Towing a bike w/ a car

[thewright1]

Why not ride the bus to your bike, rent a small uhaul truck 1 way and drive home.

That way you'll only have to drive 1 way, you'll have room for all your extra stuff, and I believe it would be less expensive than installing a hitch that you might only use 1 time.

True that! I thought about doing that too, but that bus ride takes about 6 hours. I may have to do that though, just get it over with. Can you load a bike up into the back of a truck by yourself? That seems like it would be tough seeing how heavy that thing is.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

You said it runs didn't you?

Pull the ramp down, man up, and ride it in!

Oh crap! The brakes work don't they!

[XJOK2PLAY]

Wright1,

If you load an 11 in the back of a truck... please use the type of aluminum ramp that is wide, and made for this... Motorcycles, 4 wheelers... etc.

You'll need to be able to balance w/ your feet... that thing gets over center on you, I don't care how strong you are... you're goin over & down.
Nothing ruins a guys day faster than dropping a 700 # motorcycle on himself from a 3-4' fall to boot!

JAT...

[bikerphil]

+1 on the wide ramp. My buddy rolls his XS up a 2X6, by himself, up into his van.

[Montreux_Blue]

Wright1,

If you load an 11 in the back of a truck... please use the type of aluminum ramp that is wide, and made for this... Motorcycles, 4 wheelers... etc.

You'll need to be able to balance w/ your feet... that thing gets over center on you, I don't care how strong you are... you're goin over & down.
Nothing ruins a guys day faster than dropping a 700 # motorcycle on himself from a 3-4' fall to boot!

JAT...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKBt69CekAs

[XJOK2PLAY]

Good one, Jeremy!

Cody bottomed out like that loading his Concours 14 this past summer.

Dinged up his exhaust...

That's the thing most don't think about until it happens... the angle being too steep!

[DiverRay]

If you are going to put a hitch on the car, buy a trailer! Get one of the Harbor Freight 4X8 utility trailers, put a 3/4" plywood deck on it, and use the wide ramps!http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=94564 I built my ramps from a pair of 2X12's, 6' long. Hauled the MNS throughout the South West this past August with a Honda Accord Hybrid. The dealer said I could NOT tow with the car! I was able to get 21.3 MPG over the 3K miles we put on the car!
This trailer IS the size I used, and it will hold a single bike easily. The also have a great self locking chock for the front wheel of the bike.http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96349 I picked mine up on sale for about $35.00.

[Yahman]

No Problem...

If my little 3 cylinder Geo can pull one of those Harbor Freight trailers with two motorcycles on it, your VW Jetta should have no problem at all.

Larry

[XJ Rob]

If you do decide to take the bus and rent a small U-haul, I wouldn't mention that you are using it to transport a M/C. A few years back a friend of mine made that mistake and they wouldn't let him rent the truck. Safety reasons I guess. He went to another U-Haul place and left the M/C part out. Not sure if it was just that place or maybe the guy behind the counter.

[XS1100 Newbie]

In putting that hitch on, please make sure you use grade 8 bolts and nuts. With grade 5, you stand the possibility of losing the hitch before . Crank those bolts tight, and use appropriate spacers if needed. This is from experience that i speak. Unfortunately more than one time. I am a slow learner some times.
Bob

[XJOK2PLAY]

+1 on the wide ramp. My buddy rolls his XS up a 2X6, by himself, up into his van.

Question for ya, Phil...

How the heck did ya either get that 11 turned around inside the truck... or backed up the ramp to load??

(Why do I feel I just completed the set up for a punchline? )

Had to ask...

Did you roll yours in as well?

Looks like that would be rough to load... but great on the escape...

[XS1100 Newbie]

Had not thought of that. Yo are right, how did he do that????

[bikerphil]

Question for ya, Phil...

How the heck did ya either get that 11 turned around inside the truck...

You've heard of a 3 point turn right? Well I did a 50 point turn with a bit of lifting, lol. I rode it up the ramp and coasted it down. The bike wasn't broken, the car I was towing it with was. I put the bike and trailer in the truck and towed the car behind it for 500 mi. Wasn't easy getting the trailer in there tho.

[thewright1]

That's awesome, when you guys said uHaul truck, I was thinking you meant the pick up truck. That does make sense to use one of those.

[DGXSER]

U-haul will not rent one of their trucks, even a pick up truck to move anything other thna furniture and the like. They will not even let you bring home a brand new lawn tractor in their truck! (Yes that is from experience) The issue being, they do not want oils or grease or other things in their truck that could get on the stuff the next person puts in it.

Now, from expereince also I can tell you it can be very interesting to ride in the back or one of those trucks with a V-Max and an XJ750 both on the side stand, both roped in, but I rode with them to make sure they stayed safe. That was a FUN trip!!