This happened today

CBJamie

CBJamie

BIKE ADDICT
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Had the 81 Xs Special at a local swap meet and show. Won 3 place classic. While loaded onto trailer to transport back home was going over to load another bike one of my ratchet straps broke and the XS fell off the side of the trailer. Very fortunate I was only going slow and it fell onto rain soaked gravel road, would have been catastrophic if doing hiway speeds. Tach mount and Tach are damaged badly,small scuffs on the brake master cylinder cover and brake lever is badly scuffed. Sissy bar was bent and pad torn. Bad end to a great weekend.
 

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CBJamie said:
View attachment 124561 Had the 81 Xs Special at a local swap meet and show. Won 3 place classic. While loaded onto trailer to transport back home was going over to load another bike one of my ratchet straps broke and the XS fell off the side of the trailer. Very fortunate I was only going slow and it fell onto rain soaked gravel road, would have been catastrophic if doing hiway speeds. Tach mount and Tach are damaged badly,small scuffs on the brake master cylinder cover and brake lever is badly scuffed. Sissy bar was bent and pad torn. Bad end to a great weekend.
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Oh sh!ts of hell - so sorry to hear about this Jamie.

Dammit.

Well, I suggest that you make an inventory of the parts you need and someone will likely be able to help you out.
 
It's going to hurt, but you can fix it. Mike's XS has a repop master cyl cover. Motolanna has a nice one for less money. Still $$. The tach can was still available last I checked, as is the damper. Finding a tach that nice will take longer.

I'm sorry that happened to you. What kind of straps were you using?
 
jetmechmarty said:
It's going to hurt, but you can fix it. Mike's XS has a repop master cyl cover. Motolanna has a nice one for less money. Still $$. The tach can was still available last I checked, as is the damper. Finding a tach that nice will take longer.

I'm sorry that happened to you. What kind of straps were you using?
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I was using quality 1"rachet straps I had just made a trip home with the same strap holding my 78 Honda CB750SS. Just its time i guess. Murphys law was at play this weekend as I sold a near perfect tach at the swapmeet. figures!
 
Sorry to see that, but thanks for posting, Jamie; your thread poses an issue that doesn't get enough attention, and sharing a few tips may help others. Guys, among the rules for securing a bike to a trailer are these: 1) Always double your tiedowns, 2) Always attach tiedown hooks overhand (closed end toward the load), and 3) don't load the suspension more heavily than you have to; forks and shocks should still have some movement.
 
Good points, Grizld1. Maybe we could use a "tie-down" thread. I've seen a lot of highly questionable import junk that I wouldn't trust to keep my pants up. Things like pot-metal latching parts, thin metals, risky strap terminations, shallow hooks, ...etc.
 
CBJamie said:
View attachment 124561 Had the 81 Xs Special at a local swap meet and show. Won 3 place classic. While loaded onto trailer to transport back home was going over to load another bike one of my ratchet straps broke and the XS fell off the side of the trailer. Very fortunate I was only going slow and it fell onto rain soaked gravel road, would have been catastrophic if doing hiway speeds. Tach mount and Tach are damaged badly,small scuffs on the brake master cylinder cover and brake lever is badly scuffed. Sissy bar was bent and pad torn. Bad end to a great weekend.
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Hi Jamie,
congrats on the 3 place win and sorry to read about the bike falling off the trailer due to a broken strap.
But how many straps were you using?
I use 2 at the back pulling the bike down & forward into the front wheel bracket and 2 at the front pulling
the bike down & back and tighten all 4 down to compress the bike suspension.
Then I do it all over with 4 more.
 
fredintoon said:
Hi Jamie,
congrats on the 3 place win and sorry to read about the bike falling off the trailer due to a broken strap.
But how many straps were you using?
I use 2 at the back pulling the bike down & forward into the front wheel bracket and 2 at the front pulling
the bike down & back and tighten all 4 down to compress the bike suspension.
Then I do it all over with 4 more.
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I was only using 2 straps on the handle bars pulling it forward into the front wheel bracket. I have hauled to many bikes to rember this way with no issues what so ever. And to think this strap would snap now when it had just been used to haul a heavier bike home an hour before was not even a thought. I replace my straps every 2 years with quality rachet tie downs, if any damage is seen i replace that strap. This incedent has me reevalueating my practices, I will take all your advise into account with the next bike I strap down. Also I have been wanting an enclosed trailer, this has now made that "want" a need, as I find myself hauling better quality and vaulable machines more often. Rest assured that I will bring the 81 XS effectionaltly known as "Gemma" back to her former glory. Thank you all for the concern and advise.
 
Enclosed trailers are good, but unless you have a cam in the trailer, you won't know if anything falls over until you pull up and open it. They will stop things falling out, however...An alternative would be mesh sides on the trailer. Stops things falling out and easy to see from tow vehicle.
 
There's a bit of condensation residue inside the glass at the 5K mark, one rub mark on paint, rubber cushion a bit weak, otherwise very nice . A quick eyeball sez the mount is straight.
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Atoyot said:
Enclosed trailers are good, but unless you have a cam in the trailer, you won't know if anything falls over until you pull up and open it. They will stop things falling out, however...An alternative would be mesh sides on the trailer. Stops things falling out and easy to see from tow vehicle.
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With the quality and value of the machines I've been dealing with lately an enclosed trailer to keep them out of the elements would be great. My biggest relief in this incedent is that this bike did'nt come off on the Hiway and kill someone. An enclosed trailer would keep that from happening.
 

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