Transporting bike on rear stand?

[paul_f]

I will add that when hauling in an open trailer I tend to be a belt-and-suspenders person, using two sets of tie downs at the front.

I also always use four straps at front of the bike attached to four different tie down points on my trailer. I figure with only two straps, if one broke loose, a lot of damage could happen; four is cheap insurance if that should ever occur. Of course four front straps always has given me a lot of grief from whoever helps me load or unload, always saying it is overkill.

 

[classicvw]

Ken, The only thing I disagree with the manual is that it says to compress the suspension as much as possible. Just what does “as much as possible” mean? Compress it all the way down to the suspension’s limit? Or compress it to the limit of your own strength? Halfway or so is plenty to be secure and to give some suspension “bounce” when hitting bumps and potholes with the trailer. I don’t recall where but in the past I did see one manufacturer say not to try to compress the suspension all the way.

 

[omega man]

I thought they compressed the suspension for crating/shipping?
OM

 

[PGlaves]

On Telelever equipped bikes like Voni's R1100RS I ties at the front to the fork legs just above the cross member by the lower ball joint. This ties the lower fork and tire/wheel down tightly but leaves the front of the motorcycle to float on the bike's suspension. On this bike tying to the handlebars would be a near instant disaster because the aluminum bar section would snap at the first bump, if not before.

 

[mjfink420]

Ken, The only thing I disagree with the manual is that it says to compress the suspension as much as possible. Just what does “as much as possible” mean? Compress it all the way down to the suspension’s limit? Or compress it to the limit of your own strength? Halfway or so is plenty to be secure and to give some suspension “bounce” when hitting bumps and potholes with the trailer. I don’t recall where but in the past I did see one manufacturer say not to try to compress the suspension all the way.

Unless you're going to the Baja 500 with the bike in the back of your pickup, I can't imagine why you'd need (or want) to go nuts compressing the suspension. The straps are only there to hold the bike upright, not the jam it into the floor. Especially if you go with 4 straps, you'd have to have a LOT go wrong before the bike fell over, IMHO.

 

[20774]

In my limited time hauling bikes, I was under the impression that you want the suspension compressed roughly half way. That way there's upward pressure on the restraints and it's sufficient strong to prevent bottoming out. You don't want a wheel bouncing and migrating to the side which does lead to all kinds of problems. Additionally tying the wheel to secure locations floor high left and right add to reducing the wheel migrating sideways.

 

[etiennelau]

I've done the following on all my MC. Roll it onto trailer until it reaches chock or front of trailer. Put it on side stand. Use 4 straps to tie it down. The combination of all 4 straps pulling down and forward pulls the MC off the side stand and secures the MC.

 

[Lendog]

Anyone know if it's OK to, after putting the bike a chock (front wheel) to put the rear wheel up on a stand for transporting it? Not using the stand to avoid tying the bike down, just as a place to put the stand so it's out of the way? I have the Pitbull rear stand, and, while it's awesome, it's also not exactly a shape that makes for easy packing. I was thinking just putting it in place under the rear tire (normally, how you'd typically use it) after tying the bike down. It doesn't seem like a terrible idea, but also not something I've seen done before, so wondered if there was a good reason not to do it.

I would recommend not using the stand as support during transport

 

[Lendog]

In my limited time hauling bikes, I was under the impression that you want the suspension compressed roughly half way. That way there's upward pressure on the restraints and it's sufficient strong to prevent bottoming out. You don't want a wheel bouncing and migrating to the side which does lead to all kinds of problems. Additionally tying the wheel to secure locations floor high left and right add to reducing the wheel migrating sideways.

this is how BMW ships new bikes to reduce the possibility of damage

 

[kbowman]

Ken, The only thing I disagree with the manual is that it says to compress the suspension as much as possible. Just what does “as much as possible” mean? Compress it all the way down to the suspension’s limit? Or compress it to the limit of your own strength? Halfway or so is plenty to be secure and to give some suspension “bounce” when hitting bumps and potholes with the trailer. I don’t recall where but in the past I did see one manufacturer say not to try to compress the suspension all the way.

I tighten the straps until they are good and tight (TLAR - that looks about right). I agree it is probably not a good idea to fully compress the suspension. Maximum payload on my bike is 467 lbs (212 kg), though, and I don't think I could fully compress the suspension with regular hand-operated ratchet straps. Even at max load it must still have substantial suspension travel.

My truck and motorcycle trailer have suspensions, so the motorcycle suspension is largely redundant when hauling. If a bike is loosely tied down, as I have seen some do, the bike can gradually shift sideways as the bike unweights on bumps and then tip over. I've seen bikes tied with straps so loose the bike slaps back and forth against the straps when moving. That could put a much higher force on the bike than snugging it down.

Perhaps this thread should be classified with oil and tire threads?

Cheers, Ken

 

[mjfink420]

I tighten the straps until they are good and tight (TLAR - that looks about right). I agree it is probably not a good idea to fully compress the suspension. Maximum payload on my bike is 467 lbs (212 kg), though, and I don't think I could fully compress the suspension with regular hand-operated ratchet straps. Even at max load it must still have substantial suspension travel.

My truck and motorcycle trailer have suspensions, so the motorcycle suspension is largely redundant when hauling. If a bike is loosely tied down, as I have seen some do, the bike can gradually shift sideways as the bike unweights on bumps and then tip over. I've seen bikes tied with straps so loose the bike slaps back and forth against the straps when moving. That could put a much higher force on the bike than snugging it down.

Perhaps this thread should be classified with oil and tire threads?

Cheers, Ken

Depends on the rachet strap. I have some (for my tractors) that could easily generate 100's of lbs of force (per strap). A normal one, like most people haul with, I agree, you'd have to go nuts on the mechanism, but if you have some of the "big boys", the ones you put your whole hand into to operate; I have to think a lot of people could generate a few 100 lbs of pull using that type of strap.