Two Wheels Need Their Own Method
Most of the damage done to motorcycles in transit happens at the loading stage, with a ramp that is too steep or too narrow and nobody steadying the bars. After that it is the tie-downs: a strap thrown over a fairing or cinched across an exposed fork leg will mark paint and can blow a seal before the truck has left the kerb.
We load with a wide ramp or a tilting deck, use a wheel chock so the bike stands on its own, and run soft loops to the triple clamp and the frame. Cruisers, sportbikes, touring rigs and trikes all come out of Carmel and across Hamilton County this way.
Upright in a chock
The front wheel sits in a chock so the bike is stable before a single strap goes on. Nothing leans on a stand for the journey.
Soft loops, sensible points
Straps go to the triple clamp and frame, never over bodywork, levers or a fork tube that has to slide.
The rider comes too
If you are stranded with the bike, there is a seat in the cab. Nobody gets left on a verge waiting for a lift.
Loading a Bike Properly
Unhurried, because this is the part that goes wrong.
01
Tell us the bike
Make, rough weight and whether it still rolls. A dropped bike with bent bars loads differently to one that simply will not start.
02
Walked up, not revved up
The bike is guided onto the deck at walking pace with hands on the bars the whole way, then settled into the chock.
03
Compressed and checked
Front suspension loaded just enough to hold it steady, straps rechecked before moving off and again at the far end.