no road noise noticed, no affect in ride, no worries about said motorcycle.

Yet... Metal fatigue takes time.

For my application personally I will be towing a fairly small 4' x 8' trailer full of my stuff. At least 80 miles in each direction. So i'm def gonna end up going with the ECS OEM hitch with all the connectors. To each his/her own but the piece of mind of a tried and tested piece of OE equipment is worth the extra cash in my mind.

>XSX450 perhaps a better solution, especially with your aftermarket hitch, would be to get a small motorcycle trailer. I think even with the more robust factory hitch, you would be exceeding the recommended tongue weight with that bike carrier. A trailer big enough for a pair of dirt bikes would weigh very little; I'd bet you'd be well under 1,500lbs with two bikes mounted. And the tongue weight woud probably be very low; well within the recommendation.

Just so you know, if there is ever an accident, and that bike comes off and hurts someone or damages property, your insurance will scrutinize your hitch and load before paying any claim. Auto insurers are well know for backing out of massive claims due to overloaded trailers, exceeding vehicle towing recomendations, etc. A favorite out is a vehicle may be rated for 6,000 lbs, but the fine print, (which most owners ignore,) might say over 3,500 lbs you need a weight distribution hitch and electric trailer brakes.

Rust will beat you to it.

OP, the OE hitch is the way to go. Sounds like you know that. FWIW it is a b!tch to install. Plan on several hours....took me about twice as long as I thought it would. Have some cold cervezas waiting!

I've heard that about the install as well; pretty sure mine has been on since the car was new, and it's got a nice coating of rust on it. I'd like to pull it off sometime & refinish it, but there's that whole "several hours" business, which involves pulling off the bumper cap and all that.