Tow or Haul Motorcycle?

[CavRider]

Chain maintenence is easy, and I got rid of the oem csrb in favor of a Mikuni pumper carb. Haven't had to do anything with it in15 years. Still runs like new.

I was just, um, yankin yer chain man.

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[RLXXI]

DR’s are great for what they do. Rock solid with good low grunt. I have a Husky 701 that smokes my buddies DR in a drag or on pavement but on tougher stuff the advantage mostly goes away. (Though the DR could use a good diet for the sand).

I love the GS for fire roads and Baja trip but a pain to change out tires for the rough stuff so i mainly ride the mountains roads with the 13 but anything really off road its the lighter bike.

Yeah she's a pig alright, I made a few mods to that effect, 40FO muffler replaced stock and it's still a Suzuki can save 11 lbs at least and replaced the lead acid with a much lighter lithium. Probably shaved off a good 30lbs over all.

Also changed shock valving and springs, lighter seat etc...

 

[CavRider]

Here are my two in their winter resting phase.

 

[awilli1010]

Bought this as my retirement from the army gift. I’m definitely a senior citizen and I’ve ridden it every spring, summer, and fall since I’ve had it!

 

[Rayden]

I would also recommend hauling vs trailering if you can get it safely into the bed. I also used the Black Widow ramp to get my VTX1800R into my truck ('99 Dodge Ram 4x4 back then). Had to have the tailgate down but successfully drove it from Virginia to Florida and back with no problems. And that big girl is 800+ lbs!

 

[ridgebackpilot]

Thanks for all the good advice here! And you were right: Hauling is far more efficient than towing!

The Lightning shrugged off the extra weight in the bed and performed brilliantly.

 

[Henry Ford]

Rode the 1300 to buy the truck and then put in back and drove home…

How did you get the bike in the truck when you got there?

Revzilla recently did a video on how to load a motorcycle by yourself. As a novice I found it helpful.

I recently hauled my Honda CL360. It was a bit of a pain because I didn't have a ramp to load it. I backed up to a curb and four people were able to lift it in the truck. It's a small bike so it was doable but I don't recommend this technique.

 

[krusherVA]

How did you get the bike in the truck when you got there?

Revzilla recently did a video on how to load a motorcycle by yourself. As a novice I found it helpful.

I recently hauled my Honda CL360. It was a bit of a pain because I didn't have a ramp to load it. I backed up to a curb and four people were able to lift it in the truck. It's a small bike so it was doable but I don't recommend this technique.

Actually I didnt think I would pull the trigger that day as the dealership was so lackadaisical about even trying to sell the truck! I got there and the salesman had let the deep blue one i wanted get sold but they had my old stand by color of black.

Made a low ball offer, they finally accepted so went to home depot and got a 100 dollar ramp, found a hill near dealer and backed it up and it was a pretty easily load up.

i have long folding ramps that clamp together and put a Condo chalk in front of bed. Not to difficult to load with the right ramps. A lot better efficiency with 500 pounds in the bed vice towing.

 

[WXman]

Yep my only concern would be getting it into and out of the bed safely. Loading bikes can be VERY tricky. Make sure your ramps are wide and secure.

 

[ridgebackpilot]

Yep my only concern would be getting it into and out of the bed safely. Loading bikes can be VERY tricky. Make sure your ramps are wide and secure.

Not just wide and secure, the ramp needs to be long enough as well.

My Black Widow ramp is 9 feet long, which means I can drive my BMW R1300GS up it and into the front wheel chock in the truck bed. Some people try and use 7 foot ramps, which strike me as quite steep...

 

[krusherVA]

I have the 1500 lb wide 3 piece Black Widow. Got the 10 footers as the still fit in a closed short bed. If secured to hitch with straps its not sketchy at all.

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