Transporting my Big Dog Chopper in my short bed pickup truck.

Energy One

BWG56

Guru
End to end the bikes are over 8 feet I thought
:agree: My Mastiff is 9' , but with the tailgate down and the bike backed on the pickup the front tire would still be on the tailgate, however he won't be able to turn unless he can unbolt the winch for the boat and the trailer jack is one that folds up. That's a lot of if's, let the bike at home and rent one down there to ride and trailer the boat home.
 

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
How many people are going rent a truck to use on the way back and someone can haul the boat
Its not that expensive to Rent a Uhaul Truck for a week. Probably run you about $30 p/day or so. Plus the bike is covered in the event it rains otherwise you'll be polishing it for a week, remember?

Now I did drive a 20' Peneske Box Truck with a car trailer attached from Mass to Texas when I moved here and that thing was equipped with a bench straight back seat with about 1" of "padding" i'll use that term loosely. It was by no means a comfortable ride and I felt like I was driving a school bus.
 

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
Can uhauls be rented unlimited miles?
I just checked ...no uhaul doesn't offer it unfortunately. I recall now thats why I went with Peneske but I will admit I would have went with Uhaul if I had a chopper because your not getting that chopper in a Peneske without a loading dock or a 50' ramp.

Although they said they will give you certain rates so you need to call

Yes, we do have special rates for customers who can pick up and return at the same location and need multiple days or weeks and/or need to cover hundreds of miles.

For the best rate, head to uhaul.com/trucks/ and fill in the green form. Give us your pickup location and move date as normal, and on the next page you will see a link for “extended days/miles special rates” on our cargo vans and 8' trucks. All you need to do is specify your estimated mileage and how long you’ll need the rental, and our system will return the best available rates.
 

1mndg

RIDE IT HARD!!!
Hi all.
I would like your opinions on transporting my Chopper.
I plan on going to Florida from Maryland (about a thousand miles) for the winter and I would like to take my bike. I plan on buying a boat while there and towing it back so a bike trailer is out. What I was thinking is that I would put a 8' piece of 3/4" plywood down in the bed as a base with a bed extender to help support the weight on the tailgate. My truck bed is 6' 4" long and the wheelbase of the bike is 77.5". My thoughts were to load the bike backwards at a loading dock so the majority of the weight of the bike will be in front of the rear wheels. Any ideas on my thoughts?

Thanks,
Whitedog
You should be fine.
Just make sure your straps are secure and check them often.
Good luck and have fun.
Be Safe.
 

Roaddawg

Well-Known Member
I actually did something similar to what you are talking about. Wanted to take my bike from MN to TX. Was towing a trailer also. I used 2 2X10's, side by side, laying flat and screwed them together. At the front I attached a Harbor Freight wheel chock. I also screwed a board across the front (making a T) that was the width of the truck bed. This was a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 with the short bed also. I added similar blocking at the rear, screwing it to the 2 flat 2X10's. In essence what this did was to keep the 2X10's from moving fore or aft, or side to side.

I added eye bolts on the front cross piece and strapped the front of the bike there. I went to a weld shop and the cut a 2" square steel tube, the same used for tow hitches, to the length. I needed to clear the tailgate being down and the added length of my bike support. They also drilled two holes all the way through at normal use and long use (in the event I needed to use it with the tailgate down again), and a hole for the ball hitch. I think I paid a total of $27 for this and it took about 15 minutes.

I cut the boards short of 10', closer to 9 if I recall correctly. To load and unload the bike really wasn't bad. If you drive around an area a little bit, you would be surprised at how many places have loading docks or raised areas in the back of a business. To load mine, a local college 3 miles up the road had a loading ramp. I backed up to the ramp with the tailgate down until it almost made contact with the tailgate and bumper. I used my regular folding ramp and it was pretty much level at that point. I walked the bike into the truck bed and secured it down.

In Texas I found a spot about a half mile from the location I was staying at, where the road was higher that the shoulder. I was able to back up to the road and the tailgate was only slightly higher than the road. Used that location for unloading and loading it back on when I left.

The wood bike base never moved during the entire trip and the bike stayed rock solid on the platform. It might have been a little over kill, but it worked well.
 
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