how to tie down a bike (pics)

S

sportrider

for anyone who hasn't had to load a bike into a truck and secure it for the road. this can be done by yourself, but its a lot easier with someone to help!!!
Ideally you'll have a ramp made for a street bike, I use an aluminum folding dirtbike ramp.( they are NOT rated for the weight of a streetbike but I've never had a problem, so if you try one use at your own risk!!!) once the bike is in the truck, you'll need to secure it, the best way to do this is with a Canyon Dancer this will give you good tie down points on the bike, without damaging your fairing. here are some pictures showing my bike loaded in my truck.
 
S

sportrider

ya I though so, they cost $29.99 and I think its worth every penny!!!
look at it this way $29.99 is a lot cheaper then the cost of replacing a cracked fairing or the cost if the bike fell out of the truck!!:thumbup:
 

besier

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FYI! I have a similar device, just make sure that the clamps holding the handle bar to the suspension are tight. I had to trailer my new bike from the dealer, and when I got home my handle bars were pulled right down to the tank and straps were loose. Origionally I thought the handle bars were bent, thankfully they just twisted in the clamp, and the straps didn't fall off during transport.
 
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bd43

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When I brought mine home from the dealership, this is how they tied it down. It must've worked cause I drove 300km without incident.
 
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W

wrightme43

Sorry Danny, the red one has to slow your truck down. The blue one makes the truck faster. Its just common sense. LOL
 
S

sportrider

Sorry Danny, the red one has to slow your truck down. The blue one makes the truck faster. Its just common sense. LOL

even if you were right about the color thing(which your not) now your starting the whole FORD thing???
my ford could have two blue bikes in it and still out pull your________(fill in the blank.):Flip:




:justkidding:
 

DefyInertia

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I have never sprung for the canyon dancer but most people recommend them.

I use my uncaged sliders up front and my passenger footpegs out back; I also lock the stearing column with the front tire against the front of the bed and kill the engine in 1st to lock the rear wheel. I've logged over 7,000 miles like this...I've even put two FZ6's in the back of my Tacoma!

Oh yeah, I use a ~3.5' wide alum. ramp supplimented by a 2x10x8.

Pics --
________
Special_Lady
 
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gr8eyes

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The Canyon Dancer is great for our bikes because of the tubular steel bars. If you use it on a bike with cast bars you need to be careful not to cinch the straps down too hard. Cast bars have been known to break with the Canyon Dancer. What I do is put soft ties around the lower triple clamp and strap from ther on each side then use the C.D. more for stability. Not really pulling down hard on the CD.

Glenn
 

DrBart2

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for anyone who hasn't had to load a bike into a truck and secure it for the road. this can be done by yourself, but its a lot easier with someone to help!!!
Ideally you'll have a ramp made for a street bike, I use an aluminum folding dirtbike ramp.( they are NOT rated for the weight of a streetbike but I've never had a problem, so if you try one use at your own risk!!!) once the bike is in the truck, you'll need to secure it, the best way to do this is with a Canyon Dancer this will give you good tie down points on the bike, without damaging your fairing. here are some pictures showing my bike loaded in my truck.


What bag is that on the back of your bike, and where did you get it? It looks good on there.
 
S

sportrider

What bag is that on the back of your bike, and where did you get it? It looks good on there.
it's just a cheapo back pack, it was navy blue & red, now thanks to the sun it's kinda a purple & bluish grey. got it at Walmart for $14.00. had to have some storage, used to have saddle bags on my Sportster got really used to them!!!:thumbup:
 

DrBart2

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it's just a cheapo back pack, it was navy blue & red, now thanks to the sun it's kinda a purple & bluish grey. got it at Walmart for $14.00. had to have some storage, used to have saddle bags on my Sportster got really used to them!!!:thumbup:

LOL, OK, thanks. From the picture it almost looked like it was special made for the bike!
 

kemmer

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canyon dancers are really nice, despite the stupid name. before I had mine, I just used a 3rd tie down between the main straps. Works just fine, but you have a lot of extra strap floating around that you have to deal with.
 

mdr

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FYI! I have a similar device, just make sure that the clamps holding the handle bar to the suspension are tight. I had to trailer my new bike from the dealer, and when I got home my handle bars were pulled right down to the tank and straps were loose. Origionally I thought the handle bars were bent, thankfully they just twisted in the clamp, and the straps didn't fall off during transport.

Second that! Dealer strapped my bike in with Canyon Dancer, but didn't fix bars properly. I checked it after about 50 miles and the bars were tipped way down and straps were somewhat loose. I tightened bars and made the rest of the trip ok.

Hotei
 

FZ1inNH

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I guess it's good to note here that before tieing down using the handlebars, we should torque all the associated bolts first! :thumbup:

I bought Canyon Dancers for mine and my wife's bikes but haven't had to transport them yet. I'm looking into getting a nice trailer to mount my Haulmaster Chocks to and use these. We're taking a week next summer to go to TN and stay with a good friend, hit the Dragon and all the surrounding roads to include the Cherohala Skyway. :D
 

rvbiker

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I have to disagree with using the handlebars to tie down the bike. The most important element of the tie down procedure is to preload the front forks and rear shock. The preload insures that the bike remains firmly in place when going over a bump. Using the handlebars as a tiedown point exposes the bars and throttle control to pressures that could tweak and damage them.

A better way is to put a strap around each fork tube just above the lower bracket. Attach one end of the tie down strap to this strap and the other to an attachment point on the carrier(truck, trailer, rack etc). The attachment to the carrier should be a minumum of 12” to the left/right of the attachment point on the bike and forward of the front tire. Crank the strap one pull on the ratchet handle and alternate between left and right until the front fork is compressed at least 1/4 of its travel and no more than 1/2. Follow this procedure for the rear. This applies a preload to the bike that won’t damage the bars or throttle and prevent the bike from coming loose. The frame closest to the rear shock should be used for the rear attachment point.
 
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