I just bought a trailer today to haul my fatboy. I was wondering what the best way to tie the bike down is. The trailer has a wheel chalk and a bunch of straps with it.

Thanks in advance

 

I have always tied from the bottom bend of the handlebars to the trailer corners or trailer corner tie down points, ( with the front wheel in the wheel chock ), tighten the straps down until you collapse the forks about halfway,,,you can put a strap around the rear wheel if you want to keep it from moving around,,,,,

 

Putting straps on handle bars is a good way to blow fork seals!!!
BTDT.

If you want to do it safe every time then do this.
1 Put front tire in wheel chock
2 Put a strap just above where your fender mounts on the shocks (on the solid lowers) on both sides.
3 Put a strap on your rear wheel on both sides.

If you don't do 3 then your rear tire will wander on the trailer. Again BTDT

If you strap it as stated above you won't have any problems.

 

There are not a lot of places to grab that bike to tie it down.... and that is a problem.

You need to be able to get at least 4 straps on it to hold it down and in place, in addition to a GOOD wheel chock, like a Condor.

There are small straps you can loop around the bike and cinch up, then run the tie down straps from them to FORGED eye hooks in the structure of the trailer frame.

On my 03 I wrap the loop strap around the frame and crash bar on the left and right sides, this allows me to (once the bike is in the Condor chock) to slightly compress the front suspension... the Condor is doing most of the work to keep the front of the bike in place.

Tying off the handle bars is not a good idea, they will bend and even rotate on the mounts

You need to find tie down points in the back that will not only secure the bike, compress the suspension, and keep the tail from sliding left or tight

So to recap... a good chock will do most of the work, the suspension should be slightly compressed by the straps, stay off the bars, watch the straps near paint!

Here is my rice bike tied down, I only use 4 straps as the bike is 520 pounds:


It is harder to see the bagger on the trailer, but there are 6 straps plus the chock... 2 to the front, 2 to the rear, 2 to the side




I have had all sorts of bikes, and even a trike on that trailer, up and down the east coast (NH to Florida) and none of them have moved an inch.

 

The bike can't fall over if the front wheel is immobilized in the upright position. There are several ways to do this. Some of the best are dedicated locking chocks made by Condor, Baxley and Harbor Freight etc.

if you are using a Pingle chock or similar make sure it fits your tire width. If not shim it and tie your wheel to the chock so it can't hop out of the chock during a violent bump.

Strap to the frame. Don't over tighten if you are using ratchet straps. Straps should pull the bike down and forward into the chock. Immobile the rear tire with straps or blocks.

 

+1 on the Condor, I have one and use it almost exclusively, except when I need it for the bike in the bed of the truck.

The Condor does most of the work when the bike is in it, assuming it is secured to the deck, but when I use the Pingle the straps are doing most of the work.

Plus the Pingle is harder to set up... you can warp the rotor on the left side unless you block the sidestand when getting off the bike to do the tie down as the Pingle doesn't do much other than locate the bike on the trailer and keep it from rolling forward, it doesn't hold the bike vertical and locked in position front & rear

 

 

I am thinking about a trailer, but not sure open or enclosed. I noticed some of you use an open trailer. Do any of you worry about rocks or flying debris hitting the bike? I would assume it's not much different than just riding it. Thanks.

 

Harley now sells, for about 60 bucks, a set of chrome tie down brackets that attach to the side of your forks. Once installed, you would hardly notice they are there. And easily removed, two bolts, once you get to your destination.

http://www.harley-davidson.com/store/tie-down-brackets

From my years teaching with MSF, when we had to tie down a dozen bikes at the end of each class, we were instructed to only compress the front forks slightly, just enough to put upward pressure on the straps, to keep us from blowing fork seals.

 

There are any number of ways to secure a bike to the trailer. But there is one method that should be avoided.

When using a wheel chock never have any of the tie down straps pulling away from the chock. If the straps pulling the the wheel into the chock come loose, they do come loose from a variety of reasons one being human error then the straps pulling rear ward will immediately pull the bike out of the chock.