Motorcycle wheel chocks... a quick guide to what works and what doesn't.
EZ Bike Chalks
Hey... if there's a bad way to do something.. you know someone has done it!
Ok... you need a motorcycle trailer...
The problem with having a 'Motorcycle Trailer' is that it can't do much of anything else. Which is a shame. It always makes more sense to get a trailer you can use for anything and then adapt it to the task at hand. So, motorcycle chalks were invented and come in many varieties.
Oh Come ON!!!! Sure you don't need a motorcycle trailer?
For the love it MIKE!!!!! Really? I do believe I see a thing called a HITCH under your bumper!
Some folks............
So, I think you are already past the point these geniuses are and you need a trailer. And, since you are on this page, you want to haul at least one bike. Well, we'll do our best to steer you in the right direction.. read on.
But first a quick word here. We don't come at this problem from a trailer sales status, we truly come at it from the motorcycle owner and collector status... here's a small portion of the motorcycles that Craig has owned, ridden, hauled to Daytona, Laughlin, Sturgis and numerous other events over the years. In short, we speak from pure experience in this matter.
So... let's talk about securing and hauling your motorcycle in a sane fashion, without spending a zillion dollars.
Let's talk wheel chocks.
The $15 Amazon bike chock.... two thumbs down.
NO NO NO.... YUCK!!!! A $15 wheel chock won't do anything but make you extremely sad some day in the future, when it fails and your bike begins the 'break dance of death' on the bed of your trailer, while you watch helplessly in the rear view mirror.
Next, the Pingel Wheel Chock
Better than nothing....
I have used literally hundreds of these and sold literally thousands of these when I owned H&H Trailer, and even though I personally never had a failure, I did witness first hand what happens when the chalk does fail. In a super hard stop situation or, God Forbid, a head on collision, I have seen motorcycles actually crush those little side brace straps and allow the motorcycle to leap forward into the 'Break dance of..... well you get the idea.'
Sure, they're about $40-50 at Amazon.com and they work, but i do not like that you HAVE to mount down hardware permanently on the trailer floor to make them work. It's just one more thing to break, to catch something on when you're sliding stuff around in non bike hauling mode and one more thing to get plugged up with dirt and aggravate you.
Next.......
The whizbang ultra catch the back of your tire wheel chock.
Actually, they are very nice. But they have the drawbacks of being EXPENSIVE!
$180-200 for a WHEEL CHOCK??? Yikes! AND once again, you have permanent hardware mounting issues to deal with. (By the way, I don't know who's bike that is, but that saw blade looking brake caliper is cooool lookin'! Nice)
A cheaper alternative!
The affordable and pretty useful self locking wheel chock... available for under $40 at
Northerntool.com
Pretty neat design for the money BUT....
You still have to have some sort of intrusive and time consuming mount system to install it on the floor of your trailer before you can use it.
So... what does Craig use? Well, it's not the cheapest, at a little under $90 each, but it has never failed, is stronger than the hubs of Hades and you don't have to put a single piece of hardware down on the floor to actually use it on most any trailer we sell. All advantages in my book....
Introducing the Mac's Wedge Motorcycle Chock.
Read more on it at the Mac's Custom Tie Downs Website.
Take it from a guy who has been tying down and hauling a lot of nice bikes, thousands of miles for over 20 years... this is a pretty neat piece of equipment. Let me show you how i use it and see if it won't make your life easier.
So you have this nice, neat new SS series trailer you got from Craig (hopefully!) and now you have to haul a couple of bikes to the show, the track or just to get serviced. How do you secure down $20,000 worth of bikes for the trip without spending $500 to do it?
You get a couple of the Mac's wedge tie downs and set them in the floor with those nifty front plates resting firmly against the front of the bed. Now, Mac's also has back mount holes to locate these back in the floor if you like, but from my experience, unless I am hauling four bikes, or am forced to load one bike behind another one, this is the best, most secure place to tie down a bike... keep watching.
Don't you hate it when you don't have a camera crew? Anyway, all i did was drop in the two max wedge tie downs, dropped the ramp gate, drove the Hyabusa on first, leaned it up on it's kickstand until i got all of the straps on, then cinched it all down. Then I went and got the GSXR and did the same thing.
Trust me... those are my two max wedge tie downs under that bubble wrap. I just had never unwrapped them until I shot the photos for the feature here. (Doesn't matter... I've hauled 23" front tire choppers and fat tired Road Kings and small tired sport bikes on these with no wrapping on them and couldn't even find a sidewall scuff when I was done. They just gently grip the tire when you roll the bike in and tie it down.)
Sharp eyed observers will notice that I did NOT tie down at the handle bars on these bikes. On big sport bikes, I never do. Instead, I like to hook them on the front brake caliper mounts (where that big casting is to mount the actual brake calipers) and cinch the tar out of my Mac's Tie Down Straps. Seriously! It works like a charm and I don't worry about scratching plastic work or anything... just take your time and make sure you have them REALLY tight.
Craig! Won't that damage my caliper mounts?
I doubt it... they were designed to make these bikes stand up on the front tire during braking, I doubt that a little tie down strap could put more stress on them than that.
In the back, ALWAYS secure the tails of your bike. I cross them and also go to the nearest D ring or even snug the strap in where the fender meets the side rail. You just want to eliminate the worry of the tails of your bikes dancing around while you tow.
And there you have it. Two good wheel chocks, 8 excellent, high grade tie down straps and about 5 minutes of work and you are ready to hit the road without worrying about damaging your bikes.
Got questions?
Email Craig Here.
Or call him at 712 589 3055 7 days a week.
NOTE: I really don't sell tie downs. I sell trailers, so this was NOT a sale pitch for any type of motorcycle wheel chock. I just hate to see people hurt their bikes while towing and thought I would 'lend a mental hand' in solving your problems.
Thanks!
Craig
Ok... you need a motorcycle trailer...
The problem with having a 'Motorcycle Trailer' is that it can't do much of anything else. Which is a shame. It always makes more sense to get a trailer you can use for anything and then adapt it to the task at hand. So, motorcycle chalks were invented and come in many varieties.
Oh Come ON!!!! Sure you don't need a motorcycle trailer?
For the love it MIKE!!!!! Really? I do believe I see a thing called a HITCH under your bumper!
Some folks............
So, I think you are already past the point these geniuses are and you need a trailer. And, since you are on this page, you want to haul at least one bike. Well, we'll do our best to steer you in the right direction.. read on.
But first a quick word here. We don't come at this problem from a trailer sales status, we truly come at it from the motorcycle owner and collector status... here's a small portion of the motorcycles that Craig has owned, ridden, hauled to Daytona, Laughlin, Sturgis and numerous other events over the years. In short, we speak from pure experience in this matter.
So... let's talk about securing and hauling your motorcycle in a sane fashion, without spending a zillion dollars.
Let's talk wheel chocks.
The $15 Amazon bike chock.... two thumbs down.
NO NO NO.... YUCK!!!! A $15 wheel chock won't do anything but make you extremely sad some day in the future, when it fails and your bike begins the 'break dance of death' on the bed of your trailer, while you watch helplessly in the rear view mirror.
Next, the Pingel Wheel Chock
Better than nothing....
I have used literally hundreds of these and sold literally thousands of these when I owned H&H Trailer, and even though I personally never had a failure, I did witness first hand what happens when the chalk does fail. In a super hard stop situation or, God Forbid, a head on collision, I have seen motorcycles actually crush those little side brace straps and allow the motorcycle to leap forward into the 'Break dance of..... well you get the idea.'
Sure, they're about $40-50 at Amazon.com and they work, but i do not like that you HAVE to mount down hardware permanently on the trailer floor to make them work. It's just one more thing to break, to catch something on when you're sliding stuff around in non bike hauling mode and one more thing to get plugged up with dirt and aggravate you.
Next.......
The whizbang ultra catch the back of your tire wheel chock.
Actually, they are very nice. But they have the drawbacks of being EXPENSIVE!
$180-200 for a WHEEL CHOCK??? Yikes! AND once again, you have permanent hardware mounting issues to deal with. (By the way, I don't know who's bike that is, but that saw blade looking brake caliper is cooool lookin'! Nice)
A cheaper alternative!
The affordable and pretty useful self locking wheel chock... available for under $40 at
Northerntool.com
Pretty neat design for the money BUT....
You still have to have some sort of intrusive and time consuming mount system to install it on the floor of your trailer before you can use it.
So... what does Craig use? Well, it's not the cheapest, at a little under $90 each, but it has never failed, is stronger than the hubs of Hades and you don't have to put a single piece of hardware down on the floor to actually use it on most any trailer we sell. All advantages in my book....
Introducing the Mac's Wedge Motorcycle Chock.
Read more on it at the Mac's Custom Tie Downs Website.
Take it from a guy who has been tying down and hauling a lot of nice bikes, thousands of miles for over 20 years... this is a pretty neat piece of equipment. Let me show you how i use it and see if it won't make your life easier.
So you have this nice, neat new SS series trailer you got from Craig (hopefully!) and now you have to haul a couple of bikes to the show, the track or just to get serviced. How do you secure down $20,000 worth of bikes for the trip without spending $500 to do it?
You get a couple of the Mac's wedge tie downs and set them in the floor with those nifty front plates resting firmly against the front of the bed. Now, Mac's also has back mount holes to locate these back in the floor if you like, but from my experience, unless I am hauling four bikes, or am forced to load one bike behind another one, this is the best, most secure place to tie down a bike... keep watching.
Don't you hate it when you don't have a camera crew? Anyway, all i did was drop in the two max wedge tie downs, dropped the ramp gate, drove the Hyabusa on first, leaned it up on it's kickstand until i got all of the straps on, then cinched it all down. Then I went and got the GSXR and did the same thing.
Trust me... those are my two max wedge tie downs under that bubble wrap. I just had never unwrapped them until I shot the photos for the feature here. (Doesn't matter... I've hauled 23" front tire choppers and fat tired Road Kings and small tired sport bikes on these with no wrapping on them and couldn't even find a sidewall scuff when I was done. They just gently grip the tire when you roll the bike in and tie it down.)
Sharp eyed observers will notice that I did NOT tie down at the handle bars on these bikes. On big sport bikes, I never do. Instead, I like to hook them on the front brake caliper mounts (where that big casting is to mount the actual brake calipers) and cinch the tar out of my Mac's Tie Down Straps. Seriously! It works like a charm and I don't worry about scratching plastic work or anything... just take your time and make sure you have them REALLY tight.
Craig! Won't that damage my caliper mounts?
I doubt it... they were designed to make these bikes stand up on the front tire during braking, I doubt that a little tie down strap could put more stress on them than that.
In the back, ALWAYS secure the tails of your bike. I cross them and also go to the nearest D ring or even snug the strap in where the fender meets the side rail. You just want to eliminate the worry of the tails of your bikes dancing around while you tow.
And there you have it. Two good wheel chocks, 8 excellent, high grade tie down straps and about 5 minutes of work and you are ready to hit the road without worrying about damaging your bikes.
Got questions?
Email Craig Here.
Or call him at 712 589 3055 7 days a week.
NOTE: I really don't sell tie downs. I sell trailers, so this was NOT a sale pitch for any type of motorcycle wheel chock. I just hate to see people hurt their bikes while towing and thought I would 'lend a mental hand' in solving your problems.
Thanks!
Craig