Lots of weight on Tailgate

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Jacob Dryer

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I am doing a trackday for my birthday and will have to haul my motorcycle about 400miles round trip in the bed.



I test fitted the other day and it fits fine, but the rear tire will be on the tailgate the whole trip. Is there anything to worry about or will it hold up fine?

 
I have no idea what type of bike you have, but a heavy cruiser (I'm talking 600lbs +) will crush the tailgate from the shock bounce. I have seen a couple F-150's that had this happen.



Even if you have a lightweight sportbike, I would still use a piece of 5/8" plywood in the bed/tailgate to distribute the weight. 400 miles is a long way, I've had the tailgate apart and there isn't much substance to it.
 
I think I read that Ford says that 200 pounds is the max for the tailgate. I realize that they are being conservative for safety (and liability) reasons and that it WILL hold more. How much more safely, is the real question.



 
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What if I took some 3/4 mdf or something similar and made a cut out similar to the bed. Laid that down in the bed and then had an eye hook at each corner of the tailgate and pulled it up to the tiedown points with some ratchet straps. Do you think that would get enough weight off the tailgate and be strong enough to not have to worry about it?

 
The main point here is that you want to distribute the weight on the tailgate rather than have it consentrated at one point. Use 5/8 or 3/4 plywood, 6 ft long, 3 ft wide that will fit in the bed and cover the tailgate. No need to strap it in since you'll be stapping the bike to the inside tiedown brackets. This will distribute bike weight over a wide area.
 
JD,

This should help you make up your mind... OR throw up.... :lol::lol:

[Broken External Image]:

Todd Z
 
Todd, why did you have to do that? Now, I have that picture stuck in my mind's eye and the "Banana Phone" song stuck in my head (it was on O&A the other day).



TJR
 
So does anyone have any real info for me? (Not that I don't see the humor in the picture)



What about making a T with some 2x8 or something and having the | part of the T be on top so that the tires are on the same level and then the _ part of the T would be underneith spreading the load across the tailgate?



 
It must be a Harley, or you would be driving it. Us Honda riders appreciate Harleys keeping their oil and parts off our road...lol.
 
O' Yeller,

That's good!!!:lol::lol:



Actually us riders with real bikes get tired of dodgin' all that plastic that falls off those metric disposa-bikes...Bwahahahahahaha!!



JD, The info I gave earlier is as real as it gets dude.... 5/8" plywood over the whole bed/tailgate, a 6' piece of channel iron rail to put your bike on, or you can support and block up the frame from underneath as such all weight is off the tailgate.
 
Well like I said above I'm doing a trackday. You always plan for the worst when riding a track and it's 3 1/2 hours away so I will be camping with the wife. Then riding ALL day at a good pace it's gets very tiring.



And just for good measure, my favorite turn around my neck of the woods.



8c045790d9837084d7cb7e88e1f123f5.gif
 
Do exactly what Bill-E suggested, except the board only needs to be wide enough for the tires to fit on it (no more than 10 inches wide). The object is to simply destribute the load so that all of the weight is not concentrated in one spot (where the raer tire sits). THe board will allow the bikes weight to be distributed along the total length of the board between the front and back tires.



Ol' Yeller, so you are a Honda rider as well! I can't tell exactly what kind of bike JDBoxes is riding, but at least it's NOT a Harley.....



JD, you ever been to Deal's Gap? If not, you 've gotta go checkit out.....318 turns in 11 miles on US 129!
 
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I know all about Deals Gap and plan to go before I leave the east coast. It's about 8 hours from here though.



My trackday is at VIR so if you watch any motorcycle racing you know VIR. I'm pretty excited.



I ride an 01 Suzuki SVS.
 
A group of about 20~25 of us go to Deal's Gap every year. We'll be there the weekend of October 15, that's when they have the road races at Road Atlanta. I live in Dallas so we trailer the bikes to Atlanta (12 hours) and then ride to Deal's Gap (another 3 hrs).



I ride an 05 Honda CBR1000RR. Check out my library pics.....
 

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