Trailering Vaquero

[Keith72]

Going to be renting a u haul motorcycle trailer. Where is the best place to attach tie down straps on bike?

[Framer]

When I trailered my Voyager I used a wheel chock and strapped to front and back crash bars

[Thom]

I trailerd with an enclosed uhaul last summer. I attached my ratchets to the triple tree in the front and to the bag guards in the rear. I also placed a piece of 2x10 under the stand to level it up more when the straps were secured. Depending on how far you are towing a little precaution goes a long way. Check those straps from time to time as they do loosen up

[skullbagger]

trailering my vaquero, used the bottom triple tree under the fairing
straight down from there to anchor points on my trailer
rear went to frame right in front of the rear wheel and down to anchor points
just to keep the rear from dancing side to side.
both tires sit in 6" channel iron that runs the length of the trailer too!
main thing is to maintain a good triangle on the front without damaging the faring.

[twowheeladdict]

Buy quality ratchet straps and make sure there is plenty of material ratcheted around the mechanism to reduce the chance of coming loose.

I prefer to be safe than sorry so I put straps on the lower triple tree, front crash bars, rear crash bars, and if I don't have a wheel chock, I put a short strap through the front tire to a vertical rail on the trailer.

Just the triple the straps will hold the bike. The rest are there in case I have to slam on the brakes or weave to avoid something.

[mbarr10]

Not sure if it is true, But I have read that you tighten the straps to pull the bike down to 1/2 of the shock travel distance, so when you hit a bump the straps do not come loose. From the bike bouncing.

Any truth in this from you experienced trailering people?

[H8BUGZ]

Zip tie the strap hooks to the attachment points or use straps that have built in clips/retainers. Big bumps can compress suspension and straps with no tension have been known to come unhooked.

[twowheeladdict]

Originally Posted by mbarr10

Not sure if it is true, But I have read that you tighten the straps to pull the bike down to 1/2 of the shock travel distance, so when you hit a bump the straps do not come loose. From the bike bouncing.

Any truth in this from you experienced trailering people?

I usually add bungee cords to the straps to retain tension when trailering long suspension bikes. These big cruisers only have 5.5 inches in front and 3.1 inches in the rear. Very unlikely.

[Keith72]

Thanks guys Im renting a UHaul motorcycle trailer. So it has the wheel chock built into the trailer which I like. I guess Ill have to wait and see once I get the trailer to see if I can use the lower triple tree or the crash bars. Will definitely use the rear crash bars as well.

[mrtelefoneman1]

I would also use caution when ratcheting if using the triple tree. Don't go too tightly. As the bike and trailer bounces, you could run the risk of blowing a fork seal. Leave a little play. For what it's worth, on my Nad, I use the front and rear crash bars with no issues.

[MAS Tequila]

Don't over compress the forks, unless you like leaking fork oil.

About half of the travel will completely secure the bike to the trailer.

I've seen a lot of 'in the know' people only use 2 straps on the front and go flying down the road.

I believe in redundancy, so I always double up on my straps, just in case.

Please don't buy the cheap ass straps from Harbor Freight or Homo Depot, get a good set of 2" straps.

I bought a set that are purpose made for trailering bikes, they work so much easier and release with one click.

And make sure your straps don't rub on ANYTHING.

They could break, or scar your baby.

[Crash]

I recently trailered my 2010 Voyager to Myrtle Beach from Central Tennessee. I only strapped the crash bars front and rear. I had two on the front ones. one pulling forward and one pulling to the side to prevent warping. I did use a simple wheel chock.