moving a bike in a moving van?

hey all -

i'll be moving to NC in the next month or so, and i'm trying to figure out the best way to move the bike. it looks like i'll be doing the DIY move thing (i refuse to say the name that starts with 'U'. too many bad experiences), which means i won't be able to put a trailer behind my vehicle and tow it across. putting something behind the wife's car is out of the question as well.

my question is, if i get a truck big enough to fit my stuff AND the bike, is it a good idea to just throw the bike in the back? seems sound enough to me, but my main concern is the ability to tie it down. in my experience, these trucks just have wooden bars along the sides to run a tie-down or rope around. is that enough?

just wondering if it's common practice, or a big mistake only a newb would make.

Mike

 

well i moved mines in a U...ssshhh truck. when i moved from my parents backyard to my house. and it sat so long the chain didnt move, so me and a few friends pulled/pushed it up onto a U sshhh truck and sat it on its kickstand with the front wheel up against 1 corner and the rear up against another almost forming a triangle. so if it did rock or anything it couldnt go that far...i think they offer an option for a tie down, with the bigger trucks...and the ramp they give is really helpful...if your moves willing, you are already one up on me....so good luck.

 

Just make sure they have tie downs in the floor or at he least in the lower section in the seam where the sides meets the floor, then you'd be good to go yea the corner thing works too, but you still need tie downs on the low side. It is the best way to move a bike be ones self and in the extra protection you get from it being inside.

 

the more tie downs the better. If you spread the weight ratio out over several of the side boards, it should be OK.

 

I think we just went through this. Do a search for a thread on this forum about this same thing. Anyway, I do it this way. (Click link)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-_KsSyEs5k

 

Some ideas that may help out:

• Get a wheel chalk/sport chalk -- it's good to be stable
• Wood floored container, means you can mount heavy duty tie-down points anywhere you need -- Just put a little wood filler in the holes after and noone knows the better.
• Loads shift, park the bike in a corner and use a few sheets of plywood to make a fort around it -- bed sheets, pillows or appliance boxes aren't suitable replacements.
• Palletize your bike. Long pallets are readily available. Load the pallet, then load the bike and lock it down after. A few screw will secure the pallet to the floor -- makes it even easier to build the bike fort!

 

I moved my GS500F last fall in the back of a 25ft U-Crap, it had two rows of tie downs on the walls and a steel floor. Put the bike directly over the axle and used four ratchet-straps on the lower row. Just tight enough to compress the suspension. All went fine except it must have bounced and pulled a safety wire off the clutch so no start at the new house.

Oh yeah, don't offload it on a hill if the truck has the steel floor. I knew we wouldn't be able to hold it back so I sat on the bike, applied the brakes while my helpers detached the front straps. The second they were off the bike slid (backwards) out the back of the truck, down the ramp and stopped on the street.... the whole trip with the front tire locked up.... but I managed to not drop it!!!!

The drive was about 45 min in the truck, about 65% highway. The rest rough country road.

U-Craps tend to ride quite smoothly, not a full fledged truck suspension and usually very worn out!!!

 

http://www.condor-lift.com/product.asp?ItemID=1030

Use this & you'll be just fine. This is obviously only one brand of a specific item. I'm sure there are more. I have thier trailer chocks & love them.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

I travel to NC frequently,I can put it in my covered trailer if you like

 

i sincerely appreciate the offer. however, i'm in San Diego.

Mike

 

Like KC-10 previously posted - Condor has exactly what you need (of course that is my opinion). I checked the Condor Pit-Stop/Trailer-Stop stand at a couple of motorcycle shows and the stand holds the bike upright no matter. At the show they had big hogs setup on the stands, and me and my friend tried to push the bike over but it stayed up. The also have another Trailer stand product that works great. Check them out, KC-10 nailed this one for sure. (http://www.condor-lift.com)

 

Wheel chock + tie-downs would be a good idea.

That said, I purchased my new-to-me VFR over the winter and brought it home in a U-haul truck (huge...20+feet). It had the metal floor and the side and front railings (metal + plastic covering). I put the bike dead centre, front wheel against the front of the cargo area, with a damp cloth between it and the front of the cargo area to increase friction and reduce the tendency for the front wheel to want to slip to either side. There were also cloths on the ground, as well as cardboard. The cloth is the blue stuff that you can buy from U-Haul. It came in very handy since the metal floor and walls were pretty slippery...especially in winter (snow on the tires, etc). I then used six tie-downs to secure it. We made the ~70 mile trip without the bike moving an inch, but I was definitely thinking about what might be going on back in the cargo area the whole drive home!

I don't recommend doing it this way, but just wanted to let you know that, if necessary, it can work quite nicely and has been done before. Desperate times... If it had been any season other than winter and I hadn't had to deal with melting snow making everything slippery then it would have been pretty straight-forward.



That's not mine, but that's essentially how I tied mine down. I found this photo online before deciding to give it a shot with my VFR. The entire story is here: http://www.thecurryweb.com/dan_old_motocycles.htm

Don't do this

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UkQYYBOrRNk&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UkQYYBOrRNk&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

or this

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AfiRV8FY244&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AfiRV8FY244&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

 

well, finalized the offer today. i'm not committed to using a U........ moving van, so i'm actually gonna move the household goods with these guys:


www.upack.com


that means i need to find a motorcycle shipper for my baby, though.

any suggestions?

Mike

 

ok, the wife and i have determined we will be using these guys for the move:

www.upack.com

and, guess what? they move bikes!

http://www.upack.com/bike/

so, any special tips on how you would load it? would you do what the pic shows, or use the center stand, or suspend the bike using tie-down straps? also, would it be a good idea to drain any fluids or do any other prepatory things to the bike?

lastly, just cause the bike isn't in front of me right now.... does anyone know how long a 6th gen is overall?

Mike

 

Chock and tie-downs. As before, I would *not* recommend doing it as the photo shows unless you're in a real bind...and probably not even then. I wouldn't use the centre stand because (1) the bike can roll off of it; (2) the tripod formed by it and the front wheel is much smaller (and less stable as a base) than that formed by the two wheels + side stand. The 6th gen is about 81" long and 48" tall.

 

I did something like this to get my VFR home when I bought it. In my opinion if you run the hook through the wooden side rail and hookit around the strap again, kinda like a slip knot, when you ratchet down it will pull itself tight around the bar, thus having a good, secure tie down. If you do it like this try to keep the same amount of pressure, for lack of a better term, on all the tie downs. Of course give it the ol push, pull test first too. BTW I would recommend keeping it in gear and maybe tying your front brake lever to the grip too. electrical tape works great to do that. Not too tight tho.

 

V-FouRce: Gorgeous bike!

 

Yeah, I like it, my wife is afraid Ill find another woman now that I have it, screw that, I want another Bike!

 

FYI-

I flew the corporate jets for U-Haul for three years. Got to tag along with VP's all the time and if I'm not mistaken, they do not allow motor vehicles inside the vans or trailer (except open trailer). the problem is their insurance company.

But what they don't know, don't hurt them.

ps. if you have a problem with a U ssssht, PM and I'll get in touch with the proper guy. I'm still in touch with those clowns...