trailer travel advice

[trbig]

And for pulling the suspension all the way down, there's no better way to blow-out your fork seals...Good luck with doing that

If that blows the fork seals, then they would have blown on a bad bump anyway. If you're concerned about it, hit the bleeder valve and let the air out. As you, I've been hauling bikes all over the country since I was a youngin' and have never blown a front seal yet. Only time I've had ever had to pay the piper is when they were strapped partially down like you're talking about to where the forks could compress further on bumps, then rebounding, jerking, and snapping the straps.

You can find articles all over the web that say the same thing and back up what I'm saying, but I've also seen some that say it will damage the forks?? But here's one I found right off from a bike trailer company..


http://www.mototrailerco.com.au/about_us_2.html

And another...


http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/str...ips/index.html

[jwhughes3]

Compresser

Hi my name is John, and I too am a "compresser".

I generally take a fair amount of slack from front when trailering (always have) and have never had a seal blow on me (stop it greg, just stop right now )

I have not let air out either, but I never take it all the way down. I just don't want it bouncing for same reasons already stated.

Maybe I have just been lucky, but its been on the trailer for thousands of miles.

I found some straps at northern tool that eliminate the flapping end...they roll up completely inside themselves to take up slack before cranking lever.

John

[tv5150]

Reading Comprehension--Try IT You'll Like IT

If that blows the fork seals, then they would have blown on a bad bump anyway. If you're concerned about it, hit the bleeder valve and let the air out. As you, I've been hauling bikes all over the country since I was a youngin' and have never blown a front seal yet. Only time I've had ever had to pay the piper is when they were strapped partially down like you're talking about to where the forks could compress further on bumps, then rebounding, jerking, and snapping the straps.

You can find articles all over the web that say the same thing and back up what I'm saying, but I've also seen some that say it will damage the forks?? But here's one I found right off from a bike trailer company..


http://www.mototrailerco.com.au/about_us_2.html

And another...


http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/str...ips/index.html

Seriously, you need to learn to comprehend what you are reading,
the 1st link you post plainly states to not compress the forks more
than 75% NOT fully compress, if you compress them about 2 inches, you'd have to be off-road driving to make the thing bounce enough to bottom-out and rebound to the tied downs. OR maybe you need to drive a little easier and take into account you have a load behind you. BTW, I used to haul haz-mat liquids grossing 80K lbs in a 18 wheeler and I knew how to handle that kind of load, hauling a motorcycle is child's play compared to that...Like my lst posted stated, I've hauled bikes worth $20K and they've always arrived in the same condition they were before they were loaded...
If it works U for go for it, I could give a rat azz what U do...

[trbig]

Reading Comprehension--Try IT You'll Like IT

Seriously, you need to learn to comprehend what you are reading,
the 1st link you post plainly states to not compress the forks more
than 75% NOT fully compress, if you compress them about 2 inches, you'd have to be off-road driving to make the thing bounce enough to bottom-out and rebound to the tied downs. OR maybe you need to drive a little easier and take into account you have a load behind you. BTW, I used to haul haz-mat liquids grossing 80K lbs in a 18 wheeler and I knew how to handle that kind of load, hauling a motorcycle is child's play compared to that...Like my lst posted stated, I've hauled bikes worth $20K and they've always arrived in the same condition they were before they were loaded...
If it works U for go for it, I could give a rat azz what U do...

LMAO... I always get a good laugh out of people that try to accuse others of something they are guilty off. Maybe try your own advice and read what's there instead of what you'd LIKE something to say. It says in the first article to compress the front forks AT LEAST 75%.. and not a word about not fully compressing them or not going past 75%. You just make this up as you go along, or what? I guess you may have just been looking at the pics instead of reading since you obviously missed the part about "The compression of the front suspension of your motorcycle should result in very little additional compression being possible." But heck.. I guess you know more than the experts. The word narcisistic comes to mind.

So far, you've seem to got zilch on me in the driving/hauling experience that you try to rave about. Or do you think you're the only driver out there with hazmat? 80k liquid loads are childs play compared to the 1/2 full liquid loads.. and have exactly SQUAT to do with any of this discussion about strapping loads. Try an ambulance for a while where a rough ride means death to someone with a c-spine injury, then get back to me. (Oh.. and we'd strap those people down snuggly also to prevent individuals from moving seperate from the cot/board) And you appear to drive only on perfect roads, while the rest of us in the real world live with potholes, railroad crossings, bad bridge aproaches/exits, road debris, and the occasional kamakazi animals. Congrats on your perfect world and your superior knowledge to even the pros.

Oh.. and thanks again for the good laugh.

[trbig]

Look... Anyone that actually hauls things that move, that has a bit of common sense to know what happens when these things move, they pull it down tight enough so that it can't bounce. I've hauled everything from heavy earth moving equipment, large vehicles like dump trucks, to regular vehicles, to the aforementioned bikes. With things like front end loaders and motor graders that have no suspension, you pull them down as tight as you can and mash the tires down with the chain locks. If they bounce, they'll snap those chains like they are dental floss. If they have a suspension like a pickup or dump truck, you hook them at the frame and pull them down as tight as you can and take out the suspension travel. If they get a chance to bounce, they'll also snap heavy chains easily. Same principle on a bike.

The only argument seems to be "You'll blow out a fork seal!" which has never happened on any bike, vehicle, or machine I've hauled, our DOT has hauled, or any of the multiple road/dirt crews we supervise. If your fork seal blows out, it was bad and needed replacement anyway. Bumps happen, no matter how slowly or careefully you drive. It doesn't take rocket science to realize that if something is moving up and down that has restraints oriented up and down, the restraint is going to loosen, which can dislodge a hook from one end or the other, as well as the rebound and snapping back against whatever you're restraining your load with. If it doesn't snap the restraint, congrats, you've obviously got a higher strength strap than needed, but it's still not good on the restraints/hooks, the hooking point for the restraints on the trailer, and especially where you're attaching that restraint to on the equipment (Or bike).

On the flip side of this, I do know some car haulers that will chain to the frame and pull it tight, but they are more concerned with forward/backward/side to side movement and pull the restraints more straight out than an up and down strapping like most do on a bike. They'll strap from 4 corners, but cross the front and back chains to tie to oposite corners to keep the side to side movement down. We do this on the heavy equipment also. The cars are still pulled down pretty tight, but they do move up and down on their own suspension a bit still. This lets there be more of an increase/decrease pressure against the restraints that continually hold tension instead of the up/down snapping back against a restraint tied in a more vertical position.

So... just some info on what apparently MOST people do according to most state DOT rules, along with using a little common sense, which doesn't seem to be very common at times.