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Dan350's avatar
Dan350
Explorer
May 08, 2015

How do you load/secure mororcycles? Photos?

Hi All. Been looking to move up to a toy hauler. How does everyone secure motorcycles? All I'm seeing is D-rings in the garage floors. I'm mechanically inclined & can do mods.
  • Full length L or E tracks in the floors for complete adjustability of tie down points.

    I use ratchet straps designed for motorcycles - positive snap attachments on the floor end that cannot come undone, and soft straps and hooks on the bike end so no metal is hooked to the bike. Two in the front through the triple tree and two on the rear to the frame, rear foot pegs, rear crash guards, depending on the bike...

    I use a couple wraps of electrical tape on the strap hooks to close the hook so it cannot come undone, rather than over compressing the bikes suspension.

    It seems to be getting to be more of a Great Impossibility to engineer bridge decks and rr crossings to be level with the road...we crashed over a creek bridge once, stopped immediately and found a Gold Wing lying on it's guards in the trailer. No more untaped hooks after that one.
  • Get a $40 wheel chock from Harbor Freight

    here

    That plus 4 ratcheting tie-downs into D-rings will work fine. 4 bolts remove the chock from the flat base plate.
  • Dakota98 wrote:
    I highly recommend the use of THESE for securing the handle bars & in conjunction with your chosen type of ratchet strap.

    Secure the rear tire from bouncing around by running a ratchet strap through the rear wheel a few times & then tying it to "D" rings at the back of the bike.


    I will second the recommendation for those straps, I use six.

    I recommend you attach around the triple tree versus the handlebars if you can. Also, attach to the frame, and ratchet down, and take the bounce out of the bike.
  • I highly recommend the use of THESE for securing the handle bars & in conjunction with your chosen type of ratchet strap.

    Secure the rear tire from bouncing around by running a ratchet strap through the rear wheel a few times & then tying it to "D" rings at the back of the bike.
  • Run a ratcheting tie down strap to the handlebar on the right side, connecting the other side to a d-ring or eye bolt on the floor on the right side, ahead of the front wheel. Then do the same on the left side. Attach another strap somewhere on the right side aft of the seat (like where a shock would mount), and connect the other end of that strap to the floor aft of the bike. Do the same on the left side.
  • Easy enough to install a front wheel chock if you like. I would not, just because I don't want to trip over it when the bike is out, or fool around with removing it. I would just tie it down with four straps. I've carried several bikes many miles that way in my trucks.

    It's also true that occasionally the tires can move a bit sideways on rough roads and you have to watch for that. Or just add some straps to the bottom of the wheels to prevent it.
  • My problem with a Toy Hauler is, why give up 10 foot or more of your trailer just to haul a motorcycle, & if there is a gas or oil leak from the motorcycle while in the Toy Hauler, your whole trailer smells like gas/oil..this is the reason I haul my bike in the pickup bed with a travel trailer, which I use D-rings to tie my bike to the pickup bed.