Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

As I've mentioned in another post, I'll be putting the bike on a mates 3 bike trailer and driving down to Pi for a track day next month.

I'm looking for some advice on whats the best way to tie the front down, for such a long period of time, without damaging the forks seals.

I'm estimating that the bikes will the tied to the trailer for more than 12hrs.

Cheers

general consensus..monkey straps seem to be the best

dont fully comp the front susp when u tie it down...u dont want too much movement, but u dont wanna pop seals...

keeping in mind that that tyre down system uses only a rear tyre, i ussually tie down the back as well (from rear footpegs or sumthin) which mean with 4 tie down points, u dont have to comp all ur susp so much...

thats how i do it anyway...

Smitty wrote:general consensus..monkey straps seem to be the best

Dont they put too much pressure on the bars?

Neka79 wrote:dont fully comp the front susp when u tie it down...u dont want too much movement, but u dont wanna pop seals...

keeping in mind that that tyre down system uses only a rear tyre, i ussually tie down the back as well (from rear footpegs or sumthin) which mean with 4 tie down points, u dont have to comp all ur susp so much...

thats how i do it anyway...

Yeah i plan to tie down the rear via the footpegs as well

SoundGuy wrote:

Smitty wrote:general consensus..monkey straps seem to be the best

Dont they put too much pressure on the bars?

I have snapped a bolt holding the bar while tied down with monkey straps and am now wary of them . Feel that those rear tyre metal cover things are the way to go .
And Gos's idea of a front system is a beaut . He had it posted up a while ago , Wasteland tie down system , or some such ???

I have never had an issue with a fork seal "blowing" while tied down .

like the look of these
http://www.kyaracing.com.au/product.htm" target="_blank

i was thinking you could use individual ties for the breaks and then have a tie across all three bikes to keep them upright with only light force on the suspension.

Smitty wrote:general consensus..monkey straps seem to be the best

Not by me... they bent my handlebars.. (they were light weight alum tube clip on type though)

SoundGuy wrote:As I've mentioned in another post, I'll be putting the bike on a mates 3 bike trailer and driving down to Pi for a track day next month.

I'm looking for some advice on whats the best way to tie the front down,

I loop the tie-downs over the bottom triple clamp, going up and back down between the front wheel and fairing maw, and wrap the flapping end of one of them around the front brake lever. I've never seen the tie-downs which slip onto the bars damage anything, but I don't trust them all the same. Also, tying down the way I do it means the tie-downs don't flare out too far from the bike, leaving room for other bikes. It does mean you have to have your tie-down points close by to where the front wheel will slot in, though, but this shouldn't be an issue on a purpose-built trailer. Lateral stability also won't be an issue. The bike can only fall over if the front tyre skips sideways, which is impossible to happen if it's in a wheel channel, which, being on a proper bike trailer, it would be.

Frankly, though, the most ingenious tie-down solution I have ever seen would have to be Gos' steel-rod-through-the-axle method... the only concern I'd have about it would be if there were two or three bikes side by side. Because the method immobilises the wheels only, leaving the bikes to bob up and down on their suspension, you'd have to make sure the footpeg of one bike couldn't take a gouge out of another bike's muffler if they chose to move in different directions.

for such a long period of time, without damaging the forks seals.

Old wives' tale on roadbikes. The amount of travel roadbike forks have doesn't result in enough reduction in the volume of the air gap to increase the pressure enough to bother the fork seals.

holly wrote:like the look of these
http://www.kyaracing.com.au/product.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank

I like these.

I-K wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:As I've mentioned in another post, I'll be putting the bike on a mates 3 bike trailer and driving down to Pi for a track day next month.

I'm looking for some advice on whats the best way to tie the front down,

I loop the tie-downs over the bottom triple clamp, going up and back down between the front wheel and fairing maw, and wrap the flapping end of one of them around the front brake lever. I've never seen the tie-downs which slip onto the bars damage anything, but I don't trust them all the same. Also, tying down the way I do it means the tie-downs don't flare out too far from the bike, leaving room for other bikes. It does mean you have to have your tie-down points close by to where the front wheel will slot in, though, but this shouldn't be an issue on a purpose-built trailer. Lateral stability also won't be an issue. The bike can only fall over if the front tyre skips sideways, which is impossible to happen if it's in a wheel channel, which, being on a proper bike trailer, it would be.

Frankly, though, the most ingenious tie-down solution I have ever seen would have to be Gos' steel-rod-through-the-axle method... the only concern I'd have about it would be if there were two or three bikes side by side. Because the method immobilises the wheels only, leaving the bikes to bob up and down on their suspension, you'd have to make sure the footpeg of one bike couldn't take a gouge out of another bike's muffler if they chose to move in different directions.

for such a long period of time, without damaging the forks seals.

Old wives' tale on roadbikes. The amount of travel roadbike forks have doesn't result in enough reduction in the volume of the air gap to increase the pressure enough to bother the fork seals.

Some good points there mate.

get a mate to help because it makes life alot easier. use the front straps and make sure they are tight and also get something to tie down the back.

i was going to buy a tyredown soon!

is there enough interest to try and organise a group buy?

they retail for $159 so i'm not sure what we could get them for but i will find out if anyone is keen

ozx6r wrote:i was going to buy a tyredown soon!

is there enough interest to try and organise a group buy?

they retail for $159 so i'm not sure what we could get them for but i will find out if anyone is keen

I'm definitely interested