9 Common Mistakes While Loading & Tying Down a Motorcycle | Motorcycle Training Series
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 พ.ค. 2024
- #loadingamotorcycle #tyingdownamotorcycle #motorcycletraining
︾ Hey Adventure Riders, welcome to RIDE Adventures. In our last 10 years of running tour operations around the world, we are pretty close now to seeing every single mistake ever made in the adventure motorcycle learning process.
So we've put together a motorcycle training series in order to help others with our knowledge that we've collectively put together. Here are the 9 mistakes while loading & tying down a motorcycle as well as what to do to avoid them.
Hope this helps and we'd love to see you out there. RIDE ON!
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get a second ramp to walk up next to the bike, makes it a lot easier specially if you have a tall truck, a tall bike and short legs!
Yea, and some company(s) out there are even making double/triple wide ramps. More to keep in space/storage, but a nice safety feature if you have the space. Thanks for sharing.
I use a set of atv ramps for this reason.
I am doing this tomorrow. So glad I watched this first!
Hope it goes well, and the riding is good : )
Great video. One extra tip: consider using three ramps to load your bike if you're on your own. One central ramp for the bike, one on each side to put your feet down if you need to ride the bike up. Make sure the angles are good and your bike won't bottom out and as old mate says in the video secure your ramps - all 3 of them. Cheers.
This is the way I do it also, very safe.
I like using the extra heavy duty endless RATCHET straps ( no hooks) sold by Sean at Bikes n Beards. I do not like friction straps.
They are guaranteed to loosen and are too weak in my opinion.
And be sure to watch his video on how to use them.
He ties down at the bottom of the fork tubes so that you do not compress the suspension.
Once you see this, it makes perfect sense and is the absolute best way to secure the bike.
Going to be towing for the first time in 40 years. Your video has been very helpful.its a 1000 mile journey I don't need any drama. Going to get some practice in before I go, it's mostly motorway so pretty much a straight line. You've helped me decide which straps I'm going to use.
Excellent, glad if the info helps.....hope the trip and the riding goes well!
excellent video. thank you so much
Really helpful tips thankyou
This was very helpful
Awesome, informative vid. Hope to see you out there. I'll be on the Indian FTR 1200 😉
Thank You! I never thought about the open hook potential issue! Hope I can get to the point where I make it look as easy as you! I will probably watch this again just before and just after I load my new bike in a couple of days.
I'm getting ready to this for the first time so I thought I would watch some vids to get some pointers. So far this is the best video with the most information I have found. Thanks
Glad if it was helpful!
Nice ! Love your videos!
Happy to hear that, thanks for the great feedback : )
I'm glad i saw this video. Thank you!!
Glad if it helps, thanks for watching and saying so.
Good stuff dawg.
Not as fun a topic as the bike reviews, but thanks : )
Thanks
Thank you. Very good info.
Thanks for the feedback!
Great info!! Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Super helpful tips, thank you for this important video!
Glad if it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
Thanks for the video. 2 other tips: Don’t transport the bike resting on its side-stand; it could crack the frame. Placing the front tire of the bike against the middle of the front wall of a pickup truck bed can bend the truck bed wall into the cab.
Bill, good ones! Yea, the sidestand also works against the "absorption factor" that can work in our favor. Thanks for sharing!
Many (most?) beds have slots where you can drop a 2x12 (or similar). In my AT4, the front slot is only a few inches from the bulkhead so you don't lose much bed space, but you can keep the bike from hitting the bulkhead. Add a couple pieces of angle iron and you have a front tire holder for only a few bucks.
@@BurtWeed, excellent info, had not noticed, there appears to be an indent on each side of the AT4 where a perfectly-cut 2x6 would drop-in. We've taco'd tailgates before, from an F800GS's rear wheel being on the gate, bouncing through Colombian roads (hence we now use 6.5 foot beds to put the rear wheel on the gate hinge point) but never had a bulkhead press forward. Can see where that's possible though. The 2x6 will put the rear wheel a smidge more onto the tailgate, but still close to the hinge. Should be okay. Thanks for sharing!
Yeah...I’m not doing any of that nonsense. I built myself an off-road trailer with a winch to pull the puppy up, a wheel chock/channel and a tie down track. Gold class transport 😎
Like those soft end straps. Need to get some.
The orange Rhino straps in the video are a great value, last time we price-checked. We'll add a link in the description soon.
Made that bike look light! Great video.
Thanks! 👍
I move ex Police bikes(mainly BMW RTPs, Yamaha FJRs and Kawasaki GTRs). with a 2 bike trailer and the higher you can strap on the bike(obviously without damaging the bike) the better . Turning moments are reduced and less stress placed on the bike's structure. You do not want the straps to be as tight as a 'piano string', but you need the bike to have a little movement on it's own suspension. I prefer wheel chocks that incorporate an 'over centre pivot' before the front wheel stop. I might add, that I have moved over 1400 bikes this way over period of more than 15 years.
That's a lotta bikes, and I can tell by the good points you made. The "higher you can strap" point is a good one, which was always weird with BMW's that have the telelever front suspension. If I'm not mistaken, BMW says in the manual to strap around the lower points on the triple clamp. So low. Weird.
Awesome tutorial, really helpful. I don’t think I would get the bike up alone though ;-)
Nice tips but I would only go with ratchet type straps. Not the open type you used for securing the rear wheel.
Good point
Great Vidoe
Thanks!
Second ramp to walk up, and 10.) don’t leave your side stand down while transporting.
We had a rider show up for training recently, having trailed his 390 Adventure to avoid a long highway haul. Yep, that sidestand was bent from bouncing on the trailer the whole time while strapped down. Bummer if we forgot to mention this in the video, but thanks for sharing, Glen. Good point.
Very good info, funnily enough Im going to Bend today to pick up a motorcycle lol. Glad I watched this first.
Welcome to Bend, and congrats on the bike! Thanks for the nice note.
Great tips here, also if the angle is too steep and no hills around I remove the tailgate and rest the ramps on the bumper
Good one. Thanks for sharing.
If you use open hook straps, then run a quality bungee between the eyes of the hooks to keep them in place in case of a serious bounce.
Your Tips are excellent plus covers basically EVERY scenario! I’ll be honest though, I have to transport a motorcycle in a couple of days, on my own, and now I’m petrified!!! 😱
Hope it went well, and that you weren't petrified. Good guidelines here that hopefully were part of your trip.
Timely. I am moving cross country shortly and will haul my sport tourer (700#) in the back of a Uhaul. It will be the last thing loaded and it will have to be tied down sideways. I am thinking about picking up a couple of Harbor Freight wheel chocks if I can mount them without damaging the truck.
Excellent, good luck. Those Rhino/Orange straps we used in the video are a great, great value last time we saw the price.
I picked up some heavy steel locking carabiners rated for 25kT (5,620 lbs.) to use through the eye just below the open hooks on my tie downs. I don't use the hook portion anymore. Noticed you were strapping on the fork tree. This will cause the forks to compress. Prefer to use soft straps aroung the lower fork legs so the suspension is free to move while towing.
Get a wheel chock. Best purchase you’ll ever make for your bike. Very informative video, thanks for putting the effort in to educate novices (like me)
Good idea, thanks for watching and the kind words : )
How do you use it? in the back of a rear wheel?
#10 Don't think that the center stand is strong enough to hold a bike during transport. I found out the hard way. Luckily I had some high side straps in the enclosed trailer, so that the RD200 only tipped and didn't damage anything other than the stand.
Thank you for this this Video. It shows me I made everything correct in the past? But! I use a trailer for long distance transport of my Africa twin (2017). Unfortunately the fork leaks after the transport. Even after the overhaul by 2 different Honda Dealers. At last I was told the fixation on the trailer causes the damage. What is your experience? The angle of the straps is about 45 degrees as I use a car trailer (2m width).
Jürgen, great question, for which the answer is tough to confirm. We've never noticed leaks specifically occurring after loading/transport (although, our Africa Twins are hardly ever being transported, as they are always ready to be ridden.) We have had more leaking fork seal issues with the Africa Twins than other bikes though. Putting something like Seal Savers on the forks does help protect those seals and surfaces. There are definitely multiple "schools of thought" though with regards to whether or not compression the forks for transport is tough on seals. Thanks for asking.
pit bull trailer restraint system if they make it for your motorcycle is worth every penny. No straps no wheel chock just load and go. Thousands of miles of hauling 2 motorcycles in my van without an incident.
Not a fan of friction buckles, I prefer a positive ratchet engagement. That said, when the guys at Moto Freight in UK prepped my bike for the aircraft, they used all friction buckle straps to secure it to a pallet... Just use enough of them!
I am also going to haul my bike cross country. Should I use the centerstand, or just tie it down symmetrically and keep both wheels on the floor? Thanks.
Using the center stand is a very bad idea, keep both wheels on the ground
@@sumporfuk Thanks!
Right on, sumporfuk, best to let the bikes suspension be part of absorbing the impacts of the road. Have a good trip, Jim.
No mention of doing permanent damage to the surfaces. Wrapping those straps around you wheels is definitely going to permanently scuff the surface or your spokes
Should kick stand be down or up when on pickup bed?
Good question we didn't think to mention: Definitely kick stand up, so that if the bike's suspension needs to compress along with the undulations in the road, the kickstand doesn't keep it from compressing. Thanks for watching!
You should revisit how to strap the rear tire.. With the strap pulling the rear wheel backwards, if the front straps release for some reason, the straps on the rear are going to be worthless when they are anchored behind the wheel. If you anchor in front of the wheel it will hold down the rear wheel and help prevent the bike from rocking backwards temporarily. (Otherwise the video is great, thanks for publishing 🙂)
Any videos for getting the bike out?
We'll add it to our list! Couple of quick thoughts: 1) Rehearse your footwork for going back down the ramp, make sure you can reach and step where you need to 2) Be ready to use your clutch with the bike in gear to act as your rear brake. Just slip the clutch a little when you want it to roll down the ramp. 3) Always have someone on the opposite side from you, just in case it starts leaning that way. Be careful, and hopefully offloading your bike means you're going for a great RIDE!
Do you transport in gear or in neutral? And why?
Good question, did we forget to mention the answer in the video? Having the bike in 1st gear seems most sensible from every angle I can think of. While the strapping and blocking should hold it steady, one more solidifying factor helps. And then when you're rolling down backwards to offload, the bike is already in gear and you're able to use the clutch as a brake right away if needed. Better than remembering to put it in gear once the downward momentum has begun. --- Thanks for watching!
If you are going to ride your bike up, make sure it won't bottom out on the tailgate/bed on the way up.
Go up too fast and you'll either damage your tailgate or crack something on your bike
Well, I'm a single woman a 115 pounds. 5'2" and I ride by harley up in the back of my truck cause I'm good 🤣🤣🤣 I ditched my trailer and I just use my ford truck with super crew cab removed back seat customized to camp.
Sounds like a sweet set up. Cheers
Got any tips you would add to our list? Drop it in the comments so we can all learn a thing or two. RIDE on!
Yes, I see a lot of bikes wedge into the front corner of the bed. So they can close the tailgate (I'm guessing), it just seems like the whole inertia of the truck with the bike is off balance. So many places to ride in CA and CO are mountainous and it's not good to have all the weight off to one side. I'm sure it puts serious uneven stress on the straps. Great advice and good video.
@@accorsistudios, I think you said it right. Better to have some mounting symmetry, but yea, cornering the front wheel might make the difference of bending/taco-ing the rear tailgate with a heavy bike on a 5.5 foot bed. Thanks for commenting.
A high pick up truck flat bed is just not a good way to load, unload or transport motorbikes. The less height you have to deal with the better so a low trailer with a low angle ramp attached to the rear of a pick up of whatever vehicle is the obvious way to go - and you simply have to have a front wheel locking chock if your serious about not getting your bike damaged and to ease and simplify the tying down process.
If you’re using open hooks draft you have to make sure that you compressed the suspension as you tighten them down
Those pick up trucks (especially US ones) are way too high to safely load and unload a bike. Surely a lower bike trailer is more suitable.
Follow the advice given in this video........or end up as one of the "bike loading fail" videos on TH-cam.......you don't want to be that guy.
compress the shocks as much as possible before finally tightening the straps
Eh, "sort of." Compress the suspension about halfway or so, allowing the rest of the suspension to continue to absorb the impacts of the road as they come.
Did u make this for 10 year olds?
Yep, thanks for watching!