jerben Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 Need any suggestions, tips, experiences. It's a 1,000 mile trip and I'm a tad bit nervous. It has a batwing fairing, which may not help in tie down application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) Butt the front tire against the front of the bed, take the fairing off and tie off on each handle bar with a ratchet strap. Anchor the other ends into the front of the bed and crank down until the front end is about 50% compressed. Anchor two more straps to the square holes in the rear corners of the bed rail, tie off on either the back rim, swinger or frame, crank down until all straps are good and tight. Line bed with folded down cardboard boxes just in case. Edited March 27, 2012 by CrazySkullCrusher fucking autocorrect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerben Posted March 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 Had a feeling the fairing would have to come off. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobrat Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 Soft straps around the bottom triple tree, under the fairing, then hook tie downs to the soft straps. Fairing does not have to come off.Really consider a front wheel chock, lagged down to the pickup bed. With that and a good set of tie downs -- with the hog, I prefer to use the heavy duty ratcheting type -- the bike will stay put.Trick really is getting it in and out of the bed. Wide ramp, no holes big enough to step through(!). Get some elevation advantage like backing up to an opposite incline if you can find one convenient. Walk it up into the bed under power -- cover the brake(!). Back out with gravity, covering the brake. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max power Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) ^ this.DO NOT TIE DOWN BY THE HANDLEBARS. Cruiser bars are very wide and will bend if you try to crank them down with rachet straps.Tie it down by the bottom of the tree. Keep the bike vertical. I always see cruisers tied down on the kickstand. Not good.The hardest part is getting it in and out of the truck. Back up to a hill and have a helper and a good ramp. Don't try to use a 2x4 like Gump. Edited March 27, 2012 by max power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiomike Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 Soft straps around the bottom triple tree, under the fairing, then hook tie downs to the soft straps. Fairing does not have to come off.Really consider a front wheel chock, lagged down to the pickup bed. With that and a good set of tie downs -- with the hog, I prefer to use the heavy duty ratcheting type -- the bike will stay put.Trick really is getting it in and out of the bed. Wide ramp, no holes big enough to step through(!). Get some elevation advantage like backing up to an opposite incline if you can find one convenient. Walk it up into the bed under power -- cover the brake(!). Back out with gravity, covering the brake. Have fun!Yep, excellent advice here....^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 Without seeing the bike, I vote "cup style" canyon dancer. I don't care how wide the bars are, you shouldn't be compressing the suspension so much that the bars bend!You can make your own chock out of a bed-width sheet of plywood and some 2x4 scraps. For that long of a trip, it's worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiomike Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 We used to just throw a length of channel iron down in the bed to run the tire up into once the channel was bolted down. Then run hold downs (we used rope because ratchet straps were out of our league...lol) from the front frame on each side, to the stake holes in the front sides of the bed, and hold downs from the rear frame to the sides of the bed too. Snugged down you could get it to keep from moving pretty easy without having to compress the front forks or the rear shocks. I would make 400-500 mile trips like that with no issues. These chocks you find so common these days makes it a whole lot easier and more secure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 Soft straps around the bottom triple tree, under the fairing, then hook tie downs to the soft straps. Fairing does not have to come off.Really consider a front wheel chock, lagged down to the pickup bed. With that and a good set of tie downs -- with the hog, I prefer to use the heavy duty ratcheting type -- the bike will stay put.Trick really is getting it in and out of the bed. Wide ramp, no holes big enough to step through(!). Get some elevation advantage like backing up to an opposite incline if you can find one convenient. Walk it up into the bed under power -- cover the brake(!). Back out with gravity, covering the brake. Have fun!all this as everyone else has saidSince I have sportbikes I use a canyon dancer and well last year I discovered how easy it is to bend a god damn Heli-Bar with a ratchet strap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 The hardest part is getting it in and out of the truck.Straddle the front wheel facing the back of the bike. That allows you to see what is happening and you can control the decent of the bike with the front brake as you roll it down your ramp.And +1 for front wheel chock, or even a pair of 2x4's, one on each side of the front tire. Under heavy braking you do not want that front tire to turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron505 Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 ^ this.DO NOT TIE DOWN BY THE HANDLEBARS. Cruiser bars are very wide and will bend if you try to crank them down with rachet straps.Tie it down by the bottom of the tree. Keep the bike vertical. I always see cruisers tied down on the kickstand. Not good.The hardest part is getting it in and out of the truck. Back up to a hill and have a helper and a good ramp. Don't try to use a 2x4 like Gump.^YupHauled mine many of times. Now I have a trailer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedTriple44444 Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 As someone that has had a cruiser end up on the bed rail, make sure you get some kind of wheel chock in there to keep it from sliding sideways on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerben Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Any suggestions on where to buy a wheel chock?My ramp is pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerben Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Like this??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerben Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 or this?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 or this?? i have this one. If you don't plan on using it a ton it will serve your purposes good enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earache Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 i have this one. If you don't plan on using it a ton it will serve your purposes good enoughI have this one as well. I place it on a rubber mat in the bed of my truck - not bolted down at all and use tie downs with a cup style canyon dancer. The chock just keeps the wheel from turning and keeps the wheel from damaging the bed of the truck, (a wheel might bend the back of the bed if you tie it down too tightly). Get it at Harbor Freight for under $50 when it's on sale.Works great and I've hauled bikes all over the place with this set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conn-e-rot Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 harbor freight or northern tool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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