| Author | Message | ||
     0300 |
I ordered this Saturday the Black Widow (94 X40) ramp and the Pit-Bull Trailer Restraint system for my bike. I will be installing the Pit-Bull on the back of my little Ranger so it will have to face backwards. I hope they arrive by this holiday weekend so that I can have time to install them. I am hoping also that they will aid me in my goal of self-reliance - (I want to be able to load and unload my bike by myself fast and easy) I will make sure I post pics of the products when they arrive and of course installation details when I get to that. Cheers ! | ||
| Froggy |
The trailer restraint system is great, makes it quick and easy to load the bike. One of my friends has one in his van for his race bike, just roll it in, lock the doohickey and you are good to go. I bet you can even park your truck at a 45 degree angle and it won't fall off. | ||
| Timebandit |
I'd like to see the pics when you get it all together. for me the ramp has always been the weakest link -- compact ones always seem to be too narrow to be safe for one man, wide ones always seem to be too big to haul with the bike. | ||
| Pattio |
I don't get the backward part. I'm lucky to be tall, so I can load bikes into my Tacoma myself, but I can hardly think of anything more difficult than trying to get a bike up a ramp back first! That pit bull thing is a neat piece of kit. My two 'secret weapons' for loading are an arched ramp (lawnmower department at Lowes) and a strap device called a Canyon Dancer. I have a lot of experience loading bikes into and out of my truck, and the best advice I can give is to have your straps and such set-up and in place before you push the bike up there. Fiddling with straps while also holding the bike up is really difficult. | ||
| Timebandit |
I've always liked the two-man setup, where one guy runs the bike up the ramp and a guy in the bed grabs the bars when the bike comes up... but that requires two people. The best one-man loader I've ever seen was Greg Polzin, a BMW collector who owned the old BMW M/C shop near Kahn's in Indy. He used an old fiberglass diving board for a ramp, and he'd run with the bike toward the back of the truck, pushing the bike as fast as he could go. When the bike hit the diving board and started running up into the truck, he kept his grip on the bars and vaulted from the street into the bed of the truck, never breaking stride. Then he'd use the bike's front brake to stop it just as it got to the front end of the bed. Watching him was like seeing seeing an Olympic gymnast in action. He was pure poetry in motion. I'm not brave enough to even try doing it. | ||
| 0300 |
Pattio, the "backwards" part mentioned was for the Pit-Bull piece that bolts on the bike. Here is a link to a guy who did something similar. The bike will still be loaded nose first. His set-up looks good and Pit-Bull replied to me that a lot of people with short beds mount it this way. Wish me luck ! http://www.r6-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96 953 I too hope that the ramp will prove solid enough for the job. I am short and at 148 pounds not much up for gymnastics like Timebandit's friend ! lol | ||
| Timebandit |
That looks like a good setup. But bikes are one of the main reasons that I prefer a long bed truck.  | ||
| Pmjolly |
That restraint is really strong, but it is only as strong as your anchor bolts. How will you mount it to the truck bed? I put mine on my trailer, and backed it up with angle iron underneath. I love it. It is rock solid. You can buy another mounting kit pretty cheap from Pitbull. You can mount it to the floor of your garage for a stand that will never tip over. I used mine this way to rotate my engine for the valve adjustment. | ||
| 0300 |
Pmjolly, Pit-Bull told me that it should be solid without backing it up from under....but when I actually put it together I will probably rig something up to make it more stable. Your idea of a spare one to bolt on the garage floor for the cost of only an additional plate is great. | ||
| Timebandit |
There is NO WAY I would mount it to a sheetmetal or plastic truck bed without proper reinforcement on the backside. I saw a friend try that once with a wheel chock, reinforcing it with only some washers -- the thin sheetmetal in the truck bed is pretty easy to deform when loaded, and a plastic truck bed will crack. | ||
| 0300 |
Well... the ramp got here and I did a little test ride on it. Very solid and easy to set up. Once the bike is on the truck they fit on the sides or one side but it is not pretty. Here is a small bad quality phone vid with me loading the bike:  I promise better pics/vids when the Pit-Bull set-up is complete. Needless to say I was scared before making the first load. I tried it first with a bicycle ! LOL | ||
| 0300 |
Here we go...      It seems very solid without anything else but I don't like how the handlebars move about and make noise while driving so I might get to strap the front a bit. Other than that I am happy with the result. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
I personally don't like riding the bike up the ramp. I've seen too many issues with bikes "spitting" the ramp out when getting to the top, etc. I much rather walk beside while running the clutch. Also, this allows me to be able to jump out of the way if something bad were to happen, if it starts to go wrong when you're sitting on it, not much you can do but go along for the ride. I've watched people fall over off a ramp, doesn't end well. | ||
| Methyman |
I like your ramp! Where did you get the ramp from? | ||
| 0300 |
The Black Widow ramp feels very solid. The middle part where the bike rides on is secured with 3 straps at 3 different lengths all three of them would have to break at the same time for the ramp to be spited out. I am also a featherweight so I don't add much weight on it. Still not the fastest process but the whole set-up does give me the freedom of not needing anyone to load-unload the bike. | ||
| Pmjolly |
If you run a tie down strap around the front wheel and across to the sides of the bed, you can remove all slack from the restraint, and stop the handle bars from moving. With the handle bars held a little off center, there will be no movement at all in the setup. Give the bike a shake when you first put it in. Turn the handlebars one way or the other, and try again. You'll see what I mean. |
