2 vs 4 tiedowns for transport

[fourstroker]

I own a full-size truck and was wandering what the consensus out there was regarding tie-downs for transporting. Is 2 tiedowns enough if good quality (Ancra) and using a front fork protector or should I be protecting my ride with 4? If more is better as a safeguard what part of my bike in the rear should I be attaching the S-hooks to?

Thanks for the input!

Mark

(HIGHLAND, ILLINOIS)

[fourstroker]

Forgot to explain above that it is a WR426 that I will be transporting in the back bed of the truck.

Thanks

Mark (HIGHLAND, ILLINOIS)

[jset670]

Two tie downs is plenty if they are good quality and in very good shape. If they are weathered and fraying I would not use them to hold my bike down. We sometimes haul 7 or 8 bikes at once on a car trailer and we use two on the front and one on the rear tire to prevent the bike from going forward off the side of the trailer. We haul for some distance like this. 800 miles or so and we have yet to have a problem.

[Dannajoe]

Two tie downs on the front is adequit, definatley put one on the rear attached to the subframe or the swingarm or around the rim. This will keep your bike from doing a forward flip in the event of a panic stop.

[sirhk]

I once saw an ad in a local off road news letter about "info wanted on a '97 CR250 lost somewhere between Plaster City and Alpine in SoCal on I8" That's about a 50 mile stretch of road and from reading the ad they never said but it sounded like they're bike fell off the trailer and they didn't know it. I mean, how else do you not know where your bike ended up on 50 stretch of highway?

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Khris

"What's that?"

"It's a Yellow 99' YZ400!!"

[MN_Kevin]

I use two on the forks, one from each footpeg (or frame) straight out to the sides, and one for the rear tire. The extra $18 is awfully cheap insurance compared to two fenders (not to mention fork tubes, rims, frame, tank, radiators, bars, grips, brake rotors, brake lines, levers, get the picture? ? ). I also tie down both tires. Overkill or anal? Fine with me, my bike is going nowhere. I have had two bikes fall off so far.

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'99 WZ/YR (you choose!) with ALL YZ mods, de-octopused, DSP Doug Henry airbox w/ velocity stack, FMF PowerBomb header, Stroker SX-1 silencer, SS front brake line, OEM YZ tank, IMS YZ seat.

[WR_Rider]

I had a very close call one day using 2, and will never do that again. all it takes is a large bump / sharp corner etc. I always use 4 now. 2 at the bars and 1 from each side of the frame. get a spare set as well, just in case.

Chuck

[z4me]

I just use 2 on the handlebars and one on the rear tire that stretches across the bed. The two on the handlebars have bunjee cords attached to the hooks so that if some slack occurrs on the strap, the bunjee cords hold the hooks taught against the handlebars and the tiedown points in the truck.

- Sean

[WR_Jason]

I use two on the handel bar. The cheap wall mart cleat ones. I hate those rachet ones. I have never had a problem. We drive the pickup truck abot 1.5 miles down a rocky washed out powerline road, cross train tracks, up and down hills. The big WR stays put. The only problem I ever had is the first time I tried to use a fork saver. There was not enough tension on the straps and the bike sat high and was flopping all over.

If you have a full size truck and can close the tail gate, I would think two is good. If the tail gate is down, maybe double up the straps. I just drop the bike in gear.

Just for funny story sake, I know a guy that had a 3 wheeler, he used to pop the trunk of his car open, lift the front wheel of the trike into the trunk and pull it around like that. He was doing it once with no straps and hit a ditch that was dug in the road, the thig jumped out and landed in a marsh! ? .

[bonez34]

i always used two until i felt my friends bike with 4 on it. the difference was amazing! 4 straps really make it more solid and you don't have to crank down on front ones as much so it's better on the seals and wallet.

[MN_Kevin]

BINGO, Bonez34! PRECISELY what I am talking about.

Let's see...SIX GRAND for the bike and $34 for tie downs...hmmm...???

[wrpunisher]

I just started using this method with great success:

Push the front tire into the front corner of the PU bed, and drag the rear of the bike around so that the rear tire is up against the bed wall on the opposite side. Run one strap from the handle bar to the front corner of the bed opposite the front tire, and run another from the other side of the bar to the rear corner of the bed on the same side as the front tire. This pulls the bike forward into the bed front and backwards into the bed wall, locking the bike in place solidly with two straps, and without squashing the front suspension.

For extra strength/security, I use strap buddies (I think that's what they're called - little looped nylon straps to hook the tiedowns to instead of puting the hooks on your bars), and I replaced the hooks on my Ancras with carabiners rated at 10K pounds or something like that.

I've got 5 hauls on this system, including about 40 miles of dirt road with lots of washboard sections.

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Chris

99WR400F