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I just got a truck with the thought of being able to get my bike on the back. I've never done this and I have a ramp coming in the mail as well as straps.
Any tips? My main concern is getting the bike up the ramp, Should I stand beside it and have someone on the truck to guide it or should I put it up with me on it?
Thanks

Need to know type of bike and truck. Usually best to have one or two helpers. Keep a close eye on ground clearance, Many bikes will bottom out on top of ramp. Especially true of 4WD trucks. (worse when un-loading)Best to park truck in ditch or near hill to load. Un-loading is always much harder than loading! Never trust a set of tie down straps, always have two sets on in case one breaks!

Thank you for the input, is a z1000 on a 2000 Nissan frontier

I have a Ford Ranger, '04 type and fit a '07 shadow 750 on it with the gate down, had old school straps on it, just have someone compress the front shocks down as far as they can go and hooked the straps on, drove 350 miles like that and no problem at all. We use a hill like you said to load/unload and have someone guide it the bike, worked for me should do the same for you. Good luck

And always video tape. You could win some money on one of those video shows if all else goes wrong.

jk - Be careful.

I talked with a guy who delivers bikes from a dealership and his advice was to only compress the front shocks half way. He said this would allow the front to absorb some of the bounce from riding in the truck without causing damage to the bike. He uses straps on both sides using the handlebars and then a third across the back of the truck wound once through the rear tire.

NWTrtle wrote:I talked with a guy who delivers bikes from a dealership and his advice was to only compress the front shocks half way. He said this would allow the front to absorb some of the bounce from riding in the truck without causing damage to the bike. He uses straps on both sides using the handlebars and then a third across the back of the truck wound once through the rear tire.

yeah you dont want to compress it all the way.

I would say drive it up and dont let off the gas till you are in the bed all the way . Or you can buy one of those tailgate lifts that you can install on your truck.

why would you compress them half way??? how is it going to damage your bike by compressing it down further than 1/2 way???

erbgottie wrote:why would you compress them half way??? how is it going to damage your bike by compressing it down further than 1/2 way???

because then your bike has no play which can cause damage of "overtravel" not sure of the right word to use in the situation. If you leave no room for "bounce" you risk breaking all the compenents that make up the "forks".

NWTrtle wrote:I talked with a guy who delivers bikes from a dealership and his advice was to only compress the front shocks half way. He said this would allow the front to absorb some of the bounce from riding in the truck without causing damage to the bike. He uses straps on both sides using the handlebars and then a third across the back of the truck wound once through the rear tire.

When I got my bike delivered the guy didn't make any adjustments. They just strapped it to the back of a flatbed and delivered it.