Hauling a motorcycle

Renting a trailer might make things easier but IMHO that is unnecessary. Personally I would feel better with the bike in my bed rather than rolling behind in a rented trailer, but that's just me.

The OP has long bed so there's plenty of room. Just need to find some help loading and unloading the bike.

IF you do not rent a trailer and you load the bike into the truck bed instead, here are my suggestions (I have hauled multiple dirt bikes for years and the Rebel is not a big bike anyway):
-- While I have had no issues with my tailgate, there are lots of threads about the tailgates in 2nd gens being weak. So if you and/or your helper is a heavyweight, add this to the weight of the bike, all this weight on the tailgate at the same time, and you might want to put down some supporting boards over the gate to distribute the load.
-- Once the bike is in place in the bed, put the transmission into 1st gear. This is very important. There is no need to put down the kickstand.
-- Use at least one strap on each side of the bike (preferably hooked onto the handlebars or frame) to keep it upright. Preferably two per side.
-- Apply one bungee cord per strap, hooked between the hook eyes. Use an appropriate length bungee, you can tie a knot in longer bungees to make them shorter. This is a great trick I learned from my brother-in-law. The tension on the bungees will ensure that the strap hooks stay hooked no matter if the straps get some slack when driving around.
-- If the bike does not fit completely inside the bed with the tailgate up, turn it diagonally so that the tailgate closes. The adjustable tiedowns will allow nearly any configuration. Just another level of security with the tailgate latched.

 

Thanks all, I appreciate the help so far. Given all the advice so far I'm leaning towards buying a ramp and putting it in the bed rather than a trailer - I'm not keen on trailers at 70mph on the highway. I've got lots of help with the loading and will have at least one person helping at unload. It's still a couple weeks until I pick it up so maybe you can convince me to reconsider... Lol.

 

I used to haul my bike a decent amount before getting a cap. Its not hard once you have done it a few times, but much easier with 2 people.

-I mounted 4 extra d-rings in the bed on the 4 front bolts to secure the bed to the frame.

$27 DC Cargo V-Ring Tie-Down Anchors |10 Pack | 2" Diameter Steel Bolt-on D-Rings for Cargo on Trucks, Pickups, Trailers |Flush Mount Tie-Down Anchor, Replacement for D-Ring Tie-Down w/Plastic Pan Fitting

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CGXSOG0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I took a piece of plywood and cut it to fit the exact shape in front of the wheel wells, and maybe 12" back from them. I cut holes in it to reveal the D-rings mounted to the floor. I then bought, and bolted a simple wheel chock from harbour freight to the plywood. I painted the entire setup black so it blends in in the truck bed.

For loading curved ramps work great....I have straight ramps already so that's what I use. I like to find a ditch if possible to back my trucks rear wheels into. This greatly lowers the rear height, and decreases the angle when transferring from ramp to bed.

I personally put the bike in 1st and drive it up the ramp into the bed as I walk up a 2nd ramp.

-When the bike gets in the truck, the weight of the bike holds the sheet of plywood pretty secure as I get the straps attached.
I use a 4 strap system. 1 strap on each side of the lower triple tree, then secured down to the rings in the front of the floor/bed. I like to have a backup strap as well just incase 1 breaks or something. So I then secure 1 strap to each of my rear sets and run them foward to the center d-rings on the floor. If a foward strap breaks the rear straps are still pulling the bike forward into the chock.

 

Google 'motorcycle loading fails' on YouTube before you do anything so that you can see what NOT to do.

Two mistakes people make:
1) they don't allow for the bend where the ramp meets the tailgate and the bike bottoms out. Dirt bikes have plenty of clearance but street bikes such as the Rebel might not.
2) they don't attach the loading ramp to the truck. If you try to drive the bike onto the ramp this could be disastrous. Most loading ramps have a strap that will attach to the rear of the truck to keep it secure.

Good luck...

 

I started using straps with carabiners at the end, solves the same problem of getting slack and them unhooking. I knew a guy headed to the track for a trackday with his basically new Ducati 1098 in the bed, he hit a large bump and the strap came undone and the bike went flipping down the highway. Completely destroyed

 

I would suggest a ramp something like this with the arch in it so the bike doesn't high center on the tailgate.

$215 Titan Ramps 8' Heavy-Duty 4-Beam Arched Motorcycle Loading Ramp - 1000 lb. Capacity

https://www.amazon.com/Titan-4-Beam...9207&sr=8-15&keywords=motorcycle+loading+ramp

 

I've loaded multiple bikes onto my truck using the cheap harbor freight ramps. Actually, one of those bikes was a Honda Nighthawk 650, so that'd probably work on your rebel.
I did it mostly by myself, with my wife standing by rolling her eyes. I used the same method Hawkshot uses of putting the bike in first and walking up the second ramp. I'd also like to add that I'm 6'1" and weigh 215lbs, so if you're a lot shorter or have less weight to throw around, a second set of hand never hurts.
Once the bike was on the bed, I just left it in gear threw a ton of ratchet straps on it. Mostly to the frame of the bike itself. Also, don't just hook them on, wrap them around in a way they won't come off - the bike has suspension, too, so as you go over bumps and stuff it'll move up and down a little bit. You don't want it to shrug off a strap.

 

Buy a canyon dancer. Best invention ever made for moving bikes

 

Yeah serious. NEVER load a bike against its kickstand. Let it be able to move around with its suspension. Hauled MANY a bike, from dirtbikes to big street bikes including my honda 919 in my DCSB without issue with nothing more than some soft ties (made of climbing webbing) and standard motorcycle tie downs. Hell at one point i fit my dirtbike and the honda 919 in the back of a 1st gen AC taco without issue along with all the gear. Its not hard.

 

This thread reminded me of this dude:

 

Damn, yah... never heard of a canyon dancer but I checked em out... I believe I'll get me a set of em!

never too old to learn new tricks!

 

One of the best things I have ever invested into.

 

It looks like the distance between the "cups" is adjustable though it also looks like you've got to buy the proper size to begin with... Is that right?

 

I have the older canyon dancer without the plastic cups. I prefer that one if you can find it. I bought them all up at my local cycle gear a couple years ago. I haven't tried the newer one with the cups

 

I have the canyon dancer with the plastic cups. I put a pair of cushy socks over the grips before I use it. It works great for full fairing sport bikes where there's no place to attach tie downs to. For cruiser bikes, I use sheep skin covered soft ties. I have a Kendon fold up trailer. They're about $2600 new. If you watch craigslist, you can find them for about $1,000 - $1,200. If you're looking around for 1, you want the newer version that is made of round tubing. The older ones that are made of square tubing have a higher deck, which makes it harder to load a bike onto. It's not horrible, but I prefer the lower deck.

 

I recommend a trailer also. I bought a 6'x10' utility trailer and use it a lot. It saves my back

 

A trailer is much easier to load, and if use around town. But for a long highway run like the OP said, if prefers a truck bed.

 

Greetings,

I have a 2015 Tacoma and my son has a 2014 Tacoma. My son races off road events and rides off road all the time. I have a 2013 Ducati multistrada and we have 12 bikes bikes in the stable. I haul my multi and my XR all the time in the bed and my son hauls his vstrom 1000 and his 300 husqvarna all the time.
In many cases where my son and I both ride an off road event, we haul two dirt bikes in the bed.

We cannot haul two street bikes in the bed and have the separation we prefer but two dirt bikes is no problem.

We use two curved ATV ramps to load and always use the d rings and the retention straps are secured to the hitch. We also use a Versahaul as well. Some folks will tell you a 150# Versahaul and the bike will overwhelm the weight ratings of your hitch and having said that, I used a Versahaul and hauled a loaded up KTM 690 over 700 miles with no problem whatsoever.

Please use the d rings, use secured curved ramps and you may need help pushing the bike up the ramps. After a long day of off road riding, I sometimes "walk and idle" the bike up the ramps but never ride up the ramps. I don't suggest you do that though. On another note, the proper ramps are a little longer than 6 feet unfolded and if you buy fixed ramps, the ramp length may not allow the bed to close so keep extra straps handy. Protaper pivoting straps are the best and I have 6 straps in the truck most of the time.

Best regards,

 

Look on Craigslist or buy a motorcycle carrier that goes in your hitch.

 

Food for thought for these folks saying they don't put rear straps on- what do you think is going to happen in a collision or even a panic stop? I can tell you that even with rear straps, the Honda Magna 700 I had still slid forward enough to dent the front bed wall. I had a woman swerve in front of me and stop just so she could have the clear lane at a stop light, luckily it was slow speed. Fortunately the forks were still true and the triple tree and components checked OK. Working EMS I've seen several wrecks where the bikes smashed into the bed wall and cab, all resulting in damage to the bike as well. A couple of inexpensive straps could help save you a lot of money if things go wrong.

With my last two bikes I used either my trailer with wheel chocks or with the DRZ I also used a hitch hauler at times. I've posted pics here before but with photobucket going full retard no pics today.