Harley Hauler?

Hi guys. Noobie here. Sorry to bother everyone with a noob question, but I've done the search and can't really get a good answer from what I've found.

Is there any reason why I can't carry an 800 lbs. Harley in the back?

I've read that sometimes the tailgate has to be reinforced, but after you do that, will it hold the weight of the rear of a big bike like that?

Thanks for the help.

 

Well you would need a much stronger method for strapping the bike in. Track mount tie downs are no where strong enough to hold a bike as heavy as anything much larger than a bicycle nevermind an 800lb Harley. Spend the money and buy a trailer. Much safer for tying down and much easier to load.

 

I've got a 550lb FZ1 and I bought a 5x8' utility trailer after seeing some of the damaged tailgates on this site. Also I kind of pansied out of it. I've never loaded a bike into a truck bed and I didn't want to try riding up those little ramps and risk messing up a bike I've put a lot of work into.

A motorcycle chock from Harbor Freight is on its way. All I need to do is bolt some tie-down points in and it'll be all set!

 

Trailer for sure. I load my Honda in and out of the bed regularly, but that's only P450lbs. If I had a place to store a trailer I'd have one.

 

I had the wife's 750 Spirit in the bed 2 weeks ago, bike is 550lbs , and had no problems at all.
Get the extra d-rings for the bed!!!!

 

My DC rides on the bumpstops with a dog and cooler in the bed.
Good luck with a Harley.

 

its a harley, not quite 800lbs though....

the d-rings felt pretty secure, the rails on the other hand felt kind of sketchy. I think I may invest in some of these:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/94828-hook-ups-pics.html

 

Sick bike... details?

 

thanks, its my old-mans, 41 knuckle-head bottom end, with a pan-head top end. hes got a couple others, 99 soft-tail with an evo, as well as another evo in a stretched and raked frame with a springer. ill try to get some pics next time im at his place

 

I had to bring my hertiage softtail from va beach to buffalo.
For the money it was worth just renting a good trailer from u-haul.
Alot more secure, wasnt going to try and wheel that up into the bed of the truck.

 

With the ramps you can get now, loading isn't that tough...if the truck will hold.

 

Trailers are a pain... that's why I bought a truck in the first place. I haul my SV650 and KTM 400XCW (separately) in mine all the time. However, both of mine put together weigh less than your Harley.




The truck/bed will handle the weight just fine... it's the weak tailgate that's the problem. They strengthened it slightly for '09, but it's still flimsy. There's a horror story on here somewhere where a guy folded his pretty bad right in the middle while loading a big Harley (dresser, I believe). I think he ended up straightening it back out himself and then beefed it up by welding in some extra steel. I guess you could do that PRIOR to folding it.

 

That's pretty much what I thought I'd try to do, but I was also worried about the cables on the tailgate and how much weight it would have to support. I was hoping someone else had loaded a big bike and could tell me how much of it rested on the tailgate during transport. The post above from Joey_Buttafuoco at least gives me some idea of that.