There will be a time in every motorcyclist’s life that they need to strap a motorcycle down. Whether its traveling to a track day, race, or just across town to drop it off at the local shop. So the big question is how does one go about strapping down a motorcycle?!?! Doing a Google search shows topic upon topic on how to strap down a bike. From Canyon Dancers, to Pitbull’s Trailer Restraint System, to ST Stands, to just plain ol’ ratchet straps attached to the bike. One thing you see in common with all of these systems is to keep as little stress on the fork seals as possible. The Pitbull and the ST Stands eliminate this issue and are a great system to use, but they are pricey compared to a canyon dancer and straps. Straps are a great, cheap way to secure a bike, but again you chance blowing a seal or the straps coming undone.
Earlier in the year I was helping a seasoned racer load his bike, and he proceeded to strap his bike down in a way I had never seen before. After he explained how it worked it made complete sense to me. Below is the way he showed us how to strap a bike in.
Basically the wheel is being forced into the wheel chock making it one with the chock and the trailer. There is a strap on each side of the bike holding the wheel into the chock. By strapping it this way you take all pressure off the fork seals and makes it impossible to have the bike pop out of the chock. One thing to keep in mind is the anchor point for the strap must be in front of the fork. This keeps constant forward pressure on the tire against the chock.
Again this is just another way to strap down a bike. If Pitbulls or ST Stands a little out of your price range give this a shot. You might be surprised how will it works.