Motorcycle Transport ?'s

I am taking my Honda 919 to Dallas tomorrow so that my brother can sell it. It will be the first time I have had it in the bed of my Taco. I've measured it, know it will fit, and added a set of D-ring tie downs.

I think it seems pretty straight forward, but any tips or advice, on how to tie it or anything else, would be appreciated.

 

I 2nd that thought, pull on the straps "like u have a pair !"

 

Put Tie Downs To The Passenger Peg Brackets To Hold The Rear From Bouncing Around Use A Canyon Dancer Setup On The Bar Because You Can Bend Clip-ons Pretty Easy With Tie Downs And Put The Bike In Gear Just As A Safety Precaution

 

If you've got someone to help you load it have them sit on the bike as you tie it down. A lot easier than trying to compress the bike with the strap. Not a whole lot of pointers beside the obvious, tie it down well and take the corners nice and easy! My CB750 was solid with just the rear tied down on the d-rings, of course I tied the front down as well though.

 

I only tie down my bike from the front but I put the tie downs on the upper triple tree and compress the front a little. Too much pressure on the front of the bike and you could blow your fork seals.

 

How do you guys get them in the truck? I have yet to have to load mine except when I took it home from the dealer. The guy at the dealer powered it in with some ramps. I'm kind of chicken shit to do that though what if I accidentally power it through the back of my taco! Do I need to just get over it?

 

Personally, I would never ride mine up a ramp into the truck, a 4-wheeler maybe but my motorcycle, no way...

I just get a good running start with the bike in neutral and put a second ramp to the side of the bike's ramp. I run up that ramp with the bike on the other. It's easier to do if you do it on a slight decline as the ramp angle isn't as steep and you've got gravity helping you.

 

Ok, let me clarify. He didn't "ride" it up. He had two ramps and walked up one while feathering the clutch and fuel with it in first gear as he "powered" it in.

 

EVEN WITH THE BIKE UNDER ITS OWN POWER WALKING BESIDE IT THE REAR TIRE CAN SPIT THE RAMP OUT FROM THE TAIL GATE ONCE THE FRONT TIRE GETS ONTO THE BED.... THINK ABOUT IT.....IVE SEEN IT HAPPEN.

 

Ok you have a valid point there.... It just seems like an awfully hard feat to accomplish without power. I mean if it were a dirt bike it would be one thing but the FZ1 has a dry weight of 439lbs. Hmm maybe an electric winch in front of the bed would help.... Like the small ones designed to go on the front of an atv?

 

That salesman the feathered your bike up into your truck is a moron. He slips at all and the bike is toast and your truck may well have been mangled too- I don't care how many times he'es done it before.
The running start tehcnique have worked fine for me in the past- Having a friend spot for you isn't a horrible idea.

And +1 on the compress the forks but not too much. Blown fork seals aren't a good selling point.

(Hope I wasn't too late)

 

Just get the tailgate low as with a driveway and push it in. I never do it by myself, I always have a friend on the other side.

 

I pull mine in a trailer anymore. However hauling, I use a 4" X 4" piece of wood mounted to a piece of 3/4" plywood about 12" wide. This combination is about 2' long. I place this under the frame sideways and then snug it down. This is with the front wheel in a chock. This helps stabilize the sideways rocking without overly compressing the front forks. I also tie off the rear to keep it in line.

You might also place a piece of plywood on the tailgate for reinforcement as I just notice you've got a DC and the rear tire is probably riding on the gate? The above method would, if shimed to your bike, reduce some of load on the gate.

Kinda hard to see in the picture but you can get the idea.

 

Thanks for all the input. I got it there safe and sound.

I found a pickup bed sized loading dock behind a shopping strip here in town. I went up there early Saturday morning, so there really weren't any shops open and not many people around. Apparently there were some shop owners preparing to open up because as soon as I got my bike on the ramp waiting for my buddy to back up my Taco, this guys came out with a look of contempt and was like "can I help you", and I just said "nope".

The loading dock was just six inches lower than my bed so it rolled straight on. When I got it where I was going I had three of my friends help me and we just picked it up and lowered it to the ground.

I used three ratcheting straps to tie it down. Two over the front with enough force to lightly compress the front forks, and one across the back to keep the back from bouncing around. I also wrapped a strap around the break, just lightly enough to put the front break on, not to clamp it down.

The rear tire was on the gate, but I am fairly certain that the '08's have a reinforced tailgate. I rolled the bike right over it and had no problems. This is a 919 cc sport bike, and I was on top of it (all 215lbs) no bending or anything.

I think we should keep this thread going, there are a lot of good tips for hauling bikes and I'm sure others would appreciate the info. T

Thanks again guys!

 

Nice toybox!!

 

I used to have the problem of the front tire going askew during transport, but I fixed that by moving two of the stock rail cleats to the front rail and snugging them up to either side of the bike's front tire. Problem solved!

 

Not all 08's have the tailgate upgrade. I'll try and find the link to the vin. #'s that tell you.
Mine was a Jan. 08 build and barely made the upgrade when I looked it up.

 

That would be nice. Does it tell you anything else, like if the rear leaf's have been upgraded?

 

This ought to tell you if your tailgate is updated or not by looking at your Vin. #.


http://mafmaps.fileave.com/NewTailgateTSB.pdf