How to tie down a bike ...

I've been meaning to post on this subject for months...   I'd started this ....   hell... late last year, but never finished it up.   Over the last few decades, I've moved bikes in the back of my truck.....   open trailers ( like in the pic ) .. back of Toy Haulers and .. enclosed trailers. Over the years, I've had a couple of bikes come loose. This can be attributed to not having a solid wheel chock in place and even using crappy straps.

One thing that always comes up is .. 'where to connect the straps?".   This is a legit problem / question. Some bikes like the Chieftain in the pic below, have a fairing that can get in the way.   My HD Roadglide has the same issue. There there is the concern of strapping it down too tight and screwing up the fork seals from over compressing the shocks. In the early days, I overlooked strapping down the back and had a bike or two shift on me. I soon started strapping the rear wheel down, but this is't the best option.

Gotta' tell you ... I've solved the problem. It's so simple, I'm surprised more don't do it. Here it is in a nutshell.

1. Get a chock for the front tire. This can be a $50.00 china product or a $300 top end chock. But , mount it solid to the trailer so it won't go anywhere. Second, attach straps to the bottom of the forks, near the fender mounts. You can cinch this TIGHT since it won't be compressing your shocks. I used to come off the handlebars. Off the triple trees. Mounts off the frame/fork area. But you compress the shocks that way. Not necessary. Like I said... attach near for bottom of the front forks. Then, to keep the ass end from moving around, find a point near the rear passenger pegs and go straight down to a mount point in the trailer. I've used the rear pegs. Used the rear crash bars. Even the bike frame. Cinch these down well. If you can't go straight down, then locate a mount point to the side if necessary ( similar to the pic ).   The bike will be SOLID.

That's it .   it's not rocket science!   With a few bucks spent on quality straps to use, you've got a trailer queen that will arrive in one piece