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How to trailer, and how not to.

cjcavitt

Member
Riding home Sunday night from Thunder Beach at Panama City, FL, I was amazed to see how many bikes were improperly strapped down on trailers. These bikes were leaning on the kickstand while being strapped. The load on the kickstand increases dramatically when the bike bounces on the trailer due to bumpy roads, possibly causing the kickstand to fail. Then the term “sucks to be you” applies. One trailer had two very nice Harleys with the kickstands on the same 2x4 so the bikes would be more vertical.

The proper way is to have the bike straight up so the load is spread evenly on both straps. Kickstand should not touch the ground. I leave my kickstand down for when I pull off the right strap first. Only have to drop a bike once to figure that one out (Thank God it was my first bike, 1972 Suzuki TS125)

I also found it funny that someone would have a $20-75K bike and a crappy trailer with worn out tires. If that was you I seen, sorry, but go spend some money and get a better trailer.
 
Good post. I had a suzuki TS100 in high school. What a crappy bike haha. Downhill wide open I could do 60mph! But back then I thought I was somebody.
 
How many times do you see a 600+ pound motorcycle strapped down with cheap straps that are rated for 500 pounds? Gee, I wonder how those straps will hold up when the 600 pound bike is pulling against them from a sudden stop? Why take a chance on damaging your bike by buying cheap straps?
 
How many times do you see a 600+ pound motorcycle strapped down with cheap straps that are rated for 500 pounds? Gee, I wonder how those straps will hold up when the 600 pound bike is pulling against them from a sudden stop? Why take a chance on damaging your bike by buying cheap straps?


Yes but i believe those ratings are per strap, so 2 or 3 straps would be sufficient enough to hold 800 pounds.
 
Yes but i believe those ratings are per strap, so 2 or 3 straps would be sufficient enough to hold 800 pounds.

The problem is when the force of the stop is applied to the 600 pound bike that bike now pulls against the straps with the force of 2-4 times the weight of the bike. It's for this reason they don't wnat you to hold a child on your lap in the car but in a safety seat. The 40 pound child weighs 3-6 times that weight when the car hits something. I saw my BIL strap his 750 pound quad to the trailer using straps that couldn't have been rated for 100 pounds. Not to smart.
 
I have not heard anyone mention that you should have the front wheel chocked so it can't turn from side to side while trailering. I found a great one for 25 bucks at the Honda dealership. I used to have a Honda and still have the tire chock. Its wide enough for my front tire to slip perfectly into and bolts down in just minutes. I also use handlebar straps. I scratched the heck out of a set of handlebars onces when the black covering came off the hook. I found these for a couple of bucks and they work great.
One other thing I did was to install two sets of eyelets on my trailer for each tiedown spot. I like a back up plan and have two straps mounted at each of the four points I hook onto my scoot. It pays to have a back up plan!
 
These straps are great for keeping those pesky s-hooks from damaging or scratching that prized motorcycle you are transporting. Simply choke the strap around the handlebars and hook your s-hook through the other end of this strap. It eliminates the "S" hook on the bars completely.

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Good to see the comment on trailering with the bike resting on the jiffy stand. I’ve see a lot of that and always thought it was a bad way to go. I know chocks can be expensive but I've used the Condor SC2000 in a trailer and thought it was great. Recently purchased a Condor PS1500 at the fall the Thunder Beach rally. It doubles as a stand alone chock in you garage, etc. Great for standing your bike straight up when changing primary or trans fluids. Easy to install/remove from trailer.

My approach to straps and mounting the bike is will this hold up to a hard jolt, minor fender bender, etc. My straps may be a little bit of over kill but it makes me more confident in the haul.

Had a little problem when the PS1500 arrived because Condor put in the wrong hardware and instructions. The unit I received was also an older model, i.e., not the one I expected. Small differences, but not what I thought I had purchased. But I gotta say that Custom Dynamics, the vendor I purchased the PS1500 from, was absolutely great in fixing the problem! Has sent me a new unit. Good to deal with service minded companies.
 
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