Due to the ever-present need to steadily transport dirt bikes hither and yon from various places of roosting, most riders rely on their truck's stock bed anchors to secure their machines down. Ford was kind enough to grace my F-150 with a set of sturdy tiedown anchors to link my bike to, but their low placement requires a tricky setup when more than one bike is hauled. One remedy for this issue is the new High Roller tie bar, which provides three slotted tire locations and eight anchor points for tiedown hooks to secure a motorcycle. Made of heavy-duty powdercoated steel, High Roller's tie bar fastens to the front of a truck bed using fi ve 3/8-inch bolts that fi t fairly fl ush along the bar. Essentially, the tie bar's job is not only to provide handy anchor points, but also to support the front of the truck bed from bending under the weight of a strapped-in bike.
The tie bar is available in two sizes: 58 inches for full-size trucks and 53 inches for mid and small. Both sizes run $69.95. Thanks to High Roller's trick fastening nuts (which sport a welded-on spanner for easy tensioning), installation was straightforward and easy. I mounted the tie bar all by myself and the job was fairly painless, though I recommend getting a spare set of hands to help out. Also, due to the shape of your truck bed you may have no choice but to mount the tie bar higher than recommended. Either way, it still does its job.
The tie bar now makes for several perfect anchors to strap my bikes into, and I'm way pumped with the extra protection for the bed. The only hassle that I've run into is when tying in three 50cc machines with a stock handlebar, the tie bar is almost too close to the bar to get any tension on the fully tight tiedown. However, I'm more than happy with anchoring gas cans, my toolbox and even the cooler to the tie bar. After three months of hauling a variety of bikes a couple times a week, I'm super stoked with how the High Roller bar has held up. I've mobbed more than a few rough dirt roads with bikes tied in, and the bolts, spanners and anchors haven't bent or budged a bit. In fact, the only sign of wear is seen in the High Roller stickers, which have faded in the sun faster than Pete Peterson on race day. But if that remains the only problem that the High Roller tie bar ever has, this will be the best bolt-on accessory my truck has ever seen.
-Chris Denison