That's pretty much what I have done over the years; from the motocross bikes forward. All of the tie down points I have used in the past have been high up and frame and fork oriented, and then let the suspension work. Works whether it is on a trailer or in the back of a pickup. It appears that this 'pitbull' has it backwards. Sorry. The stresses are not on the frame (strongest point) which makes me worry about using it, especially on a heavier bike. Basically it seems to me that capturing the wheel, any wheel or any other 'low' point of restraint / tie down point I think makes the stresses higher overall on the bike (because of the weight above the restraint / load forces etc.) and I think in general not a good idea at all. I thought the idea of tying your bike down or securing it for transport was to reduce the load levels as much as possible. Keep it simple - make it high and snug. my 2
Thanks for the comments, I figured that I would get positive and negative replies. In response to a couple of your questions and thoughts: - I probably will continue to use the Pitbull and closely monitor the swingarm after each use. - The front chock is not needed for the Pitbull, it is there because I haul other bikes too. - I hauled the bike to N. Georgia to do some riding in the mountains...8 hours on I-75 on a bike is not my idea of fun. - The trailer is an Aluma MC10. I love it and recommend it, I even pull it with my Honda Civic and I like the hidden ramp. - Link to Aluma: http://www.alumaklm.com/motorcycle-trailers.html - We are happy with the Forester and since we are moving to Vermont, it was on our short list. It has a boxer too, I must be horizontally opposed. - The Pitbulls are bike-specific. You must have a separate one for each brand/model of bike that you haul. <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uwaEABfg2rA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>
If you have the opportunity, next time you're at your friendly BMW store, observe how BMW motorcycles are secured within the shipping crate.
No need to "closely" monitor it. Just a quick glance will tell you if its ok. It will either be in 1 piece, or look like THIS (after my buddy ran into a ditch. he was unhurt)--->>> Kinda speaks for itself. Not much metal holding the FD to the swingarm.
I do like the wide loading ramp on that trailer. There is similar way of attaching the bike recently reviewed on webbikeworld. They liked it too. But I'm with JvB, there is a difference. Forget the BMW FD for a minute, and imagine a 80's bike with two shocks left and right of the wheel. You can corner (on the bike, not bike on trailer) as aggressively as you want, the forces are divided exactly 50/50 between both shocks. The side forces between tyre (G-force) and road, and bike weight on the tyre where it hits the road, are always in balance, and acting in the direction of that '80's shock absorber, or your spine if you don't lean more or less than the bike Now put that bike on a trailer where you immobilise the wheels. Unless the center of gravity of the bike is at the same height as the wheel centre (which it won't be), than cornering with the trailer will generate different forces, and put a bending moment on the wheel bearings of the bike. Now bring in the BMW FD. By design, it can handle some bending moment as the bearing is not sitting in the middle of the wheel. But using these devices could put much more bending moment on it. It's not the steady speed around a corner on a smooth road. It's where the trailer might sidestep due to road imperfections, and then the bike's wheel bearings have to deal with the bending moment. I might be wrong, but this way of strapping the bike down does not seem right to me.
I use the lower triple clamp with the wheel in a chock and the passenger peg mounts or rear sub frame. The suspension still works.
Matching pair to mine. Except my DR is a 400.. It is the faster Blue though. Since I use hook tie downs I add a bungee strap in the back so the hook can't detach itself.
Tell you what.... if you let these people talk you out of the pit-bull send it to me. I put 5k-7k of miles hauling a Ducati 1198 and a gsxr600 across the southeast to track days and racing events every year using this restraint. I also know a lot of people that use these trailer restraints with no problems. The amount of stress on the swing arm is minimal.
Which of course is no problem whatsoever. Here's a direct quote from the BMW R1200RT owners manual (Canada version): But then what does BMW know about the motorcycles they make?
True, if you are going to compress the suspension you should load it enough to keep it from compressing any further on bumps to keep: a. Straps from loosening and possibly coming unhooked during compression. b. Straps from stressing tie points when the suspension decompresses.
There's this thing called innovation. This way of strapping the bike down came up well after BMW issued this recommendation for conventional strap down. This thread is about what we think about it, not about ancient history
Great responses...seriously. The sarcastic replies were entertaining too. But the bottom line seems to be that none of us KNOW how the swingarm/FD will handle the loads over the long term. It is all just speculation and conjecture. Grenading a FD by riding into a ditch or examining how BMW crates their bikes does not interest me in the slightest so I am willing to be a guinea pig of sorts. If something breaks due to my chosen trailering method then I will fix it and keep riding....and change my trailer restraint method. And you all will be the first to know. I wouldn't want to deprive you guys of your chance to say "I told you so!"
Well, in your original post, you stated->> "My concern is regarding the swingarm pivot bearing. The swingarm assembly was not designed for the torsional loads that this puts on it." I think that was an astute judgement, but now you are rejecting it. So put a couple of back-up straps on the forks so we don't have to worry about meeting your GS head on sliding down the road at 70mph.
What "we think about it" is that the bike's suspension is not compressed, thus allowing too much movement of the bike. The "float" that the original poster thinks is cool is not cool at all.
I haven't read all the dumass replies, so i will say it looks good to me and if you get scared to use it I will take it and put it on my GSA if the need arises to trailer. thanks for the post
Kent, i understand that. Allowing the bike to float vertically is the innovative bit. That is not going to hurt the bike, as it sees vertical float in normal driving. To me the problem, as per my earlier post #25, is side forces and resulting bending moments. Apologies if my comment was too sarcastic. But if not for innovation we'd still be hunting for women and food, and live in caves. cheers, Martin