81" bike in a 72" bed..hmmm

For some reason I thought my goldwing would fit in a 6' truck bed when
suddenly I realized I was reading the wheelbase measurement and not
center of back wheel to end of front tire..this put's approx 6 inches
on the truck tailgate. I'm not concerned with loading the GW but
carrying it safely..how is this accomplished with such a long bike in
a shortbed?

 

I can do that,will I also need some kind of wheel chock/brace for the
front wheel? As you can tell I'm a total newbie to hauling a MC so my
plan is to load it at a nearby loading dock and offload it at my
destination so I hopfully won't need ramps.

 

Got U-Haul in your area?

U-Haul rents dedicated motorcycle trailers that aren't very high and
they have a built in ramp. Problem with a trailer is that you have to
tow it very cautiously, as it has no springs and will throw the
motorcycle off it if you get into an accident and the trailer
jacknifes on you.

And you can't have too many tie-downs when you're towing a motorcycle
trailer, the bouncing loosens up the best tie-downs.

I don't like to haul a motorcycle in a pickup with the tailgate down,
but most motorcycles can be loaded diagonally.

My 1982 GS1100 is 87.6 inches long and I can fit it in a pickup truck
with a 72-inch bed *and* close the tail gate, because I turn the
handlebars to the left just as soon as the front wheel gets into the
bed.

Once the front wheel is neatly tucked up against the left hand front
corner of the bed, I stand on the left side of the motorcycle and grab
the rear frame of the motorcycle under the seat and use the power of
my legs to get the weight off the rear tire and push the rear end of
the motorcycle to the right with my lower body.

Hu-aaah!

This will probably be impossible with your Gold Wing's saddlebags in
place.

Plastic truck bed liners help a bit when you're trying to slide the
rear end sideways. The corrugated pattern in the bed is another story
though.

You might consider using a flat piece of slippery ABS plastic (like on
old number plate) under the rear tire's contact contact patch to help
slide the wheel.

I've loaded the GS-1100 in the back of my truck by myself several
times, but I take advantage of any slope or elevated surface I can
back the truck up to.

If there is no elevated surface or slope and nobody around to help,
the back end of a truck can be lowered 4 to 6 inches by letting the
air out of the tires and then pumping them back up with an air
compressor after the motorcycle is loaded.

Every bit helps when loading a heavy bike into a truck.

 

Here's an informational thread about securing motorcycles for travel;
it's from the VFR mailing list, so oriented towards that bike, but
suggestions can be adapted (and links point to other
discussions/articles).
HTH!

--
Later,
John



'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

 

Oops! I neglected the URL!:
https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/archive/vfr/2006-August/msg00054.shtml

--
Later,
John



'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

 

On each side of the front wheel, attach a piece of 2x4 to the 3/4"
plywood that PoorUB recommended. That's enough to keep it from
creeping around. You could also put a piece on each side of the
back wheel if you want, but I don't usually worry about it.

 

Just park it in the middle of the bed with the front wheel against the
back of the cab. Use two tiedowns, one at each side of the handle bar,
and tie it down hard pushing the front wheel against the cab depressing
the suspension a fair amount. Done.

Ulf

 

This seems to be the solution (above) using 4 inch channel..maybe even
aluminum.