How get broken bike in UHaul truck?
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Tourer
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 493
Likes: 17
From: Ft LAuderdale
How get broken bike in UHaul truck?
On a privious post I asked about long distance touring on a bike with high milage.
Some of you said if you brake down get it home on a Uhaul. I like that. Probably cheaper than
a tow specially when farther away than 100 miles. I have a couple of questions:
1- Is it expensive to rent Uhaul one way only?
2- In this scenario you do not have a car since you are far away from home
you have to get a truck. Do they have at Uhaul a ramp to push the bike up the truck?
Do you lay the bike on its side inside the truck since these trucks do not have a wheel chuck?
How do you position the bike inside the uhaul truck?
Some of you said if you brake down get it home on a Uhaul. I like that. Probably cheaper than
a tow specially when farther away than 100 miles. I have a couple of questions:
1- Is it expensive to rent Uhaul one way only?
2- In this scenario you do not have a car since you are far away from home
you have to get a truck. Do they have at Uhaul a ramp to push the bike up the truck?
Do you lay the bike on its side inside the truck since these trucks do not have a wheel chuck?
How do you position the bike inside the uhaul truck?
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,140
Likes: 17
From: Wisconsin
1- Is it expensive to rent Uhaul one way only?
Expensive is relative, it's cheaper than having the HD shop ship it to you ...
2- In this scenario you do not have a car since you are far away from home
you have to get a truck. Do they have at Uhaul a ramp to push the bike up the truck?
Most U-haul trucks come with a ramp .... yes!
Do you lay the bike on its side inside the truck since these trucks do not have a wheel chuck?
No, no, no, no, hell no!
How do you position the bike inside the uhaul truck
When you pick up the truck, you're going to need tie downs ..... center the bike, tie down the front end, then the back end to the structure in the truck.
I've done this a couple times, once with my bike, a few times with friends. My time, the only truck they had was a 25 footer, it was hilarious, but they gave me a great deal on it because it was all they had. A Harley all alone in a 25' truck looks real small, hahaha! But, it did the job and got us and the bike home .....
Expensive is relative, it's cheaper than having the HD shop ship it to you ...
2- In this scenario you do not have a car since you are far away from home
you have to get a truck. Do they have at Uhaul a ramp to push the bike up the truck?
Most U-haul trucks come with a ramp .... yes!
Do you lay the bike on its side inside the truck since these trucks do not have a wheel chuck?
No, no, no, no, hell no!
How do you position the bike inside the uhaul truck
When you pick up the truck, you're going to need tie downs ..... center the bike, tie down the front end, then the back end to the structure in the truck.
I've done this a couple times, once with my bike, a few times with friends. My time, the only truck they had was a 25 footer, it was hilarious, but they gave me a great deal on it because it was all they had. A Harley all alone in a 25' truck looks real small, hahaha! But, it did the job and got us and the bike home .....
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 522
Likes: 27
From: Glendale, Arizona
Good questions,
1. I'm not sure my answers are correct but, I think the Market area depends on where you will be leaving the truck and that will be cost dependent, ie if a lot are trucks are rented one way to say Phoenix from LA then they have a problem getting them back, so it might be cheaper, but the other way might be more expensive.
2. I think most of the larger Trucks have ramps but I'm not sure how easy it would be to push it up the ramp. They do have some LO-Boy trucks or maybe a trailer.
3. If you use a larger truck and some trailers, I'm sure there are tie downs so if you had the proper Ty-down straps that would work (I don't think I would lay my bike down)
1. I'm not sure my answers are correct but, I think the Market area depends on where you will be leaving the truck and that will be cost dependent, ie if a lot are trucks are rented one way to say Phoenix from LA then they have a problem getting them back, so it might be cheaper, but the other way might be more expensive.
2. I think most of the larger Trucks have ramps but I'm not sure how easy it would be to push it up the ramp. They do have some LO-Boy trucks or maybe a trailer.
3. If you use a larger truck and some trailers, I'm sure there are tie downs so if you had the proper Ty-down straps that would work (I don't think I would lay my bike down)
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 30,865
Likes: 32,871
From: King George, VA
When ya tie it down, ya need to tie the bottom of the wheels to keep them from sliding in any direction then ties on the upper part of the bike to keep it from falling over.
Check the load capacity of the ramp you are using so it doesn't fold on ya.
Check the load capacity of the ramp you are using so it doesn't fold on ya.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 8,039
Likes: 1,305
From: Jayhawk Country
Most U-Haul places wont even rent you a truck if they know the intent is to haul a motorcycle. There are no tie down locations for an 800 lb. motorcycle and they will tell you exactly that. You would be better off renting a pickup truck.
Last edited by KCFLHRC; Apr 9, 2012 at 12:56 PM.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2,543
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From: Ashland Ohio
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Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
From: Cleveland, Oh
I was looking into the uhaul truck thing just in case my bike broke down far away. I found it to be cheaper to use a place like http://www.motorcycleshippers.com/. You can ship your bike and get a plane ticket home and it would be less than renting a uhaul and driving depending how far you gotta go. I've never had to use either service but the shipping looks like a better option if you gotta go over 1000 miles.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,241
Likes: 7
From: Daytona, Fla.
Smaller would have been better, but this was what they had so we made do. Hauled the bike to a location where we could get the right size truck, & he hauled it home in that.
BTW, This was one of either 3 or 4 times in nearly 50 years of riding that one of the bikes didn't make the entire trip. He got it home & found out the damage wasn't particularly bad.
BTW, This was one of either 3 or 4 times in nearly 50 years of riding that one of the bikes didn't make the entire trip. He got it home & found out the damage wasn't particularly bad.
Tourer
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 431
Likes: 1
From: South Carolina
Not sure if this holds true everywhere, but in my experience the trailers that U-Haul rents that are motorcycle specific are for local use only, not one way. So the "rent the smallest truck, and tow with their trailer" option might not work.