Yes, I know this has been asked / answered a few times before, but I would like the opinions of you folks who I see on here regularly...

I plan to trailer the King soon using one of those 5x9 U-Haul trailers with the big ramp. They may or may not give me the one with the built in wheel chock, so I plan to bolt my garage chock to a piece of plywood sized to the width of the trailer, then load the bike onto it and pushed all the way forward.

So, where do you recommend the forward tie-downs be placed on the bike?

- Around the forks where the fender bolts on? This leaves the forks uncompressed, but is this a high enough angle?

- Around the frame / crash guard where it bolts to the frame down tubes? This seems like a stable angle, but requires me to compress the forks some (I'm thinking an inch or so would be good?)

I am not planning to hook to the handlebars since they use those rubber shock mounts.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

I go around the frame/crash bars, compress an inch or so

plan for the panic stop.

we can control our speed accelerating and turning so we have control of some forces, but the panic stop is the one- make sure that if you stab the brakes that the bike isn't going to end up in the back seat.

so straps at the rear of the bike to the rear of the trailer

mike

 

My Road king has a cross brace below the trees running between the front down tubes, that brace has a large elongated hole in it that makes a great option for the S hooks of the straps. Strapping the rear is optional so the crash bars work fine to secure the back end.

[ edit] This is how our dealership hauls bikes.... roll into the chock and lean the bike over on the stand. connect the left strap where mentioned above and remove all slack but do not tighten. attach right strap and ratchet it till bike is upright, this compresses the forks just enough, you can do this by yourself and this method has been time tested. it goes without saying your using floor anchors.

 

I have fork mounted hooks from Kuryakyn I tie there then I also tie around where the fender mounts

 

I bought a pair of these and put them on and off as needed. They are very solid and work well. Two straps on each side just in case, one to the chock and one through the rear wheel. Never had any issues.

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

 

I have them on my 14 LTD and 04 RK. Came in handy yesterday when I had to get my RK towed home.

 

Those Harley tie-downs are the bomb. It kills me that they don't have them for the Roadies.

 

Just a tip. I always use two straps on each side in the front. I've had people give me crap about it. Several years ago, while towing in a driving rain storm, I hit a pot hole that was filled with water. That thing must have been bigger than the Grand Canyon! I pulled over to check every thing out and found that one of the front straps had snapped. If I had used only one strap the bike would have been laying on it's side.

(I use soft ties to attach the straps to the bike)

 

I strapped mine around the bars. Compressed front end about 2". Did not strap back end. By the time I got back from picking up the Road King in RI, the backend danced around enough to put the right bag about a 1/2" from the wall of the trailer. Though of strapping down the rear, but was unsure of where to run the straps. Next time I trailer I will run 4 straps to hold it down.

 

When the dealer delivered my '15 Limited Low after a service, they used the crash bars front & rear, front wheel in a chock. Seemed very stable.

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