Tie down points

[05BusaBlue]

I will be towing the Busa down to my next station here in a few months and was wondering what are some tie down points on the busa.  I have never towed her before and I am used to the ones on my harley.  If you have any pics that would really help.  I tried to search but it didnt seem to be a topic brought up alot.  Thanks for all the help.

 

[SAMBUSA]

Get some canyon dancers. Best money ever spent

 

[suzuki4life]

(05BusaBlue @ Jan. 25 2007,22:02) I will be towing the Busa down to my next station here in a few months and was wondering what are some tie down points on the busa.  I have never towed her before and I am used to the ones on my harley.  If you have any pics that would really help.  I tried to search but it didnt seem to be a topic brought up alot.  Thanks for all the help.

if you plan to tow alot...invest in a frotn wheel chock like a baxley, conndor etc that locks your frotn wheel in place...then use the lower triple tree to tie down the front end. if you are anal and want the rear "secured"...run a strap through the rear rim and tie it down. Never tie in opposite directiona dn make the straps work againist one another.

 

[ranman]

http://www.ststands.com/standsinuse.cfm

this is what i`m going to get.

 

[suzuki4life]

(ranman @ Jan. 26 2007,02:39) http://www.ststands.com/standsinuse.cfm

this is what i`m going to get.

you bolt that into your bed/trailer I hope? I wouldn;t use it unless it was bolted down.

 

[KROOZER]

(Black Bird Killer @ Jan. 26 2007,01:03) Get some canyon dancers.  Best money ever spent

+1 Same here

 

[suzuki4life]

(KROOZER @ Jan. 26 2007,03:16)

(Black Bird Killer @ Jan. 26 2007,01:03) Get some canyon dancers.  Best money ever spent

+1      Same here

canyon dancers have been known to bend handlebars and twist the crap out of your grips plus in many cases they place the strap where it will rub your plastics.

 

[Professor]

Good advice here.

(suzuki4life @ Jan. 26 2007,03:04)

(05BusaBlue @ Jan. 25 2007,22:02) I will be towing the Busa down to my next station here in a few months and was wondering what are some tie down points on the busa.  I have never towed her before and I am used to the ones on my harley.  If you have any pics that would really help.  I tried to search but it didnt seem to be a topic brought up alot.  Thanks for all the help.

if you plan to tow alot...invest in a frotn wheel chock like a baxley, conndor etc that locks your frotn wheel in place...then use the lower triple tree to tie down the front end. if you are anal and want the rear "secured"...run a strap through the rear rim and tie it down. Never tie in opposite directiona dn make the straps work againist one another.

Adding to it....

The best tie down method I have found. Use a wheel chock of some type. Pingle, Baxley, Condor.  4 Straps. Buy an Ancra Quad pack. It has 2 ratchet straps, two regular straps. Get 4 soft tie loops, the short ones. Loop 2 trough the caliper brackets. The other two go around the rear passenger peg/pipe mounts.  The wheel chock must be mounted and all 4 straps must pull the bike forward into the chock.

I have seen other methods work. However none hold the bike as tight without out risk of minimal damage or failure as this method. I’ve seen and repaired quite a few motorcycles that were damaged from improper transport.  I like the canyon dancer, but only as a 3rd set of tie points in conjunction with above. It is easy to damage a bike with a canyon dancer. You have to leave it a bit looser than most try. Otherwise damage to the bars may occur. The plastic on a busa is really too wide to effectively work with the dancer without abrading the paint.

These last two only show the soft loop in the caliper bracket. It is on the lift table and the angle of the strap is incorrect for transport.

If you search you can find plenty of info of tie methods failing and different advice. Look at all of it carefully and judge for yourself.

 

[suzuki4life]

sorry edited.....no that is NOT the right way to tie the bike down. Tying to the caliper bracket doesn't give upper leverage. That bike could tip if the rear straps come loose.

 

[SpeedAdict]

Some kind of wheel chock is important. But you do not need to spend alot of money on it. You just need something to hold the front wheel. I have seen home made ones that work beautiful, and actualy I have pictures of inexpensive chocks if you want them. My two cent is that you have to Compress the front forks by tieing from the LOWER triple tree straight down to a tie down point using the rachet straps. Then take the pull tight straps and go from the handelbars out to a point that wont touch the fairing and just snug up enought to take the wobble out of the bike. I just towed like this from Florida to NY last week and did not have one problem.

 

[Powers739]

Ask MC Mustang!  

   

Ok, that was a low blow...  j/k MC M, and I feel your pain...

Like the rest have recommended, use a chock, I personally use the baxley secured to the trailer (Quick release, well about 2 mintues quick).  I have the canyon dancer and only had a problem with the grips twisting, but I may spread the straps wider in my trailer than most, which will clear the plastics.  For the rear, I have the hump mod and keep a grap bar on, I am able to strap from the after market two piece grap bar to the D-ring on the floor of the trailer without coming close to the plastic.  I wouldn't use anything but rachet straps of good quality.  I also like to loop a strap through the front rim to ensure the bike is kept pulled into the chock, for my excessive acceleration habits...

The only question I have, can you hurt the suspension by racheting it down tight, I'm not talking about bottoming out, but making it tight???

 

[guido4512]

Tying that ratchet strap to that caliper bracket does not seem like a good idea. Tied that low on the bike, the leverage forces would be pretty high.
Outward pull doesn't tweek the caliper or rotor? Or even break the bracket?

 

[suzuki4life]

(guido4512 @ Jan. 26 2007,05:20) Tying that ratchet strap to that caliper bracket does not seem like a good idea. Tied that low on the bike, the leverage forces would be pretty high.
 Outward pull doesn't tweek the caliper or rotor? Or even break the bracket?  

sorry I edited my post.....I didn;t take notice to the caliper bracket being his tie down point.

I agree with your post.

 

[05 Busa LE]

This is why I dig this site ... lots of great advice. And Professor, that's an awesome lookin' Busa!

 

[Professor]

I understand what you are saying about the caliper bracket. I would like to have it a bit higher (6inches would be great) for a better angle. The lower tree may work. I feel the bracket is much stronger than you guys are giving it credit. There is no doubt it is much stronger than the handle bar tubes are. I’ll take a look at the lower tree the next time I load up and well see what it looks like. The busa has been towed a couple thousand miles in this configuration without issues.

I have transported many other bikes in the same configuration except with the soft ties looped around the forks. The busa fender makes that a bit difficult.

 

[MPH 200]

(Black Bird Killer @ Jan. 25 2007,22:03) Get some canyon dancers.  Best money ever spent

Canyon dancers are good for lighter bikes, but my Busa fell on my Wife's 600RR after we hit a good bump.

I have a rub mark on my side fairing from one too.

They will screw up your grips too.

Just my 2cents

 

[SAMBUSA]

(MPH 200 @ Jan. 26 2007,11:35)

(Black Bird Killer @ Jan. 25 2007,22:03) Get some canyon dancers.  Best money ever spent

Canyon dancers are good for lighter bikes, but my Busa fell on my Wife's 600RR after we hit a good bump.

I have a rub mark on my side fairing from one too.

They will screw up your grips too.

Just my 2cents

Is that all you were using to secure the bike? I use the dancers up front and then use tie downs on the passenger rearsets.

 

[KROOZER]

(Black Bird Killer @ Jan. 26 2007,11:42)

(MPH 200 @ Jan. 26 2007,11:35)

(Black Bird Killer @ Jan. 25 2007,22:03) Get some canyon dancers.  Best money ever spent

Canyon dancers are good for lighter bikes, but my Busa fell on my Wife's 600RR after we hit a good bump.

I have a rub mark on my side fairing from one too.

They will screw up your grips too.

Just my 2cents

Is that all you were using to secure the bike?  I use the dancers up front and then use tie downs on the passenger rearsets.

Thank U Black Bird Killer. I strapped the rear to that aluminum bar between the swingarm and the rear pegs along with the canyon dancers. Towed on a uhaul bike trailer from MaryLand to NJ. Only problem I had was the bearing on the trailer was going so to trailer began to wobble when going too fast.

PS: I used some of the cloth they use when the bike is in the crate to protect the front fairing from the straps.

 

[Professor]

I've seen and heard many horror stories. My trailer is set up to haul 3 bikes in mutiple configurations. I helped lay out and set up a friends to haul 5 that same basic way using 5 pingles. They haul several thousand miles a year. Previously a couple of the guys he travels with had a bike come loose on two different occasions. It sucks to drive 8 hours to find out one of the bikes came loose and has been beating up 2 or 3 others for the last 400 miles. His motorhome has a rear view camera video system. He installed an extra camera IN the trailer to hook to that system when towing.. With on interior light going, they can now keep an eye on everything going down the road..

 

[GSXcite]

I use the Baxley sport chauk and it holds the bike secure. Baxley recommends that you put the bike in the chauk and tie downs on the rear pulling foreward and down. I attach the rear to the passenger pegs using a loop like Professor, and have towed it alot with no problems, however I think I will start putting the loops on the lower triple tree and securing the front just for an extra measure of safety although Baxley says there is no need to do so. I thought the Baxley was too expensive for what it was, but after getting it and using it I think it is some of the best $$ I have spent on my bike. The Baxley sport chauk is the BOMB!