The Ultimate Hauler

How To Load A Truck
Here are nine tips to keep you off of "America's Funniest Home Videos."

. Make sure your loading ramp is secure, not slippery and not at too steep of an angle.

. If the step into the truck is tall, use your motorcycle stand as a step.

. Have the tiedowns out of the way and ready to go before you load the bike.

. When the bike is going up the ramp and the opposite side of the handlebar becomes too far of a reach, let go of it and swing that hand back to the rear wheel. Push on the rear wheel (like you are turning it) to keep the bike going in the truck, steer the bar with your other hand as you walk along the side of the truck guiding the bike into position. Keep the bike in balance the whole time.

. Hook the tiedowns to the handlebar without pinching wires or scratching or gouging the bar and use the most secure hooks to attach tiedowns to your truck. Tiedowns with soft tie attachments and carabineer lower hooks make this easy.

. Often, placing the motorcycle's front wheel in the front corner of the bed will secure it from slipping better than if it were just placed straight in. This also frees up handlebar room for a third bike in the middle of the truck and some additional room at the tailgate as the bike is shorter tip to tip.

. The angle of the bike can play a large role in how secure it is. Test it by pushing on it, side-to-side and back-and-forth to see if the tightening method needs rethinking. Ninety percent of the time, two tiedowns are enough.

. Only hauling one bike? Load it directly behind you or off-center to the left; this leaves the right-rear blind spot bike-free and your lane changes will be much safer.

. Unless you're a highly talented freak of nature or just plain stupid, don't ride your bike into the back of your truck. Especially if someone is videotaping you.

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Ultimate Truck? Ultimate Trar!
I drive a "trar." A truck-car. The Honda Ridgeline is just that. And since I bought it almost two years ago, I couldn't be happier with how it works as a moto workhorse. As a base for the Ultimate Trar, it's damn near perfect for every bike hauling chore I can give it-and I give it a lot with 30,000 miles of moto driving a year. It works great on the SoCal freeways and can go in the mountains just fine. Plus, it has a huge trunk where my toolbox, ramp, air compressor, extra boots, tubes and miscellaneous junk lives, and it has a sturdy front bed with bike wheel locators standard and the beefiest cargo hooks I've ever seen. So, when I thought about what I could do to improve the trar experience, my brain didn't get too far before it got to AMP Research and ProTaper. I bolted on the AMP Research Bed X-Tender and clipped in some of the new ultra-cool tiedowns from ProTaper. The Bed X-Tender is easy to install and works (meaning it keeps my stuff in my trar) as flawlessly as the one I had in my old truck. It's one of those truck parts every person who rides can benefit from. The ProTaper tiedowns are quite ingenious for tiedowns; they have a ball bearing swivel carabineer to keep the strap straight and secured in the truck, soft hook loops to protect handlebar finishes and a cool hook-and-loop strap that keeps the loose end of the cinch-strap from flapping in the wind as you rock-and-roll down the road. Now, I don't have to unhook my loose strap from my kickstarter before I unload. That's it: the Ultimate Trar.

Parts
Motorcycle bed extender, available through Honda car dealers: $356
ProTaper tiedowns: $34.95 per set

Ultimate Saver
I take the low (cost) road with a basic Toyota pickup. Gas prices don't dictate if I can ride with my little four-cylinder sipping gas down the highway. The bed is fine for one bike, tight with two and gear, and begins to look like something out of a Three Stooges episode with three, but I've done it. Whoop, whoop, whoop! To gain a ton of needed room I strap a Ready Ramp bed extender to the back after I use it as a loading ramp. I love this thing. The ramp is long enough that it would work great on even a lifted truck, then two quick folds and four straps later and I gain a foot of bed space. Some of the connectors are a little iffy, so I'm going to experiment with carabineers there, but the ramp/bed extender is exactly what I wanted. When not hauling bikes it lives in my sideyard, so my truck bed stays "stock" looking. Jimmy suggested I go with a bed mat rather than a bed liner, and so far I really like it. It's grippy so my stuff doesn't slide around, it looks clean and it protects the bed without secretly destroying it under a kiddie-pool-shaped piece of plastic. I bolted a High Roller Bed Bar across the front to keep my bed from bending and my bikes from slipping. The bar has a simple but clean look (and price), and I grabbed a few High Roller tiedowns in oddball colors, so no one would steal them. Stealing tiedowns is sort of a pastime here. (Hey, Jesse, guess where I'm going to get my ramp/bed extender carabineers?) You don't need big bucks to have big fun. I go no-frills on my way to big thrills with no spills (that's no crashes and no food in my truck!).

Parts
Ready Ramp compact truck ramp: $269.95
Protecta heavy-duty rubber bed mat: $80.99
High Roller tie bar: $94.95
High Roller cam-lock tiedowns: $26.95 per set