FJR in an F150

[redtail]

Wanting to have it all is my dilemma!

When we travel with our 5th wheel RV, I have to leave the bike home. I'd like the wife to be with me more often on rides so compromises must be made.

I'm planning to be at the Big Sur RTE which is 4 to 5 hours from home. I'd like to avoid putting Laurie through that much slab. She's fine with it, actually, but I can't help thinking I'd get her ride more often if it was as fun as possible!

We're also planning to stay in the area for a few days, so packing was another issue. I want her to be able to relax and have whatever she wants (like a stack of books!).

So I read as many threads on trailering the bike as I could and got some great advise. I also saw the u-tube videos of loading a bike gone bad! I've been hauling boats and pulling trailers all my life so most of this isn't new.

Here's my set-up so far...

Great place to load at home. I will have to find something similar when I unload. Won't work with ramp at full angle!

Plywood extending out on to the tail gate with wheel chock.

This is the trickiest place, but at this angle I can still touch the ground.

Up in the truck and locked in as easy as you please!

Soft ties and a ratchet strap to take some bounce out of the forks. Canyon Dancers to steady from above and back up.

Rear wheel is strapped down but I plan to include a couple of 2X3 rails to keep the wheel from shifting. Should strengthen the plywood over the tailgate as well.

The ramp even fits nicely inside the cage.

I drove it around the block. Hit some bumps and took some turns and it seems rock solid.

Anybody see any flaws? Improvements?

 

[03silverbullet]

It looks rock solid.

Where did you get that ramp?

 

[FJRay]

Looks good and safe and a healthy dose of overkill which is a good thing. Some of the lash ups you see on the road are scary. You should be able to find a driveway or ramp of some kind to unload. Have fun.

 

[noire]

Looking good, I have a similar set up that has worked for me for years . My ramp isn't quite as big as ours but does the same job. Now you've probable got the whole loading unloading figured out. I'll just mention a couple of points that in my inexperience I overlooked. A real scary one is when you are loadig and walking it up under power and you get a little aggressive with the power(for whatever reason) and you feel the ramp move under you. Note to self secure ramp to truck with one of your ratchet straps. Another exciting experience was early in my hauling career I was unloading and the ramp was pretty steep plus it is only 7 feet long. Lesson: put it in first engine off and use the clutch as your brake. It's a pretty weird feeling when your front wheel is skidding backwards down the ramp and of course you don't have your rear brake because you are walking the bike off. I'm sure you've got all that figured out just thought I'd mention it because I wish some one had told me I would have fewer grey hairs. Enjoy your trip.

 

[redtail]

It looks rock solid.

Where did you get that ramp?

ATV Ramp from Cabela's , Great camping supply company. Although the damn thing was made in china like everything else :angry:

It cost abt 160 bucks and I had to put my own plywood in. I drove back and forth over it, at a slight incline, before attempting to load and it's totally solid. I can also keep both feet on it when I ride it up!

 

[yamafitter]

Your setup appears to be better than hauling the FJR in the trunk of a Lumina ...

 

[redtail]

Your setup appears to be better than hauling the FJR in the trunk of a Lumina ...

That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid! :blink:

 

[redtail]

A real scary one is when you are loadig and walking it up under power and you get a little aggressive with the power(for whatever reason) and you feel the ramp move under you. Note to self secure ramp to truck with one of your ratchet straps.

I did hear a story like that. Ramp came with two straps that I hooked to the trailer hitch.

 

[gixxerjasen]

This is the trickiest place, but at this angle I can still touch the ground.

For what it's worth, we short folks hate you.

 

[cometman]

Great job! Impressive. I have a F150 and thought about doing just as you but you the man. Wow. Have to remember this thread.

I wonder if you end up in a totally flat area, desert or Kansas, you may have to just go for it......

 

[redtail]

Great job! Impressive. I have a F150 and thought about doing just as you but you the man. Wow. Have to remember this thread.

I wonder if you end up in a totally flat area, desert or Kansas, you may have to just go for it......

You can't just go for it, as the belly of the bike would hit when the rear wheel drops down the ramp(backing it down).

Of course, like you say, there's more than one level of "go for it"!

 

[gixxerjasen]

Back the bike into the bed of the truck. Then when you get where you are going rev up and drop the clutch and wheelie it out of the truck. Us AE folks will find this technique a little more difficult.

 

[wfooshee]

If you don't have a sloped place to unload/reload, let the air out of the truck's rear tires.

Um, you do have a 12V compressor, don't you???

 

[redtail]

If you don't have a sloped place to unload/reload, let the air out of the truck's rear tires.

Um, you do have a 12V compressor, don't you???

Actually, I do! That could save a guy in a pinch!

 

[gixxerjasen]

If you don't have a sloped place to unload/reload, let the air out of the truck's rear tires.

Um, you do have a 12V compressor, don't you???

This is also a solution if you get your F250 wedged into a parking garage you knew your truck was too tall for. I didn't share this information with the idiot standing next to his truck trying to figure out what to do while all the work traffic backed up behind him. I probably should have as he was nice enough to have left enough room on the right for a motorcycle to squeeze through though.

 

[TheZsdad]

Looks great. I'm sure you know to keep an eye on those two cables that support the tail gate. Having one break could spoil your day.

I had one break on me once loading a riding mower. The other held but it gave me a wake up call. Have fun in Big Sur.

 

[kman09]

Redtail,

Look's good to me,I'll have to save this for when I go to Olympia Washington next time.

Be sure to check tie down's when you stop for food, gas, pee break etc,. Have fun on your trip.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Here's a tip. Wherever you can, use a carabiner between those eye hooks and the round part of the hook on the strap. Using the hook through the eye can bounce out as you hit bumps and the bike moves a bit on it's suspension. With a carabiner through both it will NEVER come loose, unless your strap breaks. This also allows you to loosen some of the tension and not travel hundreds of miles over bumps with your suspension bottomed out.

When I transport my dirt bike I have softstraps around the handlebars and then a carabiner connecting them to the tie down strap. Then there's another carabiner through either the bed hook or an eye hook on a trailer. I make sure the cables are just snug and that the wheel can't slide side to side (This can happen but you are using a chock so no worries there) and let it bounce and have the suspension do it's job while it's in the truck/trailer. Again, no worrying about the hooks bouncing out and the only way it's coming loose is if a strap breaks, and that'll be a worry either way you do it.

 

[Joe2Lmaker]

A real scary one is when you are loadig and walking it up under power and you get a little aggressive with the power(for whatever reason) and you feel the ramp move under you. Note to self secure ramp to truck with one of your ratchet straps.

I did hear a story like that. Ramp came with two straps that I hooked to the trailer hitch.

O.K. I see that now. That'll work too.

The last thing you want is to have the front wheel in the box of the truck and the rear wheel using its traction to spit the ramp off the tailgate. Very Dangerous!