Need info on hauling

[Ricochet]

going to pick up a bike sat morning and have never hauled one before... will be in a truck.. what will be the best way to tie bike down.... rope? bungee? tie downs? any info appreciated..

Or if anyone is interested in hauling for me just let me know

[Bad324]

take someone with you who knows what they are doing. Unless you were joking about rope and bungees but it appears you're quite new to this so its always helpful to have someone who knows what they are doing to learn from in person in my experiences. There is a thread somewhere from like a month ago where this topic was discussed but I'm too lazy to find it

[Bubba]

Rope is a defiinite 'No!' Bungee won't work--too stretchy--unless we're talking a bicycle. Get yourself at least two decent quality tie-downs. As far as the hard part, loading a bike into the back of a truck is the hardest part. You'll need at least one sturdy ramp that's at least 7-8' long and preferably, a raised area that you can back up to so as to minimize the angle of the ramp. Another swell idea is to use a tie-down to attach the ramp to the truck so the ramp doesn't scoot off the tailgate when you're unloading. And if you want to see why it REALLY matters....well, YouTube is full of videos of painful and expensive bike loading FAIL.

Best advice is to get yourself another body to assist.

[conn-e-rot]

Get your self a set of 4 ratchet straps and some strap extensions you use the extensions to wrap around bike frame or whatever you hook to so the hook on the strap does not touch the bike. If you have a tractor supply near you they stock everything you need at decent prices. Stand bike straight up never ever tie down bike on kick stand. Tie it down enough to support but don't crank it down to where you bottom the suspension out. The hardest part is going to be getting it in and out of the truck.

[conn-e-rot]

You could just get a uhaul motorcycle trailer or maybe someone on here is close by and will hook you up with a trailer.

[Moto-Brian]

Tie down to the bars or the triple clamps. Do not tie to the frame or anything off the front end. Typically, we tie down to the bars when in a truck. As mentioned, soft ties as they are called are a great investment. They allow you to avoid the hooks directly to the metal. Plus, they also allow another pivot point of sorts and an extension.

Stick with traditional or ratchet tie downs. Ratchet is cool, but I hate them as often times, newer guys ratchet down too much and really stress the forks and front... But, they won't back off...

Few thoughts... Make sure to pull down and forward front the top. Hence the triples or bars. Also, make sure the hook at the bottom where you attach to the bed has the hook opening facing forward. Reason being is IF something gets somewhat loose, the bike will travel up and down a bit. If the hook opening is facing backwards, it COULD drop enough that it could unhook. Seen it happen once. That was enough for me...

That's all you need. Two tie downs and two soft ties. Pretty simple.

[Steve Butters]

^ agree with this....i see people strap bikes in all kinds of funky ways, but i always just use two straps on the bars and be done with it...never dropped a bike (except once, using non ratchet straps...it wasnt quite tight enough and the bike fell over....luckily it was just a dirt bike so no damage....as much as i hate ratchet straps, they are worlds better than regular straps)

[MidgetTodd]

Canyon Dancers or PitBull TRS. / thread. There is no better way.

[madcat6183]

Tie down to the bars or the triple clamps. Do not tie to the frame or anything off the front end. Typically, we tie down to the bars when in a truck. As mentioned, soft ties as they are called are a great investment. They allow you to avoid the hooks directly to the metal. Plus, they also allow another pivot point of sorts and an extension.

Stick with traditional or ratchet tie downs. Ratchet is cool, but I hate them as often times, newer guys ratchet down too much and really stress the forks and front... But, they won't back off...

Few thoughts... Make sure to pull down and forward front the top. Hence the triples or bars. Also, make sure the hook at the bottom where you attach to the bed has the hook opening facing forward. Reason being is IF something gets somewhat loose, the bike will travel up and down a bit. If the hook opening is facing backwards, it COULD drop enough that it could unhook. Seen it happen once. That was enough for me...

That's all you need. Two tie downs and two soft ties. Pretty simple.

Yeah this is key don't over tighten the forks too much, I hate seeing that and then the bike moves like 4 inches when they release.

[Steve Butters]

Yeah this is key don't over tighten the forks too much, I hate seeing that and then the bike moves like 4 inches when they release.

yea...i knew a guy who used to crank them down as tight as he could with non racheting straps....needless to say he went through fork seals like crazy

[Moto-Brian]

Canyon Dancers or PitBull TRS. / thread. There is no better way.

DO NOT USE CANYON DANCERS!!!! They will tear the shit out of your grips and actually PULL the grips inward which can cause the throttle grip to become cruise control. I see guys at the track and you can tell they use CD as they are always pulling on their grips to get them back where they should be.

The Pitbull TRS is awesome for sure. But, for a pick up, they are somewhat tough to suggest as I think for what trucks are used for, they make it tough to use the bed for other things or to change the position of the bike, etc...

But, stay away from CDs!! If you want something similar, these are the ones you want to avoid everything the CDs provide... http://www.cyclecynch.com/

Also, if you get into a trailer option and haul with one, get the ancors to allow you to strap at the bottom of the forks above the axles. We haul the bikes at this point to allow the bike to use it's suspension vs being pulled down. It's rough on the bike overall to pull down on them as many do over the course of time. A few times here and there? Nah. But, you haul like we do and have expensive suspension components, you should tie down like we do or get the Pitbull system...

[Bad324]

DO NOT USE CANYON DANCERS!!!! They will tear the shit out of your grips and actually PULL the grips inward which can cause the throttle grip to become cruise control. I see guys at the track and you can tell they use CD as they are always pulling on their grips to get them back where they should be.

I have to say I half disagree. The original Canyon Dancer I could absolutely see that happening but I've used my Canyon Dancer II a ton of times on several different bikes and haven't run across that issue

[MidgetTodd]

I use the new style Canyon Dancers with the hard cups on them and wrap a rag around the grip so there is no movement. The cup rides in the bar end instead of the grip that way. Have never had a problem

[conn-e-rot]

what makes the cycle cynch that much better?

[vf1000ride]

The other thing to worry about with Canyon Dancers is that over time they will stress your bars and the bar itself will snap off. All of the force is loaded right on the handlebars. A buddy of mine had that happen to him last fall on the trip down to Barber for a track day. Half way there the whole deal came loose when one of his bars snapped right at the clip-on.

[MidgetTodd]

I'd say your buddy strapped it down way too tight

[Coyote]

Pickup truck? Just lay the bike on it's side and close the gate--No need to strap it down that way.

[Bad324]

I'd say your buddy strapped it down way too tight

this

Admittedly, I bent my Heli-bar last year loading the bike in the enclosed trailer for the first time out of pure stupidity and lack of paying attention

[Ricochet]

Thanks for info... Hopefully I can find someone to go with me.. I am leaving around 5 in morning. Its about a 3 hrs drive. Hopefully I can find a truck to use also. I was just going to ride it to a friends house but not sure about the weather and would rather just get it home first.

[Moto-Brian]

I have to say I half disagree. The original Canyon Dancer I could absolutely see that happening but I've used my Canyon Dancer II a ton of times on several different bikes and haven't run across that issue

That's because they literally copied Cycle Synch'd design. Yes, CD II works WAY better... But, they copied and CS is the original guys that had that idea...

[Moto-Brian]

The other thing to worry about with Canyon Dancers is that over time they will stress your bars and the bar itself will snap off. All of the force is loaded right on the handlebars. A buddy of mine had that happen to him last fall on the trip down to Barber for a track day. Half way there the whole deal came loose when one of his bars snapped right at the clip-on.

No way, dude... There was an issue with his bar. The load on the bars isn't that much. They would bend before they snapped and have NEVER seen that in the years of racing, working at shops and hauling literally thousands of times...

[SAMBUSA]

Front wheel chock. Soft ties on passenger rearsets to ratchet straps pulling forward.

[vf1000ride]

No way, dude... There was an issue with his bar. The load on the bars isn't that much. They would bend before they snapped and have NEVER seen that in the years of racing, working at shops and hauling literally thousands of times...

It's possible it was an issue with the bar. His bike spends a lot of time strapped into a trailer going to track days and the such. No clue how many times he had it tied down with the CD's but it obviously stress's the bars in an unnatural way. I'm thinking any bars would eventually be damaged by strapping it down that way. My bike was next to his on the trailer when his bar broke so I got to see it first hand and neither bike was strapped down excessively tight. Made for an interesting time trying to figure out how to get his bike tied down again after the fact.

[Moto-Brian]

It's possible it was an issue with the bar. His bike spends a lot of time strapped into a trailer going to track days and the such. No clue how many times he had it tied down with the CD's but it obviously stress's the bars in an unnatural way. I'm thinking any bars would eventually be damaged by strapping it down that way. My bike was next to his on the trailer when his bar broke so I got to see it first hand and neither bike was strapped down excessively tight. Made for an interesting time trying to figure out how to get his bike tied down again after the fact.

Again, I have hauled numerous bikes via standard tie downs looped through and using the bars. Doesn't do anything. I promise you that there had to be an issue to snap a bar. No way... The loads you put on the bars under heavy breaking are more constant and heavy pressure...

He was doing it wrong. Also, if he has suspension done on his bike and is doing a bunch of track days, he needs to either get the Pitbull system or do the fork bottom tie down method vs what he was or is doing...