Trailering bike on stands

[TTD]

Would someone explain why you would want to do this?

I don't see any positive, and several negatives:

1 - if your front stand mounts in your steering stem, you are transferring all shock loads from bumps directly to your steering stem bearings... with ZERO reduction in force except that provided by your trailer suspension


2 - your rear stand is either spools or L-shaped. If spools, you're transferring a lot of load to a small part that was not designed to handle it (the spools).

If L-shaped, those things generally don't have enough "bite" to keep things from sliding around, but I guess if you tied it down tight enough, it could work.

But... WHAT benefit is there?

I am really confused by this idea.


I have heard that doing this allows you to not have to tighten the suspension so much?

Well, if you use 4 straps and put your front wheel in a C-channel, you don't have to crank down on a bike that is on it's wheels either.

If you don't have a C-channel mounted to the front of your pickup /trailer... then simply run an extra tie-down or two to keep the front wheel straight (assuming you're not using canyon dancers which pretty much keep the front wheel straight through leverage on the bars)

NOTE: I am personally not a huge fan of the canyon dancer since the potential is there to screw with your throttle grip... but if you're careful in how you apply they seem to work.

My very simple method that has worked for 10 plus years is to use short straps around the lower triple clamp... and attach those to tie downs pulling forward.

I also use 2 tiedowns at the back of the bike, pulling down and preferably rearward.

If you have a wheel chock in front, great... otherwise a C-bracket or other means to stabilize the front wheel.

Oh well... enough of this. Just had to write because the stand idea REALLY seems like a risk ... with no benefit.

And finally.... if you don't know already... NEVER leave your kickstand down while trailering. All forces are transmitted through the stand directly to your frame!

[legalspeed]

I did it once, never again.

It raises the center of gravity which magnifies each bump.

[Zero]

Tony do you have any pics of your setp with a bike in there? I was looking at your setup as I have a T100 also. Would like to put two bike in at from time to time. I saw the little brackets you had bolted to the bed.

[TTD]

I don't have a photo of the brackets, but they are standard brackets you could probably get at a home depot type store.

The ones I got are sort of like a U, with two flanges (one on each side).

The U holds the tire, and then I drilled holes in the flanges to secure tie downs.

I bolted the unit right to the back of the pickup bed.

[Zero]

I saw them on your truck, I guess I was just curious if the tire actually sat in the bracket, but you answered that question. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that they are actually bolted to the bed. Not sure about taking a drill to the bed.

[TTD]

I find it hard to believe that anyone that buys the truck after me would not appreciate having them there... so I figured it was a permanent fixture.

Believe me... I am very anal about my truck and would not do anything to detract from it's value.

I even "gooped" the bolt holes before tightening everything to keep any moisture out.

My next step is to have the brackets "coated" with the same material that they make the bed liner stuff... the Rhino Lining type stuff.

I've painted the brackets several times, but it always peels off from the tie downs.

[TTD]

... also, I would not feel comfortable securing the tie downs to the brackets unless they were heavy duty AND bolted directly to the bed.

[Half Squid]

This probably aroused from my post. I just did this this weekend and it was succesfull, but as you said it transfers all the load toi the tripple and could do more harm than good in the long run.

I was happy with how it kept the bike tied down very firmly, but not worth the risks. I did have to use extra straps to be sure the bike/stands and tie down points were all tied together well.

Worked for me once, but will never do it again because of the reasons Tony States above...
Y As much as I tied it in you can see a little were the rear stand still slid a bit.