Any suggestions for the best way to load a motorcycle into the back of a 4x4 supercrew? I'm driving cross country on Monday and I want to take my bike with me. It's a SV-650S. I don't want to pull a trailer that far, but I'm nervous about dropping the bike. Thanks!

Grim

 

My suggestion is to use a strong ramp like one for 4 wheelers/Quads. But also I never did ride a motorcycle, so I don't know how easy that's going to be, and you probably thoght of that already.

 

sv's are pretty light, so most ramps will do, i have a gixxer 600. i back the truck up to the entrance to the driveway where it meets the street to make the angle of the ramp less steep. depending on your experience you should be able to walk up next to it while working the clutch and gas to power it up the ramp. once it is up there use to straps to hold it down. you want to compress the forks as far as you can so it doesn't tip over on a turn. I use "soft straps" brand of straps to go around the handle grips and hook the tie downs to those soft straps and then hook them to the truck hooks. you have to put the bike on the kickstand and tighten the right a bit then the left, then the right until you get it tight and standing upright and not leaning. man that was long, sorry.

 

I have extensive experience in this...My thinking is your bike weighs about 500 lbs right. I had a honda cb1 and I bought one of the four fold ramps that you can buy almost anywhere for less then a $100. Depending how high your truck is and how low your bike you are gonna wanna look for an incline. I used a steep drive way, street, the curb of a street. You get the idea. Then you can walk you bike up or you ride it up. Make sure you have the momentum otherwise you find yourself pretty scared for which ever scenario you go with. Make sure you don't have your treads on the fold of the ramps or it could give. I used four ratchet straps two on the front handle bars (which is all you really need) and two on the bike on either side wrapped around the body and over the seat. It just made me feel better to have those. Taking the bike off you are gonna want to walk it. It is really hard to back it off while on. If you strap all those fairly tight you will be okay. Make sure that the front forks compress and that they are even and you will be okay. That will be keep good on the road. I had my bike on my truck driving to the beach doing 95 and it was fine. Then I got to the beach and did donuts in the sand, with the bike on the back! Not my brightest moment I got caught up....point of the story the bike was fine! Oh and a side note load the bike in the dead middle so you can look in the rearview mirror on occasion to see if the headlight has shifted make that your focal point. Other than that have fun!

 

sorry I didn't realize that were answering at the same time. I have VERY meticulous instructions haha. I need that type. :o

 

its cool the more help, the better off he will be.

 

This is how I do it, use a single ramp, walk along side the ramp and use the throttle to push it up the ramp fairly quickly and HOP into the bed and you'll stay right on the side of the bike. Basically, you run right along with it all the way into the bed of the truck, hope this has helped, let us know how you decide to do it. This is very easy, trust me.

 

Like the others said but I'd offer this one piece of advice from the motocross/dirtbike world... use some sort of stool/stand and place it right behind the tailgate and next to your ramp so you don't have to "hop" into the bed of the truck you just use it as a step.. makes it alot more stable, especially if your loading under power standing next to the bike... the last thing you want is to have to hop while your hand is on the throttle... just my .02

Casey

 

I'm used to doing it in a smaller pickup so that would be a good idea.

 

Another option, if you have some help.....have someone in the bed to help receive the bike. Only takes a minute for someone to help you . Better yet, if you have a dealer nearby, they generally have a ramp you can ride straight into the truck with.

 

A few things that make for safe and secure loading and hauling for both street and dirt bikes ...
I park the truck at a angle that makes it as low as possible when loading into the bed. Downhill of the ramp so to speak and let gravity do MOST of the work when pushing the bike into the bed.
I have the motorcycle bed mount in my truck which keeps the front wheel secure !!! You can make one out of wood if you don't want to buy one. This makes for VERY secure hauling. I have never even seen my R6 or Dirt bike move around with the front tire secured in the motorcycle rack. The other thing I do that I don't see many other people doing is to remove the hooks from the tow straps and replace them with 5,000 lb rock climbing carabineers so you NEVER have to worry about hitting a bump, having the strap come off the bike, soft tie, or bed hook, and seeing your bike fall out of the back of the truck. I have seen this happen TWICE in the last 10 years of hauling bikes around. Hope this helps !!



Note both ends of the straps have the hooks replace with carabineers

 

Probably the best thing about having a dropped pickup But don't get me wrong, I don't like dropped pickups, just yours

 

Along the same lines of the "look for an incline" suggestion, I do this. Find a buddy let him drive your truck, you hop on the bike and head down to your local grocery, furniture, or any other larger retail outlet. Most of these places have large loading decks that are set back from the bay door. Ride the bike along the deck, back the truck up, load her in, and rachet her down.

Good Luck. Be sure those front shocks are compressed.

 

Thanks ... I THINK that was a compliment ?? And the funny thing ... I have ALWASY had lifted 4x4's until I bought this truck !!

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I had not thought of using a grocery store loading dock.

If I load with ramps I'm definately going to need some sort of stepstool. The back of my 4x4 Screw is waaay to high for me to "hop into" while holding the bike, and I'm 6'2"!

Grim