Tie down FJR

[Redfish Hunter]

'Fish, you are sounding more and more like HRZilla with every post....I swear!

I demand you take that back!

Of all the mean and hateful things I have been told during my time here on the forum that has to be the single most insulting thing I have ever had directed at me. In fact, I cannot recall anyone ever being told something that awful here, ever. I would rather be a fluffer in Bustanut Joker's next Sheep Loving Film or be forced to wash the racing stripes out of Beemerdons monogrammed BMW underoos than ever be insulted like this again.

Of course, there have been a couple of times that Zilla actually said something worthwhile.

And I seriously hate the Canyon Dancers. Seriously.

 

[RadioHowie]

"Mean and hateful" is what we're good at, ain't it??

 

[garyahouse]

Hey Howie:

Maybe you and Skooter could adopt both of them. Then Z and Fish would be brothers with two mothers. What a happy family y'all would make. The chemistry between the four of your could easily spawn the next blockbuster sitcom...

Gary

darksider #44

 

[JoeShep]

Wow thats a lot of feedback thanks. I think I will stick with my main plan of most of the stress on the canyon cages but will use Canyon Dancers for a little extra stability on the handlebars. Gonna go with side stand up as I agree with the moving suspension idea. Gonna build a simple wheel chock as well just for grins. I hate it when the front wheel moves when your trailering. Sorry to offend the sensibilities of the real riders by bringing up the trailer concept but the wife just won't drive the rig by herself. After 40 years I have learned no to piss her off.

 

[Abercrombie FJR]

Oh damn, here we go again.
I will swim against the tide here and say that I HATE HATE HATE the Canyon Dancers. If you put enough strain on them to feel comfortable with the act of tying the bike down, you have put too much stress on the handlebars. As Fred W pointed out, they also "smush" the grips.

Use a front wheel chock if possible. These cost less than you might think and are well worth the price. Use soft straps to go around the bottom triple clamp, then attach your ratchet straps to the soft straps. This may require installing eyebolts in the trailer floor. There are several good ways to tie the rear.

Do not use the sidestand, you want the suspension to move. You also don't want to tie the bike down too tightly, you want the suspension to function.

Since the last time this subject came up there was at least one particularly belligerent jack ass who objected to my comment about Riding Instead of Trailering I feel compelled to add this just to irritate those with thin skin and no sense of humor:

I have no idea how you would tie one down. Mine has never broke down where I could not get it to the dealership. I cannot imagine trailering it otherwise.

I have found it is nearly impossible to use the bottom triple clamps to tie the FJR unless your tie down points are directly next to the front wheel. The fairing will not allow for the tie down points to be wide enough to effectively hold the bike up and the front brake plumbing will not allow the straps to be crossed across the forks. I wish I could use the triple clamps location on the FJR as I think it is the safest location but I have never seen it work in any of my applications.

Redfish you are right. The first generation of Canyon Dancers would pull your grips toward the center if you didn't have them properly positioned but the second generation with added padded to the grip cup is grip safe. I hate using the handle bars as my anchor but I haven't found a better system and have had no problems using Canyon dancer 2s for years.

Yep, I admit it, I haul my bikes sometimes! There I said it. I can slab a bike, have nothing to prove, and have knocked out a Saddle sore 1000s and a Bunburner 1500. I didn't even bother to turn in my paperwork. I like riding with my wife but she refuses to travel by bike and my boys don't want to ride sport bikes long distances so I haul them in a four place trailer and like it. Last year I hauled all three of my bikes along with the wife's sportster to Red Lodge MT. Next day I rode Bear's Tooth Pass on all three of my bikes in one day and still cant wipe the smile off my face.

 

[Hudson]

I'm with Niehart and Redfish: not a fan of the canyon dancers. In fact, I have a pair I will sell you dirt cheap, I dislike them so much.

I towed the FJR 1200 miles to SCal on a trip, and the Bonneville for about the same distance. Used the lower triple clamp. The real winner was using a Condor chock, which grabs the front wheel in a vice grip hold, and allows you to use the lower fork brace to pull the bike forward, instead of downward. Bike didn't move an inch.

Liked this setup so much, I put another Condor in my truck bed recently. Now I can tow the travel trailer with the dirt bike in the bed, and not compress the crap out of the suspension.

 

[Abercrombie FJR]

Quote "I towed the FJR 1200 miles to SCal on a trip, and the Bonneville for about the same distance. Used the lower triple clamp. The real winner was using a Condor chock, which grabs the front wheel in a vice grip hold, and allows you to use the lower fork brace to pull the bike forward, instead of downward. Bike didn't move an inch.

Liked this setup so much, I put another Condor in my truck bed recently. Now I can tow the travel trailer with the dirt bike in the bed, and not compress the crap out of the suspension."


If I could use the Condor E track adaptor with a condor chock and be able to get to the triple clamp with a soft tie to a decent anchor point, that would be the ticket! A very expensive ticket for a four place trailer. I guess I will have to keep using my Canyon Dancer 2s tied to my E- track till I hit the lottery.

E track adaptor

 

[Redfish Hunter]

While I have not trailered recently I did enjoy having everything in the truck. The bike did not have to be heavily loaded with luggage, we could all visit and discuss the trip while in the truck. It has its good points.

Of course, I am compelled to be the abrasive jerk I have always been and make sarcastic little comments about "Real Riders don't Trailer".

We used front wheel chocks bought from Harbor Freight. They have a pivoting mechanism that holds the bike in place very securely. We installed eye bolts in the trailer floor so that the straps we attached to the lower triple clamps did not spread out too far and rub the fairing. I had no issues with the angle of the straps since we were using the front wheel chocks.

As of now Pop will not even consider trailering. I think it is because he wants to savor every second of every bike trip. If... IF Mrs. Redfish will allow me to purchase a new dual sport I will be trailering again.

 

[Fred W]

What? Why trailer your bike when you could ride it?

Because you want to have some knobbies left when you get to the trail head.

JSNS.

 

[BkerChuck]

+1 on the Harbor Freight pivoting wheel chock.

I had to subject my bike to being trailered last year for a vacation. Wife and I could have handled the ride but the other couple we travel with couldn't. Our good friend Mikey broke a hip in a 4 wheeler crash several years ago and still has a fair amount of discomfort from it. Gives him about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour threshold before he has to stop and take a break. It was easier to just trailer the 3 bikes and the 4 of us ride in the truck and enjoy the trip.

Wheel chock for the front wheel, nylon loops around my handlebars to give us distance from the bodywork and ratcheting straps to eyebolts in the trailer floor. 2 straps around rear wheel to tie down points, sidestand in the up position. Saddlebags removed and carried in truck bed.

 

[okeefjr]

FYI... there are two types of Canyon Dancers. The ones I have (the original type) are two interlocking straps with web loops the handle bars go through. When these are used they have the tendency to smoosh your hand grips as they try to pull each other towards the center of the bike. (please note that I have never subjected my FJR to such brutal treatment, that is just for the dual sport bike)
The newer style CDs have a plastic cup at the ends that bars fit into. This limits the amount of smooshing that happens to your grips and controls. If I were buying new ones I'd go for those.

As an aside: Is triple towing a bike trailer behind a 5th wheel even legal?

Not legal in any state that touches the Atlantic but I have done it the last 4 years and never been stopped. The problem is If you are involved in an accident the Bottom Feeders are going to clean your clock. To be legal in western states you must have brake away brakes on your trailer. Just be careful.