to go to specialized tuners in France, Belgium or Germany. The good news is that the European approvals of the hitches from those countries are perfectly valid throughout the EU, so they are 100% legal in ours.
