Hauling your ride?

1991 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by smokindawg, Apr 9, 2015

Kawigirl

Discussion Starter · Feb 20, 2015

I'm not a 1%er. We plan vacations around riding. Just purchased an 18' cargo trailer with a/c and awning. Fixing it up for hauling and then camping. My question is: what's the best way you've found to tie down your ride? Use wheel chocks for front tire, but looking for easier way to use straps. They tend to loosen going down the road. Saw some nifty retractable, self tightening straps on YouTube. Curious to see what ya'll use.

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Poncho Villa

· #2 · Feb 20, 2015 (Edited)

kg, redundant straps for everything. ratchet straps should never loosen. front wheel chock, floor eyebolts into steel frame not just into wood floor. it will fail.
two pair of straps in the front, one pair in rear. dont use the same hard point - pull point for more than one strap. if the hard point fails, you only want to lose one strap, otherwise redundency is useless.
I put a pair on the forks. I put a pair on the roll bars(engine gard). I put a pair on the rear shock points.
I check my straps everytime I stop for gas or ? its just for ease of mind, all is well. poncho

and good on you re the camper/trailer, that is living large. enjoy it.

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rick

· #3 · Feb 21, 2015

Dont overtighten the straps on the forks, I usually go about 2/3 compression, otherwise you risk damaging the seals.

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TS Tinker

· #4 · Feb 21, 2015

Poncho Villa said:
kg, redundant straps for everything. ratchet straps should never loosen. front wheel chock, floor eyebolts into steel frame not just into wood floor. it will fail.
two pair of straps in the front, one pair in rear. dont use the same hard point - pull point for more than one strap. if the hard point fails, you only want to lose one strap, otherwise redundency is useless.
I put a pair on the forks. I put a pair on the roll bars(engine gard). I put a pair on the rear shock points.
I check my straps everytime I stop for gas or ? its just for ease of mind, all is well. poncho

and good on you re the camper/trailer, that is living large. enjoy it.

rick said:
Dont overtighten the straps on the forks, I usually go about 2/3 compression, otherwise you risk damaging the seals.

Sage advice from both

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Blockhead

· #5 · Feb 21, 2015

Definitely solid advice above...can't stress it enough, get a GOOD set of ratchet straps.

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Poncho Villa

· #6 · Feb 21, 2015

rick said:
Dont overtighten the straps on the forks, I usually go about 2/3 compression, otherwise you risk damaging the seals.

I dont put my fork straps up high on the forks such that they compress them.
I weave my fork straps (loops-soft ties) over the lower sliders just above the fender bolts. When I snugg these two straps down tite the bike/weight is still free to float in its own suspension. this will keep the bike from working the straps loose.
then I put an extra set of ratchet straps from each side of the Roll Bar(engine gard) down to the floor and/or sideways. This provides some compression.
Depending which bike Im securing is where I pin the bak end down. V2k (big) has ridgid softail frame which I can strap solid to the floor. Most bikes with dual rear shox can either be secured at the swing arm or up higher at the shok top.

If you do a good job of strapping it down w/o overcompressing, it wont work itself loose. Ratchet straps Do Not come loose as do those lite weight pull straps. those are only good for getting started.

I do enough hauling to know my routine and can load, strap, secure, stow ramp in 5 minutes by myself. same goes for unloading. You just have to do it enough to know what you need and prep everything so your not floundering around thinking about what to do next and unraveling straps.

btw, hauling bikes cross country is smart.. you have a rescue vehicle nearby if ever a problem occurs.. it never does. poncho

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Kawigirl

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 21, 2015

Great advice. Similar to how we do it now. Careful not to compress shocks completely, give a little range for movement. But def. the higher your straps the more stable and keep them on a good angle, not straight across. I think that was what led to problem in the past of loosening straps. (Argument took place at that point) Use the same soft loopdey thingeys for around chrome areas.
Poncho, thanks for the pointer of attaching directly to the frame, point taken.
Yea, a trailer is nice. Jumping on and taking off for a few days is o.k. but longer than that, you need a little more gear.
Test will be done for upcoming Thunder Beach trip. Count down begins!

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Kawigirl

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 11, 2015

Update...

Received in the self-tightening ratchet straps. VERY NICE! Heavy duty. Ordered 2 sets. Got to say they work great. Works similar to seat belt, pull out, attach and set. If you press down on bike, straps tighten and lock tighter each time. Used in combo with front wheel chock. Use a strap over tire to hold tight. (Never would have thought that makes a difference, but it diffidently does) Had to see how good it would work, so husband rode in trailer while I drove. Nothing moved, except him.

It came with floor "D" ring bracket, 4 carriage bolts and plate for under bottom of floor. If you love your ride, having it secure is worth the $'s. Nice part is the straps are removable from floor bracket when not in use. Brand is "Lock N Load".
Attached straps (using the fuzzy protectors covers) to frame under seat. Since I don't have any higher point to attach to at rear of bike. Works great.
Next time the bikes are loaded, I snap a picture if anyone is curious.

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smokindawg

· #9 · Apr 9, 2015

I use a wheel scotch that locks the bike in an upright position to make strapping the bike easy for one person. I then have a wooden box I made to slide under the frame. I install a ratchet strap on each side up front and pull the front down tight against the wooden box. This keeps my forks from bottoming out and damaging the fork seals. I then install one strap thru my back wheel.

I hauled the Vulcan home like this just the other day and even with our rough and washed out road it never moved or loosened up a bit.

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