How much room will I have left putting my electra glide in a 6ft. bed with tailgate down?

 

I'm watching this one myself.

 

Last time I tape measured my bike, from tip to tip I got around 96".

I trust that you have access to a tape measure too?

 

I don't trust a tailgate to hold too much weight.

 

..the back wheel will be on the tailgate itself by about a foot...and the result when you go to unload it?....a nicely "bowed" inner tailgate panel!...ask me how I know!...so make sure you use a sheet of 3/4 Plywood, or something similar under the rear tire.....

 

I brought my RK home in my 6ft bed a few years ago. It worked just fine and the gate held up to the ~120 mile trip.

 

I've hauled both of my Road Kings (not at the same time, obviously) in my short bed Chevy a distance of about 850 miles, with no issues, and no bowed tailgates. Not sure what kind of truck the other guy drives, but my 10 year old Chevy has a pretty damned tough gate.

Like was mentioned, the rear tire WILL be on the tailgate. I don't think it sits dead center of it though. I want to say the bottom of my rear tire was just past the gap between the bed floor and gate.

Use some nice tie down loops to wrap around the bars so you don't have to put the hooks on there.

 

You won't have any room. The back tire will be on the gate.
Bent gate or not, the cables that hold the gate up are -- at best -- questionable for supporting the load of a touring bike for extended periods of time, especially bouncing down the road.
I strongly support the notion of adding a full sheet of 3/4 ply to not only protect the gate, but to distribute the load across the entire bed and take some of the pressure off the gate cables.

.--EDIT --
FWIW, I took my bike to a buddy a couple years ago up in Nashville and brought the fam for a long weekend.
I bolted a wheel chock to a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 ply and parked the bike on that for the ride. rode like a champ, no damage, and it was all good.
2001 Chevy Silverado - Cheapest tailgate in the nation and my bike is a 2007 Ultra .

 

Never thought about it when I was younger, but I would be more worried about a lot of the weight of the Ultra being on the tailgate when loading. Lot of weight on those tailgate cables.

 

My dealer routinely delivers bikes, 2 at a time in a 6 ft. F150. Looks like they modified the front if the bed with notches that look like chocks and a full width slide-out ramp that slides under the bikrs but the gate closes just fine.