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Old 11-17-2019, 08:09 AM   #1
Dan Lockwood
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Raptor 395LEV & B&W Biker Bar

Okay, I'll try this again...

How many of you have been in the process of posting a long thread and get side tracked with your pet and then come back and do a preview just to find out you've timed out and you lost all the thread you just spent half an hour putting together??? It does suck! I guess I should always copy and save before I do a preview or submit the thread.

I have a Raptor 395LEV with the 12' garage. How many have used the B&W Biker Bar motorcycle tie down system?

For those not familiar with the B&W Biker Bar, here's the link to go to for a little look.

https://www.bwtrailerhitches.com/product/biker-bar

So I've purchased on Biker Bar as of now and still looking for another used one to add to my garage so I can haul two Harleys or one Harley and my Honda Helix CN250 scooter.

B&W say that they can just mount their system to any floor that will support the weight of the bike, but I'm not totally sold on that concept. I tend to do overkill on my projects and installs.

I've done a little AutoCAD sketch showing what I plan to do. The hopes were that there would be some factory cross bracing that came in contact with the plywood floor, but that did happen. All that's there are the two outside "I" beams and a center "C" type laminated channel running North/South under the floor. These are the only braces that contact the plywood flooring.

The Biker Bar has two under bed 4.5" x 6" x 1/4" thick steel plates and each have one 5/8" nut welded to them. The plates are normally bolted under the garage or trailer bed with carriage bolts and the 5/8" nuts are what the topside Biker Bar mounting system bolts through to the floor.

My thoughts are to add 1.5"x1.5"x35.75"x1/4" steel angle iron cross braces, two per mounting system. They will span between the center North/South "C" bracing and the outside "I" beam. The angle braces will be approximately 1/4" below the bottom of the plywood floor and that will allow me to slide the two under bed mounting plate between the braces and the plywood. They will all be bolted in place with carriage bolts.

I've upgraded the 5/16" carriage bolts to 3/8" carriage bolts, again for a more robust mounting application. Probably overkill, but that's the way I roll...

Here is the sketch of the full side to side plan.



Here's the center "C" channel mounting close up.



Here's the "I" beam side close up.



That's it in a nut shell.

I've been under the floor and there are no cross braces that come in contact with the plywood directly and the cross braces that way under the plywood are not really perpendicular to the main "I" beams, a bit skewed. In practice it really doesn't matter how perpendicular they are, they're just there for support etc. But for me to align to, makes it a bit more difficult.

Also there are the two fuel tanks under the garage and there's only about 5" of true vertical access to the plywood area. I guess my angle air drill will be utilized a bit.

I wish there were a better way to do all this, but so far I'm thinking it's going to be a rough install doing it alone in my driveway in the low 40's...

Any suggestions or anyone use the Biker Bar before and how did you mount yours?

Thanks in advance!
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Old 11-20-2019, 01:22 PM   #2
Dan Lockwood
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Last weekend I mounted my Biker Bar.

Well at least the first one anyway. I just purchased a second one and it should be here on Friday this week. They were both used and I got a good deal on each.



The garage floor is pretty solid and I did not get a lot of pull down of the 3/8" carriage bolts like it thought I would have. But they're almost flush and with the carpet down you won't feel them at all. I have plastic caps to put in the holes for the 5/8" hold down bolts so no dirt will get up under the carpet. I'll dope the bolts up well with anti-seize and that should keep them from rusting without a bolt in them.

I will have twins by the end of this weekend with both mounted.

My plan is to park both Harleys in the Biker Bars and store them for the major part of the winter at the storage lot inside the RV. That gives me project room in my third garage stall.

Thanks for looking!
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Old 11-20-2019, 03:44 PM   #3
roadglide
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I personally would not mount any apparatus permanently in my garage floor especially the travel area . I disagree about stressing the suspension using the tie down system with a condor wheel chock. I'm thinking 30 inches center from each wall and 4 ft from from the front or 6 ft with 12 ft garage . I would still use a straps in the front . I have seen these thing at bike rally and was not impressed.
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Old 11-21-2019, 04:11 AM   #4
Dan Lockwood
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roadglide View Post
I personally would not mount any apparatus permanently in my garage floor especially the travel area . I disagree about stressing the suspension using the tie down system with a condor wheel chock. I'm thinking 30 inches center from each wall and 4 ft from from the front or 6 ft with 12 ft garage . I would still use a straps in the front . I have seen these thing at bike rally and was not impressed.
Thanks for the reply.

This is permanent so to speak. But it does unbolt with the two grade 5 5/8" bolts, one on each end of the Biker Bar mounting plate. The other four bolts on each end attach the under bed mounting plates to the 1" plywood floor as well as to the 1.5"x1.5"x1/4" angle iron that the two outside bolts on each end attach them to the main center floor frame bracing and the main outside frame "I" beam.

This bracket is not going to be ripped from the floor in any normal type of drive, and I highly doubt in any emergency type stopping as well.

So when parked and setup, the Biker Bar mount comes off the floor and will be stored in the compartment in the rear of the garage in the floor.

The main lower bike clamp bar is solid steel with over half rap around steel with rubberized circular clamps around the bottom of the bike's frame rails.

The idea of preloading the suspension just a bit is to keep everything snug when traveling. Since the main mount is fixed once adjusted to my bike's ride height and the bike's clamp bar is attached into the mounting slots and locked in, the clamp bar would then become a lever or fulcrum if I added tie down front straps. it would tend to raise the rear wheel off the floor.

I've hauled in trailers with tie down and front wheel chocks and have upon occasion still had my bike tip over enough to rub the side of the trailer with the handlebars.

I have several friends on the CVO Harley forum that are full timer and one has a GD Momentum with the rear king bed that's over his narrow garage underneath. He really has little room to tie downs. He's been using the B&W Biker Bar for over 10 years total with the past 5 years doing the full time RV life.

B&W is a highly respected manufacturer and I do trust them with what they make. The product is designed very well and the welds are awesome.

I guess I'll report back on how it all works out for me. I checked with my insurance company and they have no issues with the Biker Bar as designed. Again, B&W says that any floor that will support a bike will be more than strong enough to mount their Biker Bar to. So with my 1" plywood floor AND the added reinforcements I've designed in, I fee very confident in the capacity of the setup.

I do appreciate your opinion and will keep it in mind.

The problem I had the first time I hauled was that I only tied down the rear wheel side to side and for some reason it slipped sideways and let the bike tip over a bit. It was still tight up front, but leaning. After that I screwed down 2"x4" on each side of the rear tire to keep it from slipping sideways. No more issues after that.

But let's say this works as advertised and as all my friends have endorsed, you drive in and lock the bike into the lower mount by just riding forward until the spring loaded latches snap into place... AND then you just step off and you're done! The bike can be secured via padlocks to the bike frame and the lower mounting system. Holes are provided for just that purpose. So with tie downs and a knife your bike is gone.

Sorry for rambling on and on.

Thanks again Road Glide for your thoughts.

What year do you own? Mine's the '09 CVO Orange/Black. When I saw it in Rapid City Center back at the '08 Sturgis Bike Rally, that filled in rear fender to the bags with LED tail lights, I just had to have one. I was riding an '08 CVO Road King Anniversary rootbeer and gold leaf. I also have a '76 FLH Shovelhead that I purchased back in '04 and rebuilt in early '05. Still ride it and it's a hoot to have people look it over.

My Picture Trail albums are at this link if you want to browse a little.

http://www.picturetrail.com/Dan_Lockwood

Thanks again, Dan
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Old 11-21-2019, 04:16 AM   #5
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Here's one of friend's Momentum all loaded up for traveling.



Like I said, he's had no issues so far with his setup and the B&W Biker Bar.
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Old 11-21-2019, 05:28 AM   #6
JRTJH
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I used a similar mounting technique on an aluminum trailer to tow my Slingshot. I used the E-track system with reinforcement sheets (similar to yours) under the bed to tie multiple 2x10's together so the E-track wasn't "tied to one board". I've got nearly 15,000 miles towing the Slingshot on that trailer, some of it over some TERRIBLE roads. No problems with the mount and the bike has stayed where tied down with no movement and no damage.

I think you'll be OK with the system, the only issue I see is "tripping over them, unless you remove them" and we all know that if it's a 2 day stay, Well, we'll make do without taking them out, only to find a stubbed toe the first evening... Always seems to happen with the first compromise in plans....

Otherwise, nice looking job, now, tie down the bikes and see how well your work pays off.....
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Old 11-21-2019, 05:42 AM   #7
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Dan I agree with strips the rear tire needs to be secure. I make 1 wrap around my Rg ultra and hook it to the floor that has keep the rear tire from kicking out to the either side .
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Old 11-25-2019, 07:47 AM   #8
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I have two biker bar mounts in our toy hauler. One for my Streetglide and one for my wifes Harley Trike. Being a trike I could have probably got away with tie downs but when both bikes are loaded her's sits quite close to the wall and they "never" move even a little once they lock into the biker bar. I ordered extra mounting plates from E-Trailer (reasonable price and shipping) . I had bought the biker bars for my enclosed motorcycle trailer so my wife and I could haul our bikes to Arizona for winter riding from Canada. They worked flawlessly so we wanted to use them on the toy hauler too. I kept the LowHauler motorcyle trailer as well so you can move the BikerBars back and forth in less then ten minutes as required. We have used them for at least 6 years and hauled other peoples Harleys as well and always a good and safe transport. The only real issue is if you have anything but a Harley they probably won't work unless they have a version for other bikes now??? I also use plastic plugs to seal the holes when not in use. Even found a color close to the floor color. Hope that helps.
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Old 11-25-2019, 12:52 PM   #9
Dan Lockwood
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This is what I started with for under the garage floor. You can see the angle iron is full width to span between the outside "I" beams and the center laminated garage floor steel channel assembly.



Here are the two ends prior to drilling it in place.







Here we go, dual Biker Bars all set up and ready for the bikes.



The carriage bolts have been upgraded to 3/8"-16 grade 5. That should be more than enough to hold it in place in case of a rollover... well maybe not a rollover, but a good stiff pothole or a panic stop etc...

I've got room to mount my '09 SERG a bit more forward on the frame and the '76 FLH a bit more rearward. That way the handlebars will not interfere with each other. Just have to figure out which to load first...

I bought them both used for $200 each plus shipping and they're both in great shape.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!
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Old 11-25-2019, 12:57 PM   #10
Dan Lockwood
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AbHDToyHauler View Post
I have two biker bar mounts in our toy hauler. One for my Streetglide and one for my wifes Harley Trike. Being a trike I could have probably got away with tie downs but when both bikes are loaded her's sits quite close to the wall and they "never" move even a little once they lock into the biker bar. I ordered extra mounting plates from E-Trailer (reasonable price and shipping) . I had bought the biker bars for my enclosed motorcycle trailer so my wife and I could haul our bikes to Arizona for winter riding from Canada. They worked flawlessly so we wanted to use them on the toy hauler too. I kept the LowHauler motorcyle trailer as well so you can move the BikerBars back and forth in less then ten minutes as required. We have used them for at least 6 years and hauled other peoples Harleys as well and always a good and safe transport. The only real issue is if you have anything but a Harley they probably won't work unless they have a version for other bikes now??? I also use plastic plugs to seal the holes when not in use. Even found a color close to the floor color. Hope that helps.
Thanks for the input and sharing your experience with the Biker Bars!

I feel very confident that I made a good investment with getting two of them. These are both of the newer twin pedal per side for the releases. They also have a downward cam path in the clamp bar slot to preload the suspension a bit more. From what I've seen in the YouTube videos, the lowering cam path assists with the bike coming out quicker from the latching mechanisms.

I was hoping to have finished yesterday early enough to load the bikes and get them back out to the storage lot for the winter, but ran out of time. So I'll probably have to deal with poor weather this Friday after Thanksgiving.

Thanks again for the input and I'll let you know how my first towing trip of around 10 miles with the bikes on board turns out.

Have a great Thanksgiving!
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Old 12-04-2019, 03:29 PM   #11
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That's a nice system. I use the Pit Bull system. https://www.pit-bull.com/motorcycle-trailer-restraints

The nice thing about the pit bull system is that after you unload the bike, the retaining hooks slip out with no tools, and you have nothing to trip over.

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Old 12-05-2019, 11:56 AM   #12
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For years I used a front wheel chock and straps. Also had to strap the back tire in place so it would stay put. I was always checking on the bike because the straps had a tendency to loosen when hitting bumps.
This year I installed the Biker Bar. Very easy install!!! So far this year we've traveled about 5,000 miles and over some of the worst roads...i.e. I-15 out of Salt Lake City. The bike NEVER moved. I was really nervous at first. But when we arrived at our first camping spot the bike was just as I had left. And...no strap on the rear tire. Hadn't moved at all.
I'm a believer!!! This Bike Bar is incredible. There's all kinds of YouTube videos you can watch.
PS...I think all the fabrication you've thought of is unnecessary and overkill. Take into account the manufacture of the Biker Bar...the #1 fifth wheel hitch manufacture.
Good luck!
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Old 12-06-2019, 03:33 AM   #13
Dan Lockwood
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deanos07hd View Post
For years I used a front wheel chock and straps. Also had to strap the back tire in place so it would stay put. I was always checking on the bike because the straps had a tendency to loosen when hitting bumps.
This year I installed the Biker Bar. Very easy install!!! So far this year we've traveled about 5,000 miles and over some of the worst roads...i.e. I-15 out of Salt Lake City. The bike NEVER moved. I was really nervous at first. But when we arrived at our first camping spot the bike was just as I had left. And...no strap on the rear tire. Hadn't moved at all.
I'm a believer!!! This Bike Bar is incredible. There's all kinds of YouTube videos you can watch.
PS...I think all the fabrication you've thought of is unnecessary and overkill. Take into account the manufacture of the Biker Bar...the #1 fifth wheel hitch manufacture.
Good luck!
Deano, Good to know how comfortable you are with your Biker Bar.

In my defense of the "extra" reinforcement under the garage floor is this, I had no metal to floor contact points to mount the below bed 4.5"x6" attachment plates. Although B&W states that any floor strong enough to hold a bike is strong enough to mount their system to, I wanted to know I had a bolted metal to metal install of some consequence.

Sticky, I think I've see the Pit Bull system before and maybe one of the guys on the CVO Harley forum mentioned it before too. But they do not offer their system for anything with saddlebags. Of course you could take off the bags, but that would defeat some of the simplicity of the system.

I believe I'll be fine with what I have done.

The only concern I still have is fitting two bikes side by side. Bikes normally get staggered just a bit. But the '76 FLH is really quite a bit narrower and shorter than the CVO Road Glide. I may have to twist a mirror to get that little bit of clearance needed, but I'll know this weekend as I HAVE to get the two bikes loaded up and the 5er out to the storage lot. With the generator 30 gallon gas tank and the gas station 30 gallon tank both in that general area, I was very limited to placement lengthwise in the floor.

I appreciate all the input by you all, thanks a bunch!

Have a very Happy Holidays!
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Old 12-09-2019, 01:33 PM   #14
Dan Lockwood
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Well here they are all nestled in place and ready to take up the winter, or at least most of it anyway.

They went right in other than the '76 FLH is so low that the Biker Bar clamp bar was dragging on the aluminum edge guard on the floor.

I had forgotten to load the washer/dryer combo before the bikes, so I had to remove the CVO to load the combo. On the way back in I had issues getting the CVO aligned and the left side of the clamp bar seemed to always be just less than fully engaged in the latch. I tried to move it forward just a bit on the frame, but still a bit of an issue. So I had to skinny the bike a bit crooked to get it to latch into place solidly.

I'll have to see what I can do in the spring to get it right. I think I might put a couple heavy cable ties on the frame tubes to I know where to slide the clamp bar in place so I have it aligned correctly. Because you only slide it under and raise it up to catch the opposite lower frame rail, getting it perpendicular to the frame seems a bit less than consistent. But they're in solid, so good for now.

Also if you have them off like I did, the latch thinks it's locked, but the two front left side toe levers are not up all the way and there's a gap on the front side of the clamp bar as it's not fully seated in the latch. When this happens you CANNOT just click down the levers with your foot. I had to use a dead blow to get them to snap to the unlatched position. Again I'll rethink this in the spring.








The FLH was tight without any wobbling or rattles. The CVO was a bit noisy when latched so I took the side plates on the latch down one more 1/4" adjustment and that seemed to take care of the noise and looseness. This could also "maybe" be my latching issues, it bit TOO low or tight.

Any thoughts?
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Old 12-17-2019, 09:33 AM   #15
AbHDToyHauler
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They look great. I had to stagger mine somewhat and I take my right side bag off for a little extra clearance only because the wife's trike is so wide. I use a winch to pull it up into the garage as that saves stress and yelling if she were to steer it in. I can use the winch control and steer it right into the biker bar. Good job on your install. You will love them. They are not the cheapest solution but certainly are the most stress free once they are in use. . Good Luck !
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