All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

luckily i already have another bike so i'm not missing out on anything. Besides, I still need to get all the other components together to build the following.
The guy I'm working with is super nice and understanding. I'll be sure to see if they put something else in the box for me.

 

same. when I first saw that product, I thought "oh cool, I usually only ever carry one bike anyway, finally something cheaper than full tailgate pad I can get!" thinking it would be like $40-50. nope. its the same price as a full pad... making the price tag exorbitant... Why would I pay the same money for less?

 

Probably why I have never seen one out in the wild. But hey, like I said, for free, I'll take it.

To their credit, this thing seems super well made.

 

You could buy a full pad and cut 8 strips out and sell 7 and end up with a free one plus cash in your pocket.

Caution: This may not be a serious post.

 

I got mine for 45ish shipped to my door

 

@CBoy808 is probably who you’re talking about

 

I got this one for like 160.00

 

I don’t use a tailgate pad. Although I see the convenience and may get one some day. Maybe not after spending serious coin on a Yakima Bedrock with Front Loader for mounting above the bed.

Question: What methods do you guys use to secure the bike in the bed with a tailgate pad? I’d hate to just set it on the gate without it being secure. Please include photos if you have them.

 

You don't NEED to. Gravity keeps them planted just fine. The ones with the little bolsters def help though.

I've dragged bikes up plenty of places that you'd think they'd need to be strapped down, and they didnt move an inch. They're fine.

 

if you mean locking them, I always use a cable lock around my bedrack. without a bed rack you could fashion up some kind of eye bolt to the bed rail, possibly bed stiffeners or bed bolts too, and run a cable lock through those.

 

I was more concerned with strapping them down to keep them from bouncing out. No doubt lock the bikes up no matter how you are hauling them. I’ve heard of stories nightmares are made of. Having a tailgate pad with the bike free standing without strapping or locking them in. Pull up to a stoplight and some scumbag lifts it out and hauls ass away before you can do anything about it.

 

I've driven mine 80mph down the interstate on the tailgate pad, over bumps, in potholes and everything for hours. it barely moved at all. as far as "stable" the tailgate pads are pretty dang good.

the only thing I'd even think you might could do to help the movement is just have something keeping the back tire from moving side to side, but my bedmat had enough resistance to keep it from moving.

 

I try to position my back tire in 9ne of the ditches between the bed ribs, but even if I dont, its not a problem.

 

Yes I’ve heard they are that stable. If you get in an accident guess where the bike goes without securing it in? Or, like I said above, easy theft at a stoplight.

 

I’m on board with this route!

 

Haha true, but you can’t prevent bike damage in all accidents. A cable lock would keep it from flying out at least, or being quickly grabbed.

 

Id wager the theft out of the back while at a light is like 1 in 10,000,000 on the high end. Way easier to steal them in parking lots where people just willingly leave them stationary.

Plus how a bike wraps around a tailgate, you'd have to roll a truck to toss a bike. If you got rear ended or did the rearending, the fork would very likely just hit the tailgate and bind itself up. 9/10 that Ive seen, the taco is higher than the honda that hit it and you just have a wheel bent 45*, maybe a bound fork.

 

I’d still feel more secure driving along knowing “it” was securely strapped in. With all these pads I see around surly you can’t all be driving around without securely strapping the bikes in. And don’t call me Shirley.

 

I’m not buying any of this, well some of it, but not all of it.

 

Ive seen first hand a tailgate open on its own going down the freeway with 2 bikes (Dodge Ram) destroyed both bikes. I would never use a tailgate pad.

https://youtu.be/wmvE-zvd8UI