I understand that the tongue weight is set at 200lbs. However, my question is this...can I get away with having a dirt bike that weighs 253lbs(wet weight) and safely make it out to the desert?

The bike in question is a Yamaha tt-r230

 

can you?... SCIENCE DEMANDS ANSWERS! lol

 

Yes, as long as the tongue weight is under 200 lbs!

 

If you're asking:

"Can I hang 253 pounds off the hitch?"

This is a bad idea.

If you're asking:

"Can I use a trailer with a 253 pound bike on it?"

Yes, as long as the tongue weight and tow rating are not exceeded.

Tongue weight is an upper limit WITH A TRAILER. This assumes the trailer has wheels and takes the bulk of the dynamic load. The trailer wheels/suspension bear the brunt.

If you're talking about a bike rack or cargo carrier simply hanging off the hitch, then I would not approach tongue weight as dynamic load is borne by the hitch and mounts and can be especially stressful as the load distance from the hitch mount increases.

Now, all that said, people have overloaded their hitches with no ill effects. But it's a very bad idea and especially so if there are other vehicles around as you're putting THEM at risk. Don't be an a-hole.

If you want to be safe, don't overload your hitch.

 

Reading the above, my not-very-educated guess is that it's a bad idea. If you put a lot of weight behind the rear wheels you're taking weight off the front wheels. Which is where most of the braking power comes from. Do you want to decrease braking capability on a car that already doesn't have a very short stopping distance?

 

Actually, the majority of braking power comes from the front wheels because of weight transfer unloading the rear wheels- they could put larger brakes on the rear, but all it would do is lock them faster. Cars with better front/rear balance have proportionally larger rear brakes, I had an NSX before kids with rear brakes almost the same power as the fronts. Part of it comes from static balance, part comes from stiffer suspension limiting weight transfer.

I don't think the numbers are published anywhere for how much the weight transfer affects braking on the front axle vs the rear on the Fit, but it's entirely possible you wouldn't hurt braking much this way. Any benefit in balance would be offset by the increased energy the brakes are trying to dissipate, so I'm not claiming it would make braking better.

I'm thinking sneefy is on the right track, if you put too much load on the hitch it could fail and dump your cargo on the road.

 

Are you saying that extra weight in the rear doesn't matter because the front brakes are then trying to dissipate MORE energy? If so, I can be sure that's wrong. If there's more energy (weight times speed squared) then it will take longer to stop. And decreasing the front braking power (because if there's less weight on the front then the brakes can do even less work before skidding/ABS kicking in) makes it worse.

 

No, I'm saying that the weight distribution in stock form doesn't let the rear tires give a serious contribution to braking, and if the car had either a stiffer suspension (less weight transfer with reduced front end dive) or more even front/rear static balance, the car might be able to stop better. I've seen people relocate their batteries to the trunk for this with other cars, although it might be more to look cool than because they actually need it. Probably not worth it with a Fit, with such a small battery.

Loading up the rear axle will help static balance, but I'm sure it will hurt braking more than it helps because of the excess weight. The thing is, unless you're putting the hitch weight _way_ out behind the car, I don't think it will really take significant weight off the front. I know it's behind the rear axle by default, but it's probably not a long extension.

In the end, we're in agreement that it's a net negative for performance. I'm more concerned about a structural failure, though. One big bump in the road and who knows what could happen?