Hauling Motorcycles on Flatbed

[rreiber]

Four of us are planning to travel from Nebraska to Phoenix in early November trailering our motorcycles on a flatbed trailer. Does anyone have any experience or advice for doing this?

[wes0778]

My suggestion would be a front wheel chock (I have the H/F cheap one) for each bike and then some kind of tie down on the 4 corners of each bike...

[distancerider]

Front wheel chocks are a must and dont be cheap on the straps. One of the best straps I have ever used is the Canyon Dancer Handlebar Harness (link below). I had to trailer the Wing once and the harness did an amazing job.

 

http://www.canyondancer.com/

[utadventure]

I agree with the wheel chock. You need to prevent the bike from sliding out.

 

Tie Downs - make sure you have racheting type not just the self locking.

 

Point of tieing down - there are other threads on the side about this but basically, tie down to solid points on the bike. I recommend tie to the handlebars or triple tree (anything above the compression of the front end). If it bounces, your straps could possibly come off and if you tighten them down to remove the bounce, you could damage your seals or forks. I connected mine to the front forks to the lower section just above the fork brace.

 

Dave

[craigatcsi]

Something to mention that is VERY inportant....

DON'T put your kickstand down!!

My son had a visit from a friend in Texas who trailered his Crotch Rocket to Omaha. He has never trailered a bike before and didn't know any better. When he took the bike off the trailer, the Kickstand and mount were bent pretty good. So they spent a day or so tracking down and replacing the parts.

craigr

[wes0778]

 

 

DON'T put your kickstand down!!

 

 

 

That's one of the reasons for the chock, it holds the bike straight up....

[LilBeaver]

... DON'T put your kickstand down!!

 

My son had a visit from a friend in Texas who trailered his Crotch Rocket to Omaha... When he took the bike off the trailer, the Kickstand and mount were bent pretty good...

 

 

But, on those rockets they have those dinky sidestands that barely hold the bike up as is. A buddy of mine has an 07 CBR F4i and he is on his 3rd sidestand within the last year. They bend funny under normal use; and the replacements are even wussier than what came on th ebike new.

 

Other factors include suspension on the trailer and trailer tires, etc.

 

If you do not get a wheel chock, you don't have much of a choice. If you are careful and cinch the left side of the bike down tight, then strap the right side down to compress the suspesnion a little and hold the bike steady (ie. so that the bike sits on the sidestand and can still travel up and down (ie the suspension still does its thing)) you can do this with out damaging the sidestand - on bikes that don't have those tooth-pick side stands that do not allow any travel in any direction except folded, not folded and bent.

 

A good sturdy wheel chock is by far the way to go though.

[Kross Kountry]

There's not many thing I can say this about, but hauling bike's is what I do for a living. Wheel chocks are nice but not a must. I've hauled about 10,000 bikes in the last 7 years and I never use them. The only time I had a bike fall in transport, two of the four straps broke. Never buy cheap straps, and give the worn and tattered ones to your inlaws.

 

For the RSV I use soft tie loops (no metel hooks on metel) on the handle bars and I pull at an angle that keeps the strap from touching the bottem of the fairing. The bottem hooks spread out about 24 to 30 inches to either side of the bike and just about inline with the front axle. Pull the front straps to the point that there is a still a small amount travel left in the suspention (3/4 of an inch). Do not bottem the suspention out, it can damage the seals. On the rear of the bike attach the straps to the bottem of the saddle bag gaurds and pull about 45 degrees back and 45 degrees out. Both sides and keep in mind if you pull the rear straps last it will continue to collaps the front forks. I put all four straps on just snug enough to hold the bike up, pull the rear straps making sure the bike is vertical then finish at the front of the bike. If you are worried about the tires sliping to the side then screw a short piece of 2x4 to the trailer deck on either side of the front tire.

 

If you are doing this by your self, place a piece 2x4 under the kick stand to keep the bike a little more vertical as you attach the straps. Start on the kick stand side rear, just snug, then go to the kick stand side front. Make sure you have 1 1/2 raps of strap on the ratchet so it does not slip. Now go to the right side front and pull the bike vertical off of the kickstand and remove the block of wood, and finally the last strap on the rear of the bike.

 

DO NOT let the straps touch any painted part of the bike. It will remove the paint.

 

ALWAYS leave the bike in gear when you transport it. This keeps the bike from moving forwards or backwards in the event that a strap should loosen or brake.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Tracy

Edited September 24, 2009 by Kross Kountry
misspelled word

[dynodon]

I agree that a chock, a good one, is the way to go, but I have flat bedded my '86 VR a few times.

 

Once I did it on the center stand, then once on the side stand.

 

The best way was to put the bike on the side stand, like the note above, a 2X4 under makes the bike mostly vertical. Attach to the triple tree in the front going out to both sides, and the rear, attach to the handles on the side of the passenger seat (one of the strongest parts on the sides), and using the straps pull the bike vertical and fold up the sidestand.

 

and here is where I got inventive.

 

I ran straps around the tires/rims down low on both the front and rear tire. out to the side and made them tight (leave the bike in gear is also a good bit of advice.

 

Why the straps on the tires/wheels? to keep them from possibly sliding side to side. I have a steel bed trailer, so I can't just screw a block of wood on each side, and the straps do the same thing, keep the tire from sliding.

 

This may be overkill, but it works. I use 2" straps and don't pull the bike down a lot, but just enough to get an inch or so of suspension compression. If you have the right straps, there is no way they can come off or loose if the bike bounces a little on its suspension.

 

But trying to put four bikes on a flatbed, you really should use chocks and I would still strap the rear wheels so they cant possibly slide around.

[Stoutman]

Check the tie down points in addition to having good straps.

I just returned from vacation in Minnesota. It was really nice to spend a few days around Motley on the bike seeing all the lakes and the countryside. I was able to do a couple of days riding with my sweetie because I trailored my bike to Minnesota and back on my HF flat-bed trailer. On the return trip I didn't have time to unload the bike when I got home, so I took it to work the next day. On the way home one of the eye bolts holding the front straps broke. My trailor has a HF wheel chock, and I always tie it to the front forks and the rear saddle bag gaurd rails. The bike didn't come off the trailer due to the wheel chock and the three other tie points.

So what is the lesson learned? If you add tie downs to the trailer, don't use standard eye bolts. Spend the money on the forged, zinc plated eye bolts that won't snap. They are about $6.00 each vs $1.49 for the standard ones.

If the trailor already has the tie down points make sure they are solid 1/2 inch rod or bigger. Hitting a big bump can put a lot of stress on your tie down straps, AND the tie down points.

[Kross Kountry]

For some strange reason I thought you had 2ND gen. Oops

 

You can rap the soft ties around the fork tubes just above the lower triple tree.

 

I use soft ties alot.

[Condor]

Trailering four bikes, and getting aftermarket chocks for them, is going to run you a couple of bucks besides probably not needing all of them ever again. Trailering on the side stand is going to take up way more room then you have. My suggestion is to trailer upright 2x2. Build the chocks out of 2x and 4x4's. (see below) Canyon Dancers are nice... I use one..., but again buying one for every bike is going to run the tab up. Strap the bikes pairs together in the center and control the separation by the outside straps. I also double up the front straps. One off the grip area and one off the fork above the brace. The mid attachment points between the bikes can be the same. Grip to grip, and fork to fork. A lighter strap can be used off the saddle guard to control the back end from wandering around. Again control the seperation by a mid strap, guard to guard. I found a great high quality set of 1.5" cargo straps at Sam's Club. 4 ea for about $17 bucks. A couple of sets will be all you need for the heavy duty stuff. Smaller 'el-cheepos' will sufice for the center. Don't make the straps so tight you can play a tune on them. Just enough to let the bike 'work' a bit. My 2cents...

[BradT]

I have a flat deck trailer and no problem so far. Loaned it out a quite a few times.

 

A good wheel chock is worth but my blocks worked fine. I prefer to stand them up straight and not on the side stand, I think the big bumps are hard on the them.

 

Get good straps and check them when you stop. I like to use one on each side of the triple tree and then one more over the frame in front of the tank. Then one more holding the rear end from moving around.

 

BRad

[sarges46]

In reading Kross Kountry's description, I believe I have done both bikes I trailered the same way with one exception. I used 4 straps each side, at opposing angles to keep the bike upright and steady to and fro.

[massey130]

Ditto to all the above posts. i do a similar to most on my flat utility trailer. i have the HF wheel chock - it was only 28 bucks with a coupon. i use canyon dancer II for the handlebars and the back like most above. kickstand up on the 2nd gen. 4 straps in all - 2 on the back plus 2 attached to the canyon dancer. no paint contact & check strap tension at each stop.

 

dale in La

[Kross Kountry]

I average 20 bikes to a load. Thats 80 straps in use and another 20 because I keep all types and plenty of extras. I can't imagine having to carry 200 straps in each of my three trucks and trailers.

 

It's your bike, do what ever makes you comfortable and gives you confidence. I do see alot of lazy haulers that use only three straps per bike. Two in the front and one on the rear tire. Not a good idea. If any one strap fails, the bike stands a very good chance of coming off of the trailer.

[BradT]

It's your bike, do what ever makes you comfortable and gives you confidence. I do see alot of lazy haulers that use only three straps per bike. Two in the front and one on the rear tire. Not a good idea. If any one strap fails, the bike stands a very good chance of coming off of the trailer.

 

Agree for sure.

 

That is why I use one over the frame (3 on the front one rear) just a little extra security. It will may lean over a little if one goes but should not fall off if you catch it in time. Definetly look in the mirror more often, when pulling the trailer.

 

Brad