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Canyon Dancer Bar Harness - good??

BMW Triumphant

Ed Kilner #176066
My June trip may have me on as many as 5 ferries. The Canyon Dancer harness across the bars looks like it will keep tie-downs away from my 1200RT's plastic...

Anybody use them? Are they worth getting?

Also interested in the methods used on these ferries:

Lake Express across Lake Michigan
Local Seattle Ferry
Port Angeles ferry to Victoria
Island to BC ferries
Chi Chi Maun ferry from Manitoulin island

Any advice welcome.
 
I believe BMW's recommendation is to put a soft loop around the lower fork legs, being careful not to bend a brake line. That's what I did when transporting my RT.
 
Ferry Crossings

I have just used a couple of straps with loops at both ends to keep my bike safe from the hardware on the ship tiedowns. I loop them around the fork legs and kept any buckles etc away from my faring. (K1100RS) They are cheap and don't take much travel space since I like to camp and travel very light. Bob
 
I used a Canyon Dancer on my F800ST for the Lake Express ferry. Several months later the heated grips started to delaminate with the outer skin separating from the heating elements. I don't know if there was a correlation, but I wouldn't use a Canyon Dancer again on heated grips.

Best to use the process from the owner's manual, mentioned above.
 
I've carried a Canyon Dancer harness for years as an emergency tie-down. Otherwise, it makes an excellent secondary tie-down to add a level of stability side to side. But be careful not to crank too much force into the harness. There have been reports of bending the handlebars (a friend did that to his ST1300) Otherwise the CD harness is a nicely designed, easy to use, well made item. The newer model has hard plastic cuffs that reportedly protect the grips and grip heaters.

pete
 
I use a Canyon dancer with the plastic cups on my 05 RT. It works fine. The key is to not clamp down and compress the forks. The bike should be able to "dance" and move around on the forks. Use just enough force to hold it from falling over, maybe an inch of compression on the forks.

That being said, the alternate methods are great, too.
 
I also use the Canyon dancer..but that isn't very often. This system is always with me in case of a break down..the towing kind.

If used properly...very simple and efficient way of tie down.

I would buy this product again.
 
I never tie down using the handlebars except just for stability on my lift. I never do it when lurching stresses might be applied. You can get away with it if you have stout steel bars and attach the tie downs as close to the center of the bars as possible. Tying to the fork legs is a much stouter and better solution in my opinion.
 
Paul has stated his Canyon Dancer concerns many times. It was due to his opinion that I bought some harbor freight chocks for my trailer. These drive on chocks hold the bike so firmly by the wheel that tie downs are more for back up than anything else. I know this doesn't help for a ferry ride, but good chocks are a great investment for a trailer.
 
I assume you mean the fabric one, not the new plastic cup type. The plastic cup is good for heated grips, assuming again you don't go crazy on the tension.
 
Yeah -

I had to have my old K100 towed and the tow truck driver used one.

He cranked down the tension so hard that he spun the bars on the clamp and managed to damage the turn signal switch.

Never again.
 
Yep, that's the issue. People cranking down on the bike and compressing the forks. Until I got the new wheel chock for my trailer, my bike danced around on the trailer, being held pretty firmly in the rear and just lightly up front with the Canyon Dancer.

I often see people, with or without the Dancer, just mercilessly cranking down on the front end, compressing the forks. I used to say something, try to offer some advice and warning, but people do what they want to do.

Damage to the bike is more instructive!

My point here is to not blame the Canyon Dancer, but rather the truck driver who used it improperly. The instructions very clearly warn against this over tightening.

If you strip a bolt by cross threading it, you can't blame the wrench you use!
 
Rob - I agree

BMW uses more aluminum in the bikes than other manufacturers - that same pressure on a bike using a steel clamp on the handlebars would probably not have had this problem.

Anyhow I agree, if the Canyon Dancer had been deployed with a lot less pressue there wouldn't have been a problem.:bolt
 
I used a Canyon Dancer when I last moved. It did what it was supposed to do, I had no damage to the bike /6. I snugged the machine down without going crazy with it. Permitting the suspension to function to a restricted degree worked well.

I rode the lake Champlain ferry to and from the second Vermont rally that was held in Essex Junction. No tie downs were used, the bikes were loaded first, parked with side stand deployed & transmission in gear. I kept my eye on the machine & thus the others & at no time did I see any of them move in such a way as to worry me. The lake was active but not to any great degree. Bikes were unloaded first as well.

I would suggest that you should concentrate more on the technique needed for riding a motorcycle on a smooth and sometimes wet steel deck and ramps that have a very low coefficient of friction.
 
I would suggest that you should concentrate more on the technique needed for riding a motorcycle on a smooth and sometimes wet steel deck and ramps that have a very low coefficient of friction.

Yes, that is an important warning. Thank you.

I am grateful to all posters so far. A variety of pros and cons have been stated, which is to be expected.

I have looked at other threads, which was suggested, and studied the photos which were informative.

Looks like a strap for the sidestand would be a good idea, since it must remain deployed. If the bike is in gear, that should not be a poblem, but a strap is pretty reassuring, simple, and cheap.

I'll keep looking at the bike and try to source some strap extenders that i can keep clean and stay clear of tupperware.

Might still get the Canyon Dancer, but will ensure gentle fork compression only if they are used. I'm thinking i might attach these after the crew does their thing, just as a precaution, but i do find it interesting that there are lots of comments that say " don't sweat too much over ferry travel ".

It is an adventure... :D
 
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