Wheel chock with tie down straps running around the fork tubes just above the front fender attachment points on both sides. Then two more straps around the passenger foot pegs or sometimes the saddle bag support bars. Where the front tie downs are it does not compress the front suspension at all and run no risk of the straps having slack in them due to the bouncing. When I crank on the rear straps it compresses front and rear suspension just a little.

 

Keeping the forks compressed can cause the seals to leak. The fork oil obviously can't compress, but the air space at the top of the fork is reduced when the front is cranked down, and raises the internal pressure. Depending on how long it's held there it's definitely possible for the forks to leak. Dirt bike guys sometimes put bleeder valves on the forks to relieve the pressure when their bikes are tied down for extended periods of time.

 

take a look at a new HD in the crate - shocks are pulled down...

 

If money were NO problem, this is the best way to go. I got this set up for my trailer and 04 EG - My plan was when I retired, The wife and I were going to travel around the country with the trailer - park it... ride for several days, load back up and go find another stopping stop... Only did that once and when I did use this, It was great.. I am 61 5'6" and can load my bike by myself in under 5 min and thats using 4 to put the bar on the bottom of my bike.. then I just ride it up into the trailer and CLICK - is done NO other straps are needed... I trailered my bike from Central CA to UT over the mountains with NO problems

http://www.bikersgostrapless.com/

 

I am not sure of the internals of Harley suspension, but I have rebuilt and revalved several sets of dirt bike forks. I have a few thoughts from my dirt bike experience that I believe might shed some light on this blowing the fork seal concept:

Suspension is serviced with the forks off the bike therefore when you put the forks back on the bike and put the bike on its sidestand, the weight of the bike compresses the forks. The forks are therefore always under pressure. When you ride the bike there is even more constant pressure on the forks. When you ride two up, even more. When you hit a pot hole, even more.

My point is that forks are designed to be under constant pressure so I don't personally believe that cranking down tie down straps will do any damage to the seals. It is however not really necessary and doesn't do any favors to the fork springs. In fact, that is the reason most dirt bike guys set their bikes on a stand. It's so the springs remain as extended as possible and they don't start to sag over time.

As far as the actual amount of pressure that would blow a fork seal, I am not sure. In my dirt bike riding I have over jumped many things. I was at the motocross track about a month ago and landed so hard that the foam liner in my helmet separated from the shell when my head snapped forward into my handlebars. It wasn't really all that fun and I immediately packed up and went home. I bottomed hard enough that I'm sure my spine is two inches shorter. My fork seals, however, didn't blow. They still work just fine.

As far as fork bleeders go, they are actually designed to relieve pressure after the bike has been ridden. As forks are used, they build pressure. Added pressure on the air spring makes the forks harsh in the smaller chop. Thus, to return the bike to the plush state, the forks have a bleed screw at the top to relieve built pressure. The bleeder is for ride quality, not to prevent seal blowouts from tying the bike down.

Hope it helps,

Nate

 

I guess that's one theory, but if increased air pressure would cause seal damage a rough road or several sets of railroad tracks would induce hundreds of over-pressure situations. Seals would leak all the time.

I was just lookin' for theories behind that old wives tale. Before I retired, & developed the time to ride, I towed all over the country. Thirty years of towing with the suspension fully compressed for 3 to 5 days at a time. In all that time I had one fork seal failure. On a rough ride with no trailer involved.

 

From time to time we pull 2 bikes (SG & EG) with my Kendon Dual Big Bike trailer. We use these soft ties http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US and ratchet straps on the front end. The forks are compressed about 40% the ends of the fairings on each bike are within 6" of each other and they never touched.

 

couldnt have said it better myself..i have a 7x14 low pro enclosed bikes are within 4 inches of wall and within 6-8 in of each other (2 dressers) and have never had an issue.. pulled them thousands of miles.. i actually use the ratchet straps that the moco uses to strap them down to the pallets. there a ratchet with no hooks..they loop back into them selves..

 

Take a look at our products. We sponsor this site and would love to get you one of our chocks. The best part about our adjustable chocks is that they clamp the front tire as you ride into it. This allows you to only strap the rear of the bike, pulling it forward and into the chock. Bolt the chock down first.

www.baxleycompanies.com Watch the videos and read the feedback.

We offer a Lifetime Warranty on our chocks.

 

Great looking chock...if cost is not an issue - 300 bucks (each) is a lot of juice for convenience. Still, if I was just now out-fitting my hauler I'd probably seriously consider spending the extra money.