Don't over think this. The suspension is not going to move up and down any more than if you were riding. It will actually travel less than if you were riding as the suspension on the trailer will absorb most of the bumps.

 

This is true.

 

1-Do not place bike in gear. You do not want the transmission to be getting abused along the trip.
2- The u-haul will have a cone/bump-out up front for the front wheel that helps with the frontal left/ right movement prevention.
3-The windshield on a road king should be removed or tie wraps used to lock it in place or the shield could blow-off when in backing/reverse of vehicle or in absolute ideal (bad) conditions.
4- The front is the most important tie down point while the rear is more to prevent lateral movement in this application.
5-Saddle bag removal is not required unless you want to protect bags from some elements.
6-The Black "T" portion of passenger floor boards (road king) is what i use for a rear tie down point as a loop from trailer to that point and back to trailer.
&-The front: i have tie downs with the fur/protector and i run it from behind/under the nacelle forward over the black triple clamp and out the front under the nacelle..must be careful with the solid brake line. You only have about 3 inches of room on each side to get through the hole. So strap to trailer to portion described and back to trailer. Be careful of hard brake line. That area is composed of a super thick piece of metal.
7-Riding bike onto that trailer is no big deal.
8-Front fork compression: The forks are designed to compress..The oil is designed to move through the holes to slow the bounce while the springs do the actual work...That said a compression of about 3/4 is fine. If you have concerns then just remove the air from air shocks and repump at destination but i have never done that. If the seals blow-out then they were bad or someone overfilled the oil or the air to begin with.
9- Straps: the better ones have the clip on the hooks that prevent them from unhooking if shocks compress during a massive bump and cause slack. If you do not have those figure something out like a few tie-wraps/tape at the attachment points.
10-If you have ratchet straps make sure that the metal portions are no way near painted areas of bike.
11- The excess strap that exits rachet should be tied down..i like velcro and purchase it by the roll so i can attach right at exit of strap and several more after.
12-Front straps at about 45 degrees pulling forward and down while rears usually end-up having a lot less angle but are still providing some forward force and down. Front and rear should not fight each other.
13- Think worse case scenario when done and test..then recheck after 5 minutes riding down the road then once more if you are still worried whenever you can.

 

*****! Man up and ride it home!!! Seriously though................

I bought my first bike in a Buffalo, NY January and had to trailer it home. At the UHaul dealer they instead steered me to an enclosed trailer. That is the way to go. All protected from the elements and road salt that will spray everywhere. Buy a set of 4 ratcheting tie-downs, and you may have to buy some 2*10's from Home Depot as the trailer I got did not have a ramp. You don;t need a big vehicle to pull it either. I used my minivan

http://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/Eq....aspx?model=MV

I used the 5*10 plenty of room, may be able to get away with the 5*8

 

Leave it in gear and DO NOT compress the forks, this is not good for the fork seals!! Just secure front and back.

 

Not the first time I've heard this... Rust will occur below freezing. Just not at the rate we are used to seeing. Just because it is below freezing does not mean there is no moisture in the air.

 

A set of back up straps on the front just snug is always a good idea for the sake of a strap failure. I've had a strap come off on a bump hauling dirt bikes and the back up worked.

 

Nothing wrong with compressing the forks

 

Strapping it to the trailer with the kickstand down is a good way to have a bent kickstand.

Leaving it in gear is a great way to bent shift forks. If the straps can't hold the bike, then you should have strapped it better.

 

I always double strap my bike. Last time I trailered it I hit a pretty big pot hole at night that caused the trailer to take a big hit. Of course the first thing I did was to check the rear view mirror to make sure all was well. I saw the end of a strap flapping around. hmm. Pulled over to find that one of the straps had snapped. Good thing I had double strapped the front end.