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Is it bad to compress your forks when trailering long distances? I thought I read that its bad for your seals and the bouncing motion of road bumps will loosen the front straps.
With that being said, will I see any issues with strapping the bike down like shown in the photo? This is below the shock so no compression. My only concern is that when im ratcheting it down, im potentially applying pressure to spread the forks apart.
generally strapping to the handle bars has more to do with stabilizing the top of the bike than compressing the forks. Your method is ok as long as you don't have a top heavy machine like a touring bike.
I generally use soft tie extensions around the bars to get past my fairing. Then compress only enough to balance left to right. Then I run one strap in the back through the back wheel which prevents and bounce of the rear wheel thus preventing any rear left/right movement. I have seen hundreds of light weight sport bikes strapped just like your pic
I have secured mine like this for many years.
Never had any issues. I don't pull it down so that that the forks are fully compressed though.
Just good and snug, so the bike doesn't move.
The straps have never once loosened up either.
Not shown, are two more straps around the passenger boards that keep the back end from moving/bouncing.
The bike does not move at all with this setup.
Rollamo's picture is how my RK has traveled about 800 miles so far. I have gone down some rough roads this way with nary an incident or problem.
I used quick release straps going from the handlebars down to the trailer corners. Just pulled the bike down some and set the straps. Since the strap sets come four to a pack, two more across the rear to keep the tail in place.
No problems, and I've certainly ridden the bike hard enough after taking it off the trailer.
I have found that a good front wheel cradle like RolloMo's will hold the bike up very well, so the forks don't need to be compress very much to hold the bike stable. But if the bike feels like it could fall in the cradle or brace being used, then the forks need to be compressed enough to hold the bike stable during travel. While many folks don't suggest not to compress the forks, I have never heard of it causing any problems.
using a chock like yours I just run a strap through the wheel and secure it around the chock. No compression at all and five trips to Daytona and back without any problems. Of course I secure the rear to the sides left and right.
Is it bad to compress your forks when trailering long distances? I thought I read that its bad for your seals and the bouncing motion of road bumps will loosen the front straps.
With that being said, will I see any issues with strapping the bike down like shown in the photo? This is below the shock so no compression. My only concern is that when im ratcheting it down, im potentially applying pressure to spread the forks apart.
Thoughts?
The way you show is exactly the way I strap my bikes in when I have to trailer them. To date, I've had no issues.
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Fork compression and trailering your bike.
