For years we used to drive our bikes into our toy hauler. It was always a tricky maneuver due to lack of traction on the ramp, the shear weight and size of the bikes, and the limited space getting the bikes into the trailer without “touching” anything along the way. Then we got smart! We now winch the bikes in. We will have a video out shortly showing how we do this. Below you will find affiliate links to some of the tools and devices we use to accomplish this.
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This is the WARN 885000 winch we use to haul our two Harley Streetglides into our toy hauler. It takes almost all of the risk and difficulty out of the operation.
Get yourself a short extension cord to use with the winch. The cord on it is only about a foot long so it’s useless on its own. We use a short (6’/2m) cord so there is not a bunch of slack lying around to get caught on things, but it’s long enough to reach nearby outlets.
These are the Condor PS-1500 wheel chocks we use for the bikes. They are great because you can drive the bike into them and they will hold the bike upright while you strap it down.
We use these straps to go around the front forks of the bikes when they are being hauled into the trailer. They give you something to snap the winch hooks onto and protect the bike from scratches.
You can use one of these double loop cables to fashion a bridle to attach the winch to two tie-down points in your trailer, and another to make a bridle for the winch hook to attach it to the fork straps. You will see in the video that we actually use a piece of rope on the bike end. We did this out of necessity because at the time we shot the video we only had one of the cable types on hand.
These are the snap hooks we use. You’ll need four hooks in total – two for the bike end and two for the winch end. Put one on each of the loops on the end of the cables shown above.
We like this type of retractable strap for strapping down the back of the bikes. We don’t use them for the front end because you can’t get them as tight as non-retractable versions.
