How do you strap down 2 bikes in a pickup?

[Yody]

Going to the track next week and my friend is driving in his 4 door dodge ram, it has a short bed. I'm trying to figure out where the strap thats coming off of the inside handle bars goes? Do you have to put an anchor in the middle of the truck?

[Setwayz]

It can be done. Expect something to get scratched though. Just send one strap to the right hook and the other to the left hook.

I got two bikes up to Reno in a GMC S-15 bed. You can tie the tailgate up with some rope.

[lokisdog]

Originally posted by yody
Going to the track next week and my friend is driving in his 4 door dodge ram, it has a short bed. I'm trying to figure out where the strap thats coming off of the inside handle bars goes? Do you have to put an anchor in the middle of the truck?

That's one way, another easier way is to strap the inside fork legs to each other and then run the outside fork straps down to the bed hooks. When you cinch down the outside straps this will tension the inner straps. The bikes hold each other up in concert with the tie-downs to the bed hooks.

A Sport Chock (or in this case two) makes life 100% easier.

[Ducky_Fresh]

Put the front wheels pointed towards the center very slightly, as close together as you can manage.

Then pitch the bike sideways a little so that the rear wheels are towards the corners of the truck beds rear.

Then tighten the outside tie downs a little more than the inside bar's tie downs.

This will help keep the bars from banging and give you better leverage on the bikes so that they don't move around.

Oh yeah, put the tie downs through the spokes of the other bikes wheels to get to the mounting points if they are low.

What kind of truck btw?

[MidnightSun]

Easiest way is to install an anchor point in the middle. I use one of these on my Toy shortbed. Yup Sportchock will make things alot easier too.

http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/images/threads/000/198/146/3052642-4-ring-kit.jpg

[Yody]

I like the idea of strapping the forks together and then the outside bars cinched down.

It's a 06 Dodge ram 1500 4 door, I already told him to put an anchor in the middle but he doesn't want to drill holes in the bed

[antarius]

I just did this on the last track day... worked like a charm and no scratches.

I put a canyon dancer on each bike, and strapped the outside to a hook on the edge of a bed. Naturally at this point, the bikes can't fall IN, but they can fall apart from one another.

And yes, I left the inside bar canyon dancer strap unhooked... and yes.. it still works fine.

I then took another tie down (one for each bike) and soft tied it to the top of the fork tube/triple clamp (just wrapped it around it), then I hooked both hooks of those two tie downs together.

Essentially you have the outside bars of each bike being held to the bed with a canyon dancer/tie down, and then the inside of the bikes being held to one another by two more tie downs... it basically makes the two bikes act as one.

To tighten it down I just had my friend sit on his bike, mine on my bike. We'd lean both bikes to the right, and tighten the right outside tie down, then lean to the left and tighten the left outside tie down.

In the end the bikes were about 4" apart from one another, only able to move TOWARD eachother an inch or two, and when they moved "outward" they moved as one, again, allowing no more than the normal amount of movement. To be honest, it was pretty easy.

It helps if you have a large block of wood (or wheel chocks) to hold the front wheels straight, but not necessary in my experience.

[Yody]

I think thats what lokisdog was saying and it sounds like a good idea, I'll do a test run before we finallly get ready for the trackday. I think thats gonna work. Thanks!

[kyles here]

just make sure you bring a blanket or something cuz they will hit

[liquidONE]

I'm not sure what y'all talking about.... pointing the wheels towards the middle and strapping the inside two forks together and shiet....

I been loading two bikes in an F150 (6 ft long bed) for several years now.

Yes, the sport chock will make things 100% easier to load, but tying them down will be another story.

If you don't want to drill a hole in the bed, do what I did:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b391/cswinsf/Photo_032907_001.jpg

It's basically a 2-inch thick, 5-foot long x 16-inch wide piece of wood. Measure 4-inches off the center in each direction, drill a hole for the industrial strength anchor loops, good sized steel washer and bolt to hold it in, and done.

Put this in the front of the bed, about 6-inches from the very front. Roll in first bike, tire over the wood, on either side of the bed. The wood will move if you tighten too much, so do it just enough to hold up the bike.

Roll in second bike in similar manner, tighten the straps, but cross them (e.g. left bike strap to right anchor, right bike to left anchor). Never a problem, bikes never hit each other - have a guiness
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b391/cswinsf/CopyofPhoto_030207_002.jpg

[MrCrash]

Originally posted by kyles here
just make sure you bring a blanket or something cuz they will hit

I've used tie downs looped around the front wheels to prevent them from turning, making sure the bike stay snug.

Another tie downs from the passenger footpegs / subframe to the truck bed to pulls the bikes away from each other, decreasing the chance of them hitting each other.

[dgrace]

I put a toolbox between the two front tires to prevent the wheels turning in towards each other, then just tie each bike down to the 2 front anchor points, with the inside tie-down going through the opposite bike's spokes. Has worked for years with no problems, and if one tie-down fails, I won't drop both bikes.

dave