Loading Zone....

[BroHay]

I don't have the money for trailer with a ramp and see it done with dirtbikes all the time (but if you can drop a few hundred pounds -- the FZ would be easy too....) -- but anyone care to comment on loading a bike in the back of a truck? I have my own ideas on the matter, but something tells me that I should listen to the voice of experience......

Do's/DON'TS.....and anything in between. I don't have to load my FZ yet -- but that may change here if I have to go on location to build some homes b/c I'm not going to leave the bike behind and be reduced to driving the twisties in an F-350.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[va_rider]

I used to put mine in the truck all of the time.... have a set of curved aluminum ramps... put the bike in gear, and walk up one ramp, bike on the other... after getting it into the truck, put the front tire against the front rail, and tie down the bars using a Canyon Dancer.... you *can* tie down the back as well, but I've driven with just the front straps cinched for thousands of miles through highway and twisties...

some notes:
Don't compress the forks all of the way while transporting... you don't want them bottomed out.
if it's raining, stop and check the straps every so often.

 

[NJFZ1]

I agree with va_rider. I've used the two ramp approach to load bikes into the back of trucks. You can even get three ramps and put them against each other for a nice wide ramp. One trick is to back up the truck perpendicular to the sidewalk so that the angle of the ramp is decreased since you're using the height of the sidewalk to your advantage...sort of like a mini loading dock. Oh and those aluminum ramps fold in half so they're easy to transport.

 

[Lonerider59]

I use these in the bed of my truck and also in the small trailer that I pull with my RV
Plastic Motorcycle Wheel Chocks by BLACK+GRAY

I took a couple 2x12's and bolted them side by side for running the bike up into either and use another 2x12 to walk beside the double. It works pretty well and is cheap enough. I painted both sets with a traction paint so I and the bike have traction. If your truck is rather tall like my 4x4 you'll probably need 10 or 12 foot material. The trailer is only about 1 1/2 off the ground so 6-8 ft. is fine for that. The Black and Gray units hold the bike in place really well when tied with good straps.

 

[Etroze]

Going to Ohio from North Dakota i loaded on a hill with a couple of ramps then compressed the suspension about half way so its just stiff enough to keep itself from bouncing up and down and if your really worried you can try putting the kickstand down or put it on the center stand then you know it wont bounce