FJR in an F150

[Sno Cat]

Motorcycle dealerships often have a loading ramp / dock they let be used for free - is there one near where you'll be travelling?

Plan B could be to find an incline of any type & park the front tires of your F150 up the incline. This will decrease the angle of your tri-fold ramp.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Soft ties and a ratchet strap to take some bounce out of the forks.

Where are you attaching those to?

 

[escapefjrtist]

Soft ties and a ratchet strap to take some bounce out of the forks.

Where are you attaching those to?

Typically the soft tie is looped over the lower triple clamp. Angle the tie-down enough to miss the front fender, yet still miss the fairing.

--G

 

[gixxerjasen]

Oh yea, one other technique to keep the hooks from bouncing off, use a bungee cord between the holes in the hooks on the strap. that'll keep it snug and the hooks where they belong.

 

[Abercrombie FJR]

Nice operation RedTail. I have been hauling bikes in the back of a crew cab F150 using a similar technique for several years but you have given me some great ideas to make it better and safer. I will be instituting a wheel chock mounted to plywood from now on. It will eliminate two problems I have. like the front fender coming in contact with my tonneau cover frame and the rear tire riding on the tail gate leaving a slight dent. Too late to prevent the dent now but it won’t get worse.

 

[redtail]

Plan B could be to find an incline of any type & park the front tires of your F150 up the incline. This will decrease the angle of your tri-fold ramp.

That's so obvious, I could have missed it! Where I'm going this might be the more available option! Thank You very much!

 

[redtail]

Soft ties and a ratchet strap to take some bounce out of the forks.

Where are you attaching those to?

Typically the soft tie is looped over the lower triple clamp. Angle the tie-down enough to miss the front fender, yet still miss the fairing.

--G

Exactly right. One end of the soft tie fed through the other end and pulled tight to make it a little longer so the hook clears the plastic. It's a bit of a PITA to thread that end out the bottom, but a lot less effort than picking the bike back up if it tips over!

 

[fjrob1300]

Good job on the ramp. this was my set up a few years ago.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Plan B could be to find an incline of any type & park the front tires of your F150 up the incline. This will decrease the angle of your tri-fold ramp.

That's so obvious, I could have missed it! Where I'm going this might be the more available option! Thank You very much!

I wonder if a curb is high enough...those things are everywhere!

 

[Vermonta]

Be careful about bouncing the bottom of the fairing off from the ramp. I hit mine on a really small curb coming down off it and cracked it. Tried getting it fixed once and it didn't hold and way expensive for a replacement. Funning thing was I just barely hit the thing and that was all it took. Now I have 100 mile per hour gorilla tape holding it together.Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[CAJW]

Here's a system for those who want to keep their feet on the ground. I saw a similar system at the San Mateo MC show years ago, pretty slick! See ya'll at the RTE.

E-Power Motorcycle Lift

 

[HotRodZilla]

Here's a system for those who want to keep their feet on the ground. I saw a similar system at the San Mateo MC show years ago, pretty slick! See ya'll at the RTE.

E-Power Motorcycle Lift

$1800...Wow! However, if you hauled your bike a lot, or loaded lots of bikes, this would be the way to go. Pretty cool I think.

 

[RossKean]

From what I can see, you have plain plywood for the ramp. I think I would want to paint it with one of the non-slip finishes that contains a fairly coarse abrasive for traction. It could be a nightmare loading the bike in the rain. Wet plywood is pretty slick. Also it needs to be well sealed to prevent rot/weakening/delamination with exposure to the elements.

 

[JamesW]

Be careful about bouncing the bottom of the fairing off from the ramp. I hit mine on a really small curb coming down off it and cracked it. Tried getting it fixed once and it didn't hold and way expensive for a replacement. Funning thing was I just barely hit the thing and that was all it took. Now I have 100 mile per hour gorilla tape holding it together.Just my 2 cents worth.

Had a similar event on my concours (04) took panel off and ABS cemented the panel from the rear after aligning it, add stiffeners as needed, still saw hairline crack but never worsened.

 

[not2shabby]

That's exactly how I tied mine down on the trailer when we went to Gatlinburg last Sept. No problems at all. BTW, a little duct tape over the hooks keeps them from coming out on bumps too.

 

[redtail]

From what I can see, you have plain plywood for the ramp. I think I would want to paint it with one of the non-slip finishes that contains a fairly coarse abrasive for traction. It could be a nightmare loading the bike in the rain. Wet plywood is pretty slick. Also it needs to be well sealed to prevent rot/weakening/delamination with exposure to the elements.

Good eye!

Yes, I hadn't painted the ramp yet. The plywood in the bed is painted with sand sprinkled between coats, to give me some great traction.

The additive for non-slip paint was 5 or 6 bucks for 3 oz!!! A bag of clean sand was 3 bucks for 25 lbs!

 

[CopB8]

I did this in my '01 and '06 F150 SuperCrews with the 6.5' bed. I now have an '11 SuperCrew and the bed is .5' shorter. THis is going to put more back tire on the tailgait.

We'll be heading from Dallas to Colorado in June so I guess I'll find out how well it works then. Or, if anyone here has done it on the newer, shorter bed trucks, let me know how it worked for you.

 

[redtail]

I did this in my '01 and '06 F150 SuperCrews with the 6.5' bed. I now have an '11 SuperCrew and the bed is .5' shorter. THis is going to put more back tire on the tailgait.

We'll be heading from Dallas to Colorado in June so I guess I'll find out how well it works then. Or, if anyone here has done it on the newer, shorter bed trucks, let me know how it worked for you.

That's what I have, the super crew with a 5'5" bed.

I had to add one set of holes where a pin mounts the stand up part of the wheel chock. That allowed me to get the front wheel of the bike about 2 1/2" closer to the cab (it was abt. a 4" gap). Still plenty of clearance for the fender.

As it is, the wheel does sit on the tail gate, but it sits near the hinge. So it's not out on the gate putting any weight on the cables.

I'll let you know next week how it works!

 

[ULEWZ]

I did this in my '01 and '06 F150 SuperCrews with the 6.5' bed. I now have an '11 SuperCrew and the bed is .5' shorter. THis is going to put more back tire on the tailgait.

We'll be heading from Dallas to Colorado in June so I guess I'll find out how well it works then. Or, if anyone here has done it on the newer, shorter bed trucks, let me know how it worked for you.

That's what I have, the super crew with a 5'5" bed.

I had to add one set of holes where a pin mounts the stand up part of the wheel chock. That allowed me to get the front wheel of the bike about 2 1/2" closer to the cab (it was abt. a 4" gap). Still plenty of clearance for the fender.

As it is, the wheel does sit on the tail gate, but it sits near the hinge. So it's not out on the gate putting any weight on the cables.

I'll let you know next week how it works!

If you are concerned with the weight on the tailgate, use a tiedown and hook it between one of the tailgate side latches and the motorcycle foot peg (or something solid on the bike). This will help support the tailgate. I do this with my dirtbikes, but in that case, it is to hold up the tailgate.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Looking great RedTail and the consideration you and your wife have for each other is fantastic.

As for the loading, you sure have it pretty well covered. I load with one more strap to keep the rear of the bike from bouncing/sliding side to side. It goes from one of the trucks rear corners, wraps once or twice around the rear wheel of the bike, and then goes to the other corner at the back of the bed.

And agree with whoever said to check an hour into the drive.