When I say 5 minutes for the new system, I'm talking to wheel the two bikes out of the garage onto the trailer, line them up and cinch them down. There is no way I can do it that fast with straps. I used the ratcheting strap, and it took me at least 5 minutes just to untangle the pile of straps...

 

Good grief, deej...the woodwork on that fork chock belongs in the home fine furnishings department of a furniture store on Rodeo Drive in Hollywood. Dude!...you have too much time on your hands.

deej, on the use of conventional motorcycle compression straps, that's what I use with my semi-homemade fork chock that works just like yours. The whole setup works great. You know from my pics that I haul my bike all over the country. The challenge to my bike retention system really starts when I go looking for camping places. You wouldn't believe where I've driven with my minivan and bike trailer trying to get a good, free campsite out in the forest or BLM land. Bouncing over horrible dirt roads and 2-tracks for many miles, I often have the whole trailer bounce a few inches off the ground on unexpected ruts and such. The fork chock and standard motorcycle compression straps have never come loose or let the bike rock out of control...and I don't have the rear of the bike strapped down with straps...just that rubber covered chain device at the wheel.

I think the fork chock and compression strap method works amazingly well and with great security.

 

Personally I think those fork chocks are just snake oil. If it was damaging to compress fork springs, we'd all be replacing the "worn out" springs every few weeks just from riding. You'd have to really way over compress them to cause any permanent deformation, and it would probably take someone stronger than yourselves, or a winch, to do that.

I just use two straps on the front, one for each side, and cinch it down a few inches in the bed of my pickup truck. The very most I will do is use the quick bleed air valves on top of the forks to let the air out so it's not under pressure and then equalize when I unload, but I'm not even sure that is necessary. There's a big column of air in the fork and they are not compressed all that much, so it's not like there's super high pressure in there up against the seals, they are designed to take a lot more than that. I don't put anything on the rear wheel. Unless I'm going over washboard dirt roads a lot, it never moves around, and even if it did scoot a few inches one way or the other, what's that going to hurt? As long as the front is secure, it's not going anywhere.

So put me in the 5 minute load camp.

 

Hey cmott how long have you had the QR code as your avatar? It works!!! Too bad it goes to red and not green hehehe

 

Nobrakes, it's been years ago or I'd post up the link, but there have studies about this that seem to support the compressed spring fatigue concept. I almost hate to mention it, as I get the sneaking su****ion that it will turn into an oil thread. The material also covered the issue of pressure on fork seals. You want to get an oil thread debate going, just look up the oil seal pressure issue, and you'll go crosseyed. The spring issue seemed to mainly revolve around how a spring that is compressing and releasing is storing energy and then getting rid of it upon its extension stroke, whereas a compressed spring will fatigue over time due to its inability to unload that energy. While I'm sure none of this is going to knock the earth off its axis, it appeared to be big enough of a concern worth addressing. It also touched on the valve springs in an engine experiencing this, and that it may contribute more to valve spring fatigue over time than actual use when the engine is running...except of course in the extreme, high performance, high rpm racing applications.

I'm no real authority on this, and I don't see oil seals exploding all over the place from trailering, but you can't see what's going on with the springs, and I doubt many of us are constantly using a spring fatigue calculator every month or so to see what effects might be occurring...LOL!

The fork chock adds an additional 10 maybe 15 seconds to address when strapping my bike down, so my suspenders-and-belt mentality is comfortably stroked with the fork chock.

 

After loosing my bike out of the trailer i came up with this
https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...trailer-16576/

 

HEADLINE: Texas man has been found by hunters two months after his vehicle became stuck in a remote region of CO. Searchers had previously ruled out covering this area believing a minivan could not have traversed Black Bear Pass.




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LOL!...Bob, do you write Jay Leno's material?

Oddly, that pic is in the foothills of the La Sal mountains just outside of Moab on May 8th. A very uncommon event for that time in that low an elevation. Of course, it was all gone by mid-afternoon.

Oh man!...Black Bear in a minivan! Last August I ran into 2 guys on fully trip loaded BMW GS1200's on Black Bear. I stopped at the top to watch them take that steep crux point that makes a bend. One guy actually made it by paddling and sliding and staying upright the whole time without any assistance. If you've done this ride before, you know it's a skatey, gravely, slick, super steep spot. The next guy fell over pretty quickly and had to be helped by a large group of tourists that were on one of those double-decker 4WD tour rigs. Just riding on one of those tour rigs is probably pretty exciting, but those drivers know what they're doing, and their rigs are really set up for it.

I've done that spot in my full size GMC Jimmy 4X4, KLR600/650's, and my KLX. Frankly it's not that fun IMO, but you often feel obligated to do this route just to say you did.

 

That pic begged a headline. Kudos man, you're out there doing it!


Actually, it's on my to-do list to talk to you about my upcoming trip to Moab/San Juans. I'm taking my Dad out the last two weeks in Sept. We'll camp from the truck and ride four days in CO, move to Moab and do four days. This will be our first serious off-road adventure.


You've probably seen the vid of BigWan/LittleWan going down BBP two up on the 950SE. He's a bad man. Yes, I feel obligated to do it but don't want to get Dad hurt...we'll see.



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Red was intentional . I made it at this web site. Just copy and paste the URL and it creates the QR image.

Free QR Code Generator - no sign up QR Code - QR Code Generator - QR Creator - Create QR t-shirts, QR business cards QR stickers and more