Leaving the cold and snow for the sunny south. Need some good advice on anchoring the glide down in the back of the truck. Are the crash bars a good anchor point. Where else do you tie down on the front and back. Do you use soft straps on the handle bars at the bar clamps. how about the forks above the triple clamp. I don't want the glide coming loose. I hate I 75 through Michigan. It has to be the roughest road in North America. Merry Christmas everyone Ken
I would use Soft straps around the handle bars and the top of the rear shocks, along with good ratchet straps. Have someone set on the bike and compress the suspension before you crank down on the ratchet straps and you should be good to go!
i'd use tie-downs at the front forks where they meet the wheel (try to keep the tie-downs at a 45 degree angle to the anchor posts) as well as at the rear shocks (bags removed). i'm not an expert, but i did stay at a holiday inn last night.
You are 100% right about not relying on the handle bars as your "ONLY" tie downs, if your not using a wheel Dock on the front of a touring bike the handle bars are the easiest place to tie to and will be fine just as a means of keeping the bike up-right. The "weight" of the bike should be held by the rear shock attachment.
Thanks for the feedback. I have soft straps around the handlebars, soft straps around the forks above the triple clamps and straps around the crash bars. I have a Rampage power lift that the bike is anchored to. the crash bars are tied to the truck box anchors. The rear is tied from the passenger floor boards to the Rampage. I think that it is quite secure. I took it out for a road test and everything seems fine. The front straps are 2 inch wide so there should be lots of strength to the straps. When I first was loading I had some old hooks laying around that I used. Bad mistake. The bike was on the ramp going into the truck bed when one hook snapped. The bike flipped to one side but luckily the front wheel cradle stopped it from falling, and I was able to let it rest there for a minute while I got some more straps to secure it . Of course I was by myself doing this so now I will be over cautious. Thanks again Ken