Motorcycle Towing in Sacramento, CA

More bikes are damaged by bad towing than by the breakdown that caused the call. A motorcycle has nothing holding it upright on its own, most of its bodywork is unstressed plastic, and the parts that look like good tie-down points are usually the worst ones.

The correct method is a flatbed and a front wheel chock. The front wheel goes into the chock so the bike is held vertical before anything is strapped. Everything after that is about keeping it there.

Soft straps, and where they go. Loops around the lower triple clamp, the fork tubes or solid frame points, with the tie-downs running off those. The suspension gets compressed slightly and stays compressed, because a bike that can bounce is a bike working its own straps loose over every expansion joint on Highway 50.

What must not take the load: handlebar ends, brake and clutch levers, mirrors, the exhaust, footpegs, and any painted or plastic panel. A ratchet strap pulled directly over bars can bend them, and hooking hard points into fairings cracks them. That damage is not always obvious until the bike is unloaded.

Some bikes need more planning. Baggers and full dressers with hard cases have limited strap access. Trikes and sidecars will not sit in a standard chock. Sportbikes with low fairings need attention on the loading angle. Tell us what you ride when you call.

If it has been down, say so. A crashed bike often will not roll straight and the usual tie points may be bent. It gets loaded differently, and handled so the bars and bodywork do not take a second round of damage on the truck.

One small thing that helps: if you can, leave the steering unlocked so the front wheel can be lined up in the chock.