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Carrying 2 dirt bikes in truck bed

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Flipit said:
Well, I ain't no spring chicken myself, but a year ago I hauled my trailer to California it cost me about $1,000,000.00. It's pretty heavy duty. Designed to haul baggers. It's also about 8in off the ground and a breeze to load.
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$1,000,000.00? Really? Haven't I told you like, a billion times not to exaggerate? Sheesh!
 
I've used the Bed Buddy in a prior truck but didn't like drilling to do it. Otherwise, it was a fine solution. Now I use the Nice Rack system b/c I occasionally carry 3 bikes and don't like backing one in. It has moveable chock locations, a 3rd bike extender, and it comes in & out without drilling. With the extendable tiedown points (be careful not to walk into them as you pass by the truck), I'll use the outside most chock location which is too close to the bed to use the in-bed tiedown anchors, but frees up the middle whether carrying a 3rd bike or not. You do lose a couple of inches of bed length using the rack, but I have the gate down or partially down regardless. For only 2 bikes it may be overkill or not worth losing the bed space if you don't need movable chocks.

www.motoprohq.com

TRUCK SYSTEMS | MotoProHQ

www.motoprohq.com www.motoprohq.com

It's also easy to remove and I hang it in the garage when I want to put my soft topper on.
 
I'll try to remember to get pictures of the Africa Twin and Burgman in the truck bed. I think they should both fit.
 
I usually use my ramp, even with my FJ-09, but I've also had to revert to the ol' ditch method a few times too, LOL. Anything you can do to decrease that loading angle helps, like backing up to a slanted driveway for instance.
 
woodsguy said:
Do you find a way to make it easier with the AT? I back into a ditch. No way could I load it like a dirtbike.
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I use a 4x6 ATV ramp. On flat ground it's pretty darn steep. With a little so in the ground it gets easier. Riding it up is easier than walking it down when steep, but...

Rydah said:
I usually use my ramp, even with my FJ-09, but I've also had to revert to the ol' ditch method a few times too, LOL. Anything you can do to decrease that loading angle helps, like backing up to a slanted driveway for instance.
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The driveway is my trick at home. Makes for a shallow angle on the ramp and a downhill run up for the bike. Unloading is really controlled that way too. It's really quite uneventful.
 
I put the bike SxS and place a block in front of one bikes tire to help offset the handle bars a bit. Works like a treat in my non-full-size pickup.

CBF55C8E-2114-48E1-A00B-5703FFB75246.jpeg
 
Nice rides! Curious what that is located under your tailgate.
 
You could probably get someone to make one for you cheaper, but I've put a Bed Buddy Rack in my last 3 pickup trucks. It has built in tie down attachment points and you can put up to 3 bikes in a bed with an extender bar for the center position (provided you have an older truck with a wider bed and your hauling dirt bikes).
 
I’ve had a Harley road king and valkryie in back of my pickup . Three dirt bikes with the tailgate closed . By far the best choice for transporting a long distance with ease . But i sure like taking my house with me for extended trips . Now I have to figure out how to fit two bikes and two electric bicycles in my trailer along with 5 months worth of other crap .
 
Use a firm solid ramp. Put a solid bike stand next to the ramp. Push the bike up the ramp and use the bike stand to step on to the tailgate. finish pushing up the bike into bed. If loading 2 bikes, space apart and move ramp and stand and repeat for each side. Tie down from each side of handlebars to opposite sides. Also do a tiedown attached in the middle to each bike's handlebars for extra safety. If only 1 bike, I tie front end down loose with front tire in right corner, then pull rear of bike over to left rear corner of bed. Then cinch down tiedowns tight. Tie off strap of each tie down securely. Always put a block under front fender between fender and tire. If not you will have leaky fork seals. Saves you time and $$$. Been hauling like this for 30 years.
 
jbird710 said:
You could probably get someone to make one for you cheaper, but I've put a Bed Buddy Rack in my last 3 pickup trucks. It has built in tie down attachment points and you can put up to 3 bikes in a bed with an extender bar for the center position (provided you have an older truck with a wider bed and your hauling dirt bikes).
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I really like the idea of the Lock & Load systems, where its held in place by the pegs versus under suspension load. I've also considered putting in some E/L track to use a front tire chock instead. Haven't settled on one yet, but will likely end up with one of these systems over tiedowns and front end compression.
 
In my experience, if you don’t bind the front end down as tight as possible, it doesn’t have any adverse affect on the suspension. You can put a piece of 2x4 between the front wheel and underside of the fender to take the pressure off of the springs if you’re concerned about it.
 
I've never bought into the idea that straping your bike down causes fork seal leaks.

I am of the opinion that if your fork tubes are not caked with some rock-hard crud you should be able to compress your forks to about half their travel and not put any more stress on the seals than you would under hard braking.

I guess that if your forks are misaligned you could put some stress on bushings and seals and cause a leak, but that is a different problem altogether.
 
RollingJ said:
I've never bought into the idea that straping your bike down causes fork seal leaks.

I am of the opinion that if your fork tubes are not caked with some rock-hard crud you should be able to compress your forks to about half their travel and not put any more stress on the seals than you would under hard braking.

I guess that if your forks are misaligned you could put some stress on bushings and seals and cause a leak, but that is a different problem altogether.
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Agreed.
 
Totally impossible for strapping your bike down and compressing the suspension half way to be more detrimental to your suspension than landing from a 30 foot jump . Not only that but you will seldom die strapping your bike down while that jump has collected more than one .
 
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