Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown thing--------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is a extruded...or somehow formed, metal bar that bolts into the front wall of your pickup bed, allowing you to haul 1-3 bikes.I bought mine from Motorcycle USA.com, which is a board affiliate, and pays us a litte percentage of sales generated from this site.Around $70 shipped.....a lot cheaper than some comparable 'systems'.This is pretty plain, but it should work fine.This is the 'full sized' pickup model, with 3 wheel 'notches', and 4 tie down 'loops' to secure the front wheel, or the bike.Note:securing your front wheel during transit keeps it from swinging around....possibly allowing the bike to shift, or just doing some damage.I'll use some older straps that have gotten a little too 'worn' to trust in securing the bike in higher load positions....to secrue the front wheels to the bar.They also make a shorter 'compact' truck version.Installation involves drilling 3 holes in the front wall of the bed, and bolting the bugger in! All hardware is supplied.If you have big hands, attaching the washers and nuts in the space between the bed and cab can be tricky.There are plenty of predrilled holes to allow to line up the bar with holes over the 'high' sections of the usually 'ribbed' front wall. They also give you a spacer if you have to bolt over a 'indented' section of the front wall. If you're real anal, you could add some more nut/bolts!I used a long set of needle nose pliers to get the nut started.A spare set of hands can come in handy to hold the bar in place as you attach the nuts, but it isn't impossible to do it yourself. Just add a little time to search for dropped nuts and washers under the truck! It looks sturdy, and functional for the intended use. I'll give a 'road' report later this week when I use it to haul two bikes to Wisconsin!This ought to work great with the Canyon Dancer BAr harnesses!Here's a link...http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=12204&department=670&division=6 Bed Bar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PeteSC(6/7/04 10:05 pm)Re: Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown thingWorked fine, hauling my DR650 and a Bandit 600 to Wisconsin and back! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B12Teuton(6/8/04 9:30 am)Re: Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown thingCan you really get THREE bikes in there?Two I can see, but three seems like a lot in terms of handle bar clearance etc. Manny-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PeteSC(6/8/04 9:39 am)Re: Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown thingMaybe 2 full size....with a xr50 in the middle!(Or 3 small dirt bikes)No problem loading the DR650, and Llloyds bike.We slid an awning in between, some junque! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B12Teuton(6/8/04 10:14 am)Re: Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown thingYour truck have a long bed? Can you close the gate?I know I can't on my new truck. Bed is 6'3"... about 3" too short for the KDX anyway. Haven't tried the Bandit yet.Manny-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PeteSC(6/8/04 10:19 am)Re: Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown thingMine is a short bed, but is like 6'6".If you shift the rear of the bike to one side, you can close the tailgate. Usually don't bother.The DR650 is longer than the B12 by an inch.You don't have a chance with a 6-3 bed...... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B12Teuton(6/8/04 10:26 am)Re: Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown thingYeah. Well as long as I bungee everything in place, it'll be fine.I just read up on it, and it says they chopped 3" off the bed of the Ram and extended the cabin to make the rear seats more usable for adults on the short wheel-base quad cab. Guess I can't complain since I'll use the rear seats as much as the bed. Truck is huge already, so the LWB certainly would not have been fun to drive. Manny-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Red01SuziB12S(6/8/04 11:44 pm)Re: Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown thingMy guess is they put three notches in it so you can haul one bike centered in the bed, or two bikes in the outer notches.Maybe you could do three if the middle bike has the back wheel at the cab, but then you'd need tie down points in the back of the bed for that one's front end. Paul W-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B12Teuton(6/10/04 10:36 am)Re: Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown thingDUH!I'm sure you are correct. That makes more sense. Brain-not-working!! Manny--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Topic: Bed bar pickup truck bike tiedown (Read 6345 times)