I've seen some pretty ugly videos of guys attempting to drive their Harley up a ramp into the bed of a truck. What is the best way to transport your bike with a truck? I don't have room to store a trailer...is there a good way to get a Road King into and out of a pick-up truck with a 6" BDS lift kit?
I literally just posted these pics on my thread about our most recent trip to the Gulf Coast. Black Widow 40" wide ramp from Discount Ramps. I had an 8' long ramp for my Colorado, I had to upgrade to a 12' ramp for the new Sierra. About 6" taller bed made for the need for a longer ramp. With the Condor mounted in the bed of the truck, one man operation to load and unload. Ramp is plenty wide enough to use your feet as needed to ride up the ramp. Start the bike, look at nothing but the Condor (where you want the front tire to go) and just ride up the ramp like any other hill. To unload, leave the bike in gear and use the clutch and front brake to roll backwards nice and slow, drag your feet. I have been doing this for years, easy once you get the hang of it. I find the bike is much safer and secure in the bed of the truck than on a flatbed trailer. Plus less maintenance, tolls etc. 6.5' bed in this truck, I was surprised the rear wheel is not on the tailgate, still on the bed. I bought the tail gate supports (in yellow) since with the Colorado the bikes sat completely on the tailgate. Still a good idea to have them for loading and unloading.
I would like to get an enclosed two bike trailer but space on my property is holding me up. But only to keep the bikes clean when transporting and to be able to bring more than one. Besides those obvious limitations, inside the bed of the truck works just fine.
Put it on a bike skid and get a few guys to slid it in, or use a loading dock. You don’t want the back tire sitting on your unprotected tailgate so the skid distributes the weight and it’s easy to secure. At home, I have put the bike and skid on my bike table and raised it up so I could slide it in by myself. I can drop the air in my truck so it’s easier. I have also gone to tractor dealers with outside docks and unloaded.
If you can't find a loading dock, you can use a slopping driveway or even a a grassy incline. Back that truck up to the slope until the tailgate is just touching the ground and roll the bike down the incline straight into the truck bed.
You just need to find a slope that you can get the tailgate to touch which requires that the rear wheels do not actually start to roll up the incline.
With your jacked up suspension, finding an incline that's not to steep could be a problem though.
Go to the 2 minute mark of this vid to see what I am referring to.
Put it on a bike skid and get a few guys to slid it in, or use a loading dock. You don’t want the back tire sitting on your unprotected tailgate so the skid distributes the weight and it’s easy to secure. At home, I have put the bike and skid on my bike table and raised it up so I could slide it in by myself. I can drop the air in my truck so it’s easier. I have also gone to tractor dealers with outside docks and unloaded.
Wonder if this method would work with 5.5’ bed on a F150 which is shorter than an FL wheelbase (Wanted the truck to fit in the garage). Are you removing your tail gate using this method? Thanks
I was considering getting a pickup truck and one of those at one time.
I live in an area that gets A LOT of bike traffic and thought I could start a emergency recovery business for people that break down or fall down.
I didn't have to think about it very long before I realized that it would take longer than I'll be alive to recover my initial investment let alone become a viable business.
It is a slick deal for anyone that moves their bike in a pick up however.
I could also see a big club maybe getting one for members bikes that may need to picked up from time to time.
Done a lot of crazy stuff in my life. I and not loading a Touring bike in the bed of a pick up truck Good luck. Age has made me wiser They make stand up storage motorcycle trailers that do not take up much room.
Son in law ask me about loading one in the truck bed yesterday. I told him to come over and take my Ford and trailer put it back when you are done.
Everytime I loaded mine into a trailer, which had a ramp up, on the way up or down, always had those stupid videos in my head of bikes tipping over and falling .
Those videos are great entertainment, seeing the bike stop dead when the frame hits the end of the truck bed is priceless. Ive have many sport bikes in the back of my short box F150, roll them up with two people and once in the truck they're light enough that I can pick the back up and angle the bike to close the tail gate. I'll never do that with a Harley though. Dont forget to take a video of you loading it if you do
I literally just posted these pics on my thread about our most recent trip to the Gulf Coast. Black Widow 40" wide ramp from Discount Ramps. I had an 8' long ramp for my Colorado, I had to upgrade to a 12' ramp for the new Sierra. About 6" taller bed made for the need for a longer ramp. With the Condor mounted in the bed of the truck, one man operation to load and unload. Ramp is plenty wide enough to use your feet as needed to ride up the ramp. Start the bike, look at nothing but the Condor (where you want the front tire to go) and just ride up the ramp like any other hill. To unload, leave the bike in gear and use the clutch and front brake to roll backwards nice and slow, drag your feet. I have been doing this for years, easy once you get the hang of it. I find the bike is much safer and secure in the bed of the truck than on a flatbed trailer. Plus less maintenance, tolls etc. 6.5' bed in this truck, I was surprised the rear wheel is not on the tailgate, still on the bed. I bought the tail gate supports (in yellow) since with the Colorado the bikes sat completely on the tailgate. Still a good idea to have them for loading and unloading.
I would like to get an enclosed two bike trailer but space on my property is holding me up. But only to keep the bikes clean when transporting and to be able to bring more than one. Besides those obvious limitations, inside the bed of the truck works just fine.
01-05-2022, 02:38 AM
Bike in truck bed
