650 GS moto in back of 6’ taco bed

Hi there,
Can I safely fit my awesome 650GS moto in 6’ bed of Tacoma? Ive heard the tailgate could bend. Is it worth an aluminum plate on tailgate? Is aluminum even strong enough?
I’m a girl and I dont want to mess up my Tacoma or my moto, but would rather buy a ramp vs a trailer.

 

What does being a girl have to do with it? If you are concerned, get a piece of plywood or MDF and slide under the rear tire to distribute the weight across a larger surface area.

 

Ha, yea thanks.. I was just thinking of a piece of steal or plywood is a good simple idea to cover wide surface area of tire.
I also realize I need a wide ramp to get it up there. I’m totally nervous about riding it up the ramp and then backing it down.

 

If you are good, you can ride it up. One thing that will help, whether riding it up or pushing it, is to drive the front tires up onto something, ramp, curb, etc. That drops the back end down and reduces the angle making it easier.

ETA: Don't try to back down while on it. Way to easy to topple over. Stand to the side and back it down controlling the speed with the front brake. Leave it in gear and hold the clutch in. So if you start slipping, and let go, the bike will stop moving due to engine compression.

 

Will fit fine, don’t need to do anything except load it and tie it down.

Don’t ride it up the ramp, push it. If you decide to ride it up please setup a video camera first.

 

I'd like to be able to put my bike in the bed of my truck, but at over 800 pounds, I'd be afraid it would break the tailgate off when loading it.

 

I always setup 2 ramps, one for me, one for the bike, then idle it and sort of walk/drive it up. Never been a problem.

My KLR is light enough that I can stick the front wheel in one corner of the bed and then scoot the rear end around to the opposite corner, then close the tailgate. Not practical if you've got a heavier bike though.

Lastly, don't tighten the straps on the front too much, its a good way to destroy fork seals. Just tight enough to compress the suspension a little is all you need.

 

You’ll be fine. I’ve hauled bikes in mine with no issue (5 foot bed). Depending on what you are doing, uhaul bike trailers are pretty cheap to rent or you can get a small utility trailer or motorcycle for $1-2k.

 

I safely fit two sport bikes. I had the tail gate off because of my swing out but I have loaded them with the tail gate on before no problems.

 

Don't be these people.

Only time I loaded by bike on a truck it was a big UHaul when I moved to FL.

Had lots of friends there when I was loading it, and knew I'd be pretty much alone when unloading it.

I sat on it and had them push me backwards up the ramp. When I went to unload it, fired it up and drove it off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcJxI4qqo1o

 

Oh yeah one more thing. I like to put a ratchet strap around the ramp and hook it to the safety chain loops on the hitch so that it can't slide out when the rear suspension compresses. Unfortunately I do not have a picture.

 

This! Way too many people forget this, or don't understand what will happen if the ramps aren't secured to the truck.

 

Good video. It’ll fit without a problem.
I’ve never removed a tailgate on any of my trucks and i’ve never had a problem.
The longer the ramp, the easier it is to load IMO. I think my ramp is about 9ft.
As 0xDEADBEEF said, don’t crank the front straps down too much. I’ve heard it can damage your fork seals (i’ve never seen seals blow because of over tightening straps but it makes sense)
Good luck

 

I rented a uhaul trailer for like $14 because I didn’t feel confident enough to load my bike onto my bed by myself. Easy peezy loading it in the trailer.