I'm going to be ordering a 05 F250 pretty soon. Once a year, I make a drive from Las Vegas, NV to San Antonio, TX to visit some family (1300 miles). I take my Yamaha Road Star with me to do some riding in the TX hill country. I've been towing it on a 5 X 8 utility trailer with my current Toyota 4 Runner. I want to be able to put it in the back of the new truck so that I won't have to use the trailer anymore. I am going to be getting a short bed truck, so I will have to keep the tailgate down. The bike is 8 feet long and 700 lbs. I have a ramp, so loading should be a problem. Has anyone done this? If so, what are your recommendations?

I've been told to put a piece of plywood down across the tailgate so spread the weight of the back of the bike out a little bit to prevent it from collapsing in the middle where the back tire rests. Also, are the front tie down points in the bed secure enough to hold the tie downs straps attached to the front handle bars of the bike?

 

get a long bed ????

 

I've been told to put a piece of plywood down across the tailgate so spread the weight of the back of the bike out a little bit to prevent it from collapsing in the middle where the back tire rests. Also, are the front tie down points in the bed secure enough to hold the tie downs straps attached to the front handle bars of the bike?[/QUOTE]

Two things I'd recommend:
1. find a truck that has the same bed as the one you're going to order and measure 8' (the motorcycle length) with a measuring tape and see if it's going to fit either lengthwise or diagonally in the bed; and
2 Any chance of loading the bike so it's facing backwards? That'd put 90% of the weight in the bed and the tailgate would only have to hold the front tire and some of the weight of the forks.

And yes, the tie-downs inside the bed will secure the bike just fine. Use a good quality, ratcheting tie down so you can evenly distribute the pull to hold the bike steady, but they'll work fine. Once you utilize the four tie-down hooks inside the bed, it won't take a lot to secure the handlebars, and the bedrail slots will do just fine.

Enjoy your ride in the hills! I hope to get a cruiser in about a year!

Best,
Daryl

PS- just had an additional thought: are you going to get the "bed extender" on your new truck? You could take it off to load the bike then re-install it so it'd function as a "brace" to help hold the bike in.

 

If your brave you can drive it up the ramp .I've seen guys do that but could never do it myself.Try to find a hill or ditch you can back up to .This will decrese the angle.

 

First off most of the weight on a bike is to the front of it.I hauled my new harley in back of my short bed and didnt put any plywood down.I have a 05 Dyna weighing close to what yours does.I also have a folding ramp that i load our 4wheeler or bike with and the 4wheeler both back tires rest on the tailgate.

 

I hauled ONE Harley Big Twin around in my SB F250 and now I haul one big twin and one sportster on/in my Long Bed.

I did not have any trouble getting her in the SB but it has to be diagonal and the rear tire contact patch was mostly inside the bed but the back of the tire and fender were long enough that the gate had to be down or off.

Hooking up the TT required the gate off.

As recommended before, find a good deep ditch or loading dock. Two problems loading from ground level up to bed level...first is DAMNED heavy bike, second is steep angle onto gate or bed usually bottoms out low slung bikes...and remember how DAMNED heavy it is.

When I have to load by ramp, I put down three ramps, one for the bike and one for each foot so I can drive/walk it up and in.

Really should consider the LB if you are buying a truck.

 

Fortunately, my ramp is 3' wide, so I can keep my feet down when riding the bike up. I'm not brave enough to do that on a skinny ramp.

Thats what I want to hear. Did you do anything to secure the front tire? Or is it not going anywhere once the tie down straps are ratcheted down?

 

All the tie down points in the Ford Beds have always been strong enough.

However I highly recommend getting a 2"X12" board and cutting it the width of the front of the bed. Lay it upright so the front tire is pushing the board against the EASY to BEND front bed wall.

In the long bed I use front tire cradles positioned so there is 1" halt before the bed front wall. Before I did this the tie down and braking forces would easily bow forward the bed wall as it is not very stout.

When I use the ratchet type tie downs I compress the front shocks to half their full travel. I have two loops of nylon straps that route through the front triple tree, that prevents using the handle bars, and is a more secure location to angle directly down to the hard points in the front bed corners. Unless I know I will be off road on very bouncy terrain or back woods roads, I seldom bother with tying down the rear of the bike.

I covered one bike years ago with a plastic/nylon tarp and learned a very expensive lesson... no matter how well you tie off the tarp some part of it will flap in the wind and BEAT the crap out of chrome and paint. Better to let it get a little wet in the rain that scratch and pound the tin!

 

I bought "BigBoy" ramps from www.motorcycleramps.com. 10 feet long and arched. Easily gets my RoadKing in the back without issue. Its a bifold ramp system that has three separate ramps. Nice and wide to put your feet down. I recommend that you use a ratchet strap through the ramps at about 1/2 way point in the ramp and take the strap ends to the trailer hitch. It keeps the ramps nice and tight to the tailgate and keep the ramps from moving even slightly when loading/unloading. My RoadKing tires sit completely in the bed of the truck. The tire extends into the opened tailgate but it does not supoort any weight from the bike. The front tire snugs up to the bed ball and does not move around. Keep some pressure on the forks with ratchet straps to keep the tire from moving.

Any questions let me know.

 

I don't know if I picked the wrong part of the gate to push my HD low rider over but it bent the metal down immediately. I can't imagine a heavy bike sitting on a tailgate for a long trip and not bending the thin metal.

As for tie-down points, if you like heavy duty, look up Bed Bolts, you can mount them in the bed (using some back-up metal) and they are quite sturdy. You can remove the eyebolt and leave the mounting point in the bed to load big flat items. I mounted mine off to the side and never remove them, 4 by 8 sheets still load without hitting the bolts.

 

My tailgate got bent down the first time I put my V-Star on there. Ever since I put a 2x6 across the tailgate where the rear tires sits and haven't had a problem since.

 

Even lighter bikes have bent tailgates. My bike only weighs 400 but put a noticeable dent in an F150. Tailgates are not made to hold the weight. If you strap the rear down, you add pressure to the gate, if you do not tie it down, one bouce will dent it. I have see it both ways. The 2 X 12 is a good idea. Personally, I like the convenience of using the trailer. My trailer has a full width ramp and is much lower than the truck (now an EXcursion). A dented tailgate or a bike that gets dumped is never worth any savings over using the trailer. A long bed is different, but I would use the trailer over a short bed especially with a bike of that weight.

 

I have a '01 Harley Electa Glide that weight about 760lbs an put it in the bed (Short Bed) when we go camping (pulling travel trailer). I remove the tailgate and put it in diagonal, and have no problems. Cant keep tail gate down because of the travel trailer.

 

I don't know about dented gates as I have a longbed but I have strapped down many bikes. Most people really ratchet them down but all u really need is enough tension to compress the front forks slightly. The rear should be fine alone. I use motorcycle-specific pull type straps and simply pull them tight.

The problem is when the front wheel kicks to the side, the bike wants to tip. I would either buy a motorcycle wheel chock for the front or build one that holds the front wheel steady side to side. If u do this and lightly strap the front it will go nowhere.

KP