Tiedown for Bikes

[gbsb]

I have a Harley Ultra Classic. A 383 Fuzion Touring Edition 11. Have not hauled the Harley in rhe trailer. How do you experienced rvers tie down your bikes? Do you use a wheel chock? I have been looking at a Baxley sport chock nice looking unit made in the USA and I like their message under free gift. Any input would be appreciated. A freind at work told a horror story about their fatboy coming loose and knocking a hole in the wall and tearing up the bike. Thanks George

[KenBob]

I believe motorcycles need a chocking device for the front wheel in any tie down situation. Trailers that are MC specific have "channels" that curve up for the front tire. The front tire is against the front of a trucks bed when hauled in a pickup. I do not think it would be wise to try and tie down any motorcycle with just the d rings provided. E-Z CHOCK is my choice.

[Outbackmel]

Front wheel chocks do nothing from keeping your big bikes from creating a "life of their own" like a restrained horse trying break "free":) They are necessary to prevent forward movement and "some" are helpful when tying down the bike.

Having said that, visit any motorcycle "track" tie down site and look at the options of buying and installing these tracks which can be anchored properly through your floor to the frame of your rolling garage. You have tremendous flexability to position your ties to the bike(s) correctly and quickly and no damage because they will not move, period.

When the bikes are removed; your floor space is returned to you. The "rise" is minimal. Just sufficient clearance to install the "hooks" or tie downs. Buy the next larger size of tie downs, do not scrimp on the cost. It's a minimal cost difference and you will not have any worries as you travel. Once tied down, no further adjustment is necessary.

I do not tow very often any more (too damned old); just ride. My buddies who have toy haulers or cargo trailers all use these systems and none, not one, ever, ever, had an issue. They have towed 10's of thousands of miles in every terrain and weather imaginable and BIG HEAVY bikes.....

[msp2jxr]

I have an 1800 Goldwing and use a Condor chock to hold it in place when I bring it along. I like using the chock because it holds the bike upright and allows me to get off the bike. The only drawback is sometimes the bike is hard to get back out of the chock. As far as strapping down the bike, never ever use the crash bars as a tie down point. The welds will not hold. Always go to a point on the frame. I use 4 straps but do not tighten the front ones as much. The back straps get tighten to about half the suspension while the front get tighten to about a quarter of the suspension. This has worked well for me. I have been told if you over tighten the straps, it can wreck the seals in the forks. I have a friend that experienced this on his Harley.

Hope this helps.

[Outbackmel]

I see, my post is not up, however, the site to go to is: www.uscargocontrol.com You will see what I have described.

And one more note, I personally have towed 2 Goldwings and a Valkyrie, many, many thousands of miles. (and still rode them 125,000 miles total:)

They ARE different to tie down than HD. (I have an Ultra Classic). I have never blown a front seal, BUT plenty of people have.....THUS, another positive reason to go with track,or channel tie downs. Fits are much better with less tension on the bike.

All positive and good comments....be safe and have fun out there !:D

[Me.Bikes.Dogs]

I use a Condor as well with my Screamin' Eagle Electra Glide. I don't bolt my Condor to the floor. Instead I use 2 straps on the chock itself at the front. One pulls to the left, the other to the right. This keeps it in place without the need to bolt it to the floor. Works well. I do this because I have a washer/dryer in my garage, an ATV and my Harley. If I bolted it the riser would have to be right in front of my passthru door and I just didn't want that.

For the bike I use two straps up front and two pulling backwards. I use the d-rings that came installed in my Raptor 300MP. Look for a frame point first and if you can't do that because of the fairing, the lowest point on the handlebars. Don't connect up high on the handlebars. It will just twist your bars at the connection point. As Jay said, don't pull down so hard on the front you compress the shocks too far. You'll blow the seals when it bounces in the trailer.

I use two straps in the back pulling backwards. This keeps tension on the front straps and just adds an extra measure of safety.

Put your kickstand down if you can. I have seen this save a bike that has worked itself loose. I learned this trick from a bike shop that transports bikes all the time.

Last but not least, check your bike after the first 10-20 miles of travel. Don't miss this! You don't want your bike bouncing around back there for 100 or 500 miles when you could have caught it in the first 20. I also check every fuel stop too.

Ride safe.

[gbsb]

Thanks for the info. We are retiring in 6 weeks and heading to Tenn. to visit family then North to Alaska. A long expensive trip but worth it I hope. Staying untill it starts getting cold then heading South looking for warmer weather. George

[mrxlh]

I saw a really cool idea on another site. The guy used a piece of aluminum and bolted it the chock with flush mount screws. He slotted holes where his D-rings were. Flipped the d-rings "up" set the chock bracket over the d-rings, then use your straps in the d-rings. Another idea I have seen is a block under the frame in the middle of the bike. With 4 mount tiedowns, you compress the suspension down a "fixed ammount" and the bike will not roll, nor will it blow fork seals. However the latter requires 2 people to tie down, versus frestanding chocks where 1 person can do it.

[MichiganMarty]

Hmm, I also load my Ultra Classic FLHTCUI and tie it down in the front with the neat front fork tie-down add-ons from Kuryakyn. These are worth 5X what they get for them! No strapping to the handle bars!

I passed on the Condor chock due to the overwhelming praise for the $59 unit from Harbor Freight stand/chock on the various H-D forums. See it here... (http://www.harborfreight.com/motorcycle-stand-wheel-chock-97841.html) The only thing I didn't like about the Harbor Freight wheel chock was the front bar you tie the bike to. It is thin steel rectangular tubing that I believe is too inferior to put your $25,000+ bike on for trailering. Parking in the garage at home, maybe, but not trailering.

Since I have the skills to do so, I swapped out the tubing for two pieces of 2" angle iron 1/4" thick. These angle iron pieces are now screwed to to the floor as well as the rest of the chock frame. NOW I trust it! Have hauled for a time now with no problems.

Oh, I use 2" straps from USCargoControl.com. See them here. (http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Ratchet-Straps-Tie-Downs/Motorcycle-Straps/Motorcycle-Ratchet-Strap-2x8-W-SH254)

On the rear I use E-Track system with d-rings (http://www.uscargocontrol.com/Van-Trailer-Products/E-Track-Straps-Tie-Downs/E-Track-Tie-Down-W-Round-Ring-Heavy-Duty). I strap to the rear bag crash guard on the forward bottom end just behind the passenger foot boards.

[Top Slink]

I have a GoldWing 1800 and the wife has a Yamaha VStar 1100 Classic. Use Baxley LA chocks had em for years they work great. I keep looped straps on the tripple tree I just leave them on there all the time can't see em and use 4 ratched tie downs on the rails do the back as well because the bike will travel from bumps and curves. Same with the wifes bike. If u use all 4 tie downs the bike will never move. The looped straps you can buy at wall mart they are green in color and about a foot long and have a flat loop on one and and a twisted loop on the other. I would however remove these from the bike while riding or you may loose them . On the wing they are tucked under the fairing.
Make your own choices this is what has worked for me for years
Top:bdance:

[jje1960]

No help here... All I have in the SRX is a Golf Cart.... Use wheel chocks and the floor hooks TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT to keep it secure.

[11155]

Which Condor so you use? Do you have a picture with it strapped to the floor? i am thinking about the Condor Ps-1500, but don't want to bolt it to the floor. Thanks, Chris

[Me.Bikes.Dogs]

Which Condor so you use? Do you have a picture with it strapped to the floor? i am thinking about the Condor Ps-1500, but don't want to bolt it to the floor.

I use the 1500 as well. While I don't have a photo I made this to help:

http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=76&pictureid=362

I put the Condor in front of the closed door. I run straps from the top left and right tiedowns and wrap those around the top of the T. Then from the bottom I hook those to the middle cross member. I tighten them all so the Condor is straight on. All the straps are very tight, no flex. This holds the Condor in place.

I then load my Electra Glide and use two straps on the lowest point on the handle bars, where they enter the fairing. These straps are connected to the top left tiedown and the top middle tiedown. I tighten these down very tight but don't compress the shocks all the way. Whatever you do, don't leave these too loose. Any slack will get exaggerated and cause your bike to lean or even fall over. My Harley is lowered so I have less shock travel and I've never damaged a shock by tightening too much. With the Condor I only need these two straps.

I've traveled over 3000 miles with this setup and the bike is rock solid. When I started my biggest problem was not tightening the straps on the bike enough. I always recheck the straps after 20 miles and then at the first gas stop. If the straps haven't moved during this time, they won't. If they have, just tighten them a bit more. I've got it down to a science now. Works for me!

[gbsb]

Solved my tie down problem. Traded the Ultra for an '11 Harley Tri Glide Ultra Classic. With three wheels on the ground it sets there. Still tie it down to keep it from moving front to rear. A little over 10,000 miles since first of june no problems. Need a harbor freight chock i've got one worked great but don't need it now. The trade made mama happy so that is the major thing. George

[AlCherry]

Along with all of the info previously posted, and you are not using a chock, when you pull your bike up where you are going to tie it down, leave it in 1st gear. Lock the forks and put it on the side stand. My E-Glide will lock the forks to the left.
Once I have it tied down, I wrap a strap around the front brake lever and lock the front brake. I've traveled like this for many miles with no problems for any of my bikes.