Small trucks that will hold a bike | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Small trucks that will hold a bike

Forum Sponsor
SunnY S said:
you all knew it was coming... but... Ridgeline. The only pick up to my knowledge designed to accommodate a bike.
Click to expand...
But you have to ask yourself... is that a truck? To me it's like the old VW Rabbit trucks or a Soobaroo Brat -- car with the trunk restyled to remove the lid and look like a truck.

If it's used as a grocery getter and the only heavy lifting is moving a motorcycle.... fine... but if it's used as a truck then you might be better with a real truck.
 
Mad Mike said:
But you have to ask yourself... is that a truck? To me it's like the old VW Rabbit trucks or a Soobaroo Brat -- car with the trunk restyled to remove the lid and look like a truck.

If it's used as a grocery getter and the only heavy lifting is moving a motorcycle.... fine... but if it's used as a truck then you might be better with a real truck.
Click to expand...

As I've said many times. The Ridge is all the "truck" many ever need
 
crankcall said:
I looked at the new Ford Maverick , very reasonable price and as said , I need an actual truck once every 3-4 months .

But then my buddy asks if it also comes with Barbie's playhouse , so that was that.
Click to expand...
Personally I love the new Maverick. F150 is way too large for my needs, and the Maverick fits that size that's usable for me.

Maybe should look into trading the Volt in on a Maverick. The new Ranger is nice also.
 
george__ said:
Taco with the biggest bed option and tow with tail down
Click to expand...
I hauled a ZX-10R for years in the back of a TRD Taco (crew cab, 6' box) and all I needed was the bed extender for a little peace of mind. The bed rails and tie-down points were more than enough, and the bed was low enough to load easily on my own with two 8' folding ramps on flat ground. I wouldn't want to live with a regular cab or extended cab Tacoma, as it's nice to be able to drive with more than one other person occasionally.

My current F-150 with 5.5' box will take a bike, but it's a squeeze and the box is higher, so it's harder to load alone (so much clutch slip!). I end up just using my trailer, so it's functionally not that different from when I towed the bike with an Accord (though I can now tow two bikes, which is more weight than the Accord transmission was rated for, including the trailer).

mimico_polak said:
Personally I love the new Maverick. F150 is way too large for my needs, and the Maverick fits that size that's usable for me.

Maybe should look into trading the Volt in on a Maverick. The new Ranger is nice also.
Click to expand...

I wanted to justify a Ranger, but the reality was at the time that it was priced so closely to the F-150 (and offered minimal fuel economy benefits) that it just didn't make sense.

I'm less interested in the Maverick, as it gets the cab/bed balance wrong for me. It's just too much a mini Avalanche, an SUV with an open trunk. I really dig the newer Ridgeline, but it's as pricey as a very well-equipped F-150 and offers minimal mileage benefits along with limited towing, so I couldn't justify it. Ford sells a bajillion F-150's and the development money and economies of scale really do make a difference...
 
crankcall said:
The ranger is pretty close to a regular truck , and really close in price.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I'm seeing Rangers in the 60k+ range...which I understand is more than a lower spec F150...with minimal fuel efficiency gains to justify the difference. At that stage, may as well just get the F150.

The only benefit for me to have a pickup truck, is the ability to take the bike without a trailer. I just wish the Maverick came in AWD hybrid version, instead of just 2WD.
 
+1 on the F150 vs ranger vs ridgeline.
Driving all sizes except the new mini-trucks, it really comes down to money. Fuel economy on the new turbo engines are barely any worse than the midsizes (my frontier and tacos do worse than my f150).
The bigger interior space is amazing for carseats and people carrying.

The new minitrucks are appealing in terms of actual big improvement in fuel economy and much lower MSRPs. Only issue is the tiny beds:

Loading bike into Santa Cruz

I don't like to put bikes in diagonally, always straight to get equal tension on the forks into a chock if possible.
 
Check out the new Hyundai Santa Cruz...very similar to the Honda Ridgeline size wise, but better priced from what I hear...has great reviews on YouTube...
 
SunnY S said:
Although not intended as a bike hauler Honda did design the ridge with the ability

Click to expand...
What is that bunch of welded up tubes supposed to do? If the bike is tied down properly, they do nothing. Unless they are there to contain unsecured items that should be tied down was well.
 
I should have been clearer when I said Ranger. I'm only interested in a used one. Before they grew into a near F150 size.
 
Wingboy said:
What is that bunch of welded up tubes supposed to do? If the bike is tied down properly, they do nothing. Unless they are there to contain unsecured items that should be tied down was well.
Click to expand...
I had a similar bed extender when I hauled a bike in my Tacoma, and if nothing else, it gave me a chance of keeping the bike in the truck if a strap let go. It also added some redundancy for things like ramps I also stowed in the bed. Again, they were tied down, but the extender at least would give me time to get pulled over in a bad scenario rather than dumping stuff on the highway at 120 km/h. Hardly necessary, but belt and suspenders etc.
 
resale on a tacoma will trump most trucks of its size. Long box will fit most bikes. my Drz fits angled talegate up and will fit straight in the bed with talegate down. Yes Tacoma prices are high, but that will aid in resale. The mav is small, sitting in it for any prolong period of time my take it out of the competition off the get go.
 
killvino said:
I don't like to put bikes in diagonally, always straight to get equal tension on the forks into a chock if possible.
Click to expand...

Diagonally is the best way to do it. Corner of the box acts as a wheel chock. Lift the rear end out and against the side of the box. 2 diagonal straps to the bars, or upper fork tubes. This way there is next to no pressure compressing the forks. I add a few straps for good measure. Usually to a footpeg, or passenger peg/subframe.

Obviously not going to do this with some 900lb cruiser. Then its your way, going in straight and ideally with a wheel chock.

If no chock, a ratchet strap goes around the front wheel to keep it from moving side to side.

@timtune I just traded in a 2010 5 spd supercab ranger with only 125,000 on it...

B.S. what the dealer gave me, but it saved me dealing with kij-idiots.
The ones on autotrader are going for dumb money.
Traded mine for $3500 (it needed a few suspension components and a parking brake cable).
Dealers are asking $10-14 grand for the same truck with higher km...

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
 
matt365 said:
Diagonally is the best way to do it. Corner of the box acts as a wheel chock. Lift the rear end out and against the side of the box. 2 diagonal straps to the bars, or upper fork tubes. This way there is next to no pressure compressing the forks. I add a few straps for good measure. Usually to a footpeg, or passenger peg/subframe.

Obviously not going to do this with some 900lb cruiser. Then its your way, going in straight and ideally with a wheel chock.

If no chock, a ratchet strap goes around the front wheel to keep it from moving side to side.

@timtune I just traded in a 2010 5 spd supercab ranger with only 125,000 on it...

B.S. what the dealer gave me, but it saved me dealing with kij-idiots.
The ones on autotrader are going for dumb money.
Traded mine for $3500 (it needed a few suspension components and a parking brake cable).
Dealers are asking $10-14 grand for the same truck with higher km...

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Dang, I'd been all over that.
 
matt365 said:
Diagonally is the best way to do it.
Click to expand...
If you get into a collision with the bike on an angle, it rolls over and comes through the back window at you.
If the bike is in straight it either goes over the top of the cab or bends the forks and falls over.

I suggest you DO NOT tie to foot pegs or subframe, they aren't REALLY that strong, as they are only meant to hold up us little humans. Tie off at the steering head or swingarm pivot. Those are the only places a motorcycle frame was designed to take any load.

... and NEVER EVER tie a bike down with the kick stand down. The kickstand was designed to hold a bikes STATIC weight. It was not designed to hold ANY dynamic load.
I have a Duc 900SS that I had shipped here from the west coast... and the IDIOT tied it down on the kick stand ... and the kick stand on an old 900SS bolts to a lug on the side of the engine block... which BROKE OFF (and there wasn't a lot I could do about it as the guy did me a favour and did a side trip on the way back from Laguna and picked up the bike in Washington state for me for free).


I gave up on pickups a long time ago. A van is the way to go... except dirt bikes don't fit in the back of a van.
 
bitzz said:
If you get into a collision with the bike on an angle, it rolls over and comes through the back window at you.
If the bike is in straight it either goes over the top of the cab or bends the forks and falls over.

I suggest you DO NOT tie to foot pegs or subframe, they aren't REALLY that strong, as they are only meant to hold up us little humans. Tie off at the steering head or swingarm pivot. Those are the only places a motorcycle frame was designed to take any load.

... and NEVER EVER tie a bike down with the kick stand down. The kickstand was designed to hold a bikes STATIC weight. It was not designed to hold ANY dynamic load.
I have a Duc 900SS that I had shipped here from the west coast... and the IDIOT tied it down on the kick stand ... and the kick stand on an old 900SS bolts to a lug on the side of the engine block... which BROKE OFF (and there wasn't a lot I could do about it as the guy did me a favour and did a side trip on the way back from Laguna and picked up the bike in Washington state for me for free).


I gave up on pickups a long time ago. A van is the way to go... except dirt bikes don't fit in the back of a van.
Click to expand...
Agreed on the kickstand.


Disagree on the angle through the window thing.

Anything in the back, loaded straight, or on an angle is going to suck if you hit something hard enough...

Subframe and footpegs are to take the wiggle out of it. Through the triples or around the fork (top of lower triples) is my go to.

Footpegs: there is a dirtbike loading restraint system that uses the footpegs exclusively for one-man quick tiedowns. I'll see if I can find the video.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom