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I assembled a Moto Carrier today so I can carry a single bike behind my Saturn Vue. Now I'm curious as to how other people secure their bike on one of these carriers.

Tie down straps from the handlebars to the tabs on the carrier are obvious. The image on the DiscountRamps.com website shows straps fastening each wheel to the carrier; I can do that too. Do any of you do anything else to secure your bike to the Moto Carrier?

I noticed today that while the bike seems secure on the carrier, there does seem to be quite a bit of wobble of the entire bike/carrier setup. What do you do to get rid of that wobble? I read a quote from Jerry saying that he used a strap to get rid of the wobble, but it isn't clear to me how that would work.

And for those of you who have one, how do you carry gasoline with you?

I use a pick up, but I used to ride with a guy that used a rig like you're asking about (might not have been the same brand). The idea of fastening the wheels to the rail is important, his bike jumped out of it on a slightly bumpy road. Fortunately he was going slow and saw it happen.

He also complained of the thing rocking quite a bit. He ended up replacing it with a different unit that he liked a lot better, I think from the same site you dealt with. Sorry I don't know the models or brands. as for carrying gas, a lot of those rigs have an accesory available to carry a gas can. I would get that over putting it in the SUV with you. The smell and danger of fire makes it a no-brainer.

Mine has a ratchet strap that connects to each peg and goes under the carrier. Meanwhile there is a brace that goes between the frame of the bike and the carrier track that when you ratchet the pegs strap down, it becomes a solid mount once it is tight against that brace. I could haul the bike with this alone without an issue....

I used one for a while. I got some aluminum 1/4 inch strap and connected one end to the bumper and the other to the handlebars and it really reined in the wobble. I connected a short tie strap on top of the aluminum strap to wrap around the handle bars and drilled a hole in the bottom of the aluminum strap to connect to a protruding anchor stud that I bolted to the rear bumper. I slipped the aluminum strap over the stud and held it in place with a pin (the kind used to hold trailer hitch pins in place). When not in use I'd just toss the aluminum strap in the minivan I used at the time.

I have one for my GM Jimmy and tie down using tie downs from the handle bars to the rack, tie down each tire to the rack and use tie downs
from each corner of the rack to the roof rack on the Jimmy.
I have traveled cross country lke this with no problems.
Alot cheaper than pulling a trailer too....

The bike is normally tie strapped down tho the rack via regular method; handle bars to the rack. However, the rack is only attached to the vehicle via the receiver hitch and the hitch/receiver connection is a little sloppy. I attached a second tie down strap from the handlebar closest to the vehicle to an anchor point under the rear bumper. This did two things; forced the rack to have another point to lever against so the rack was more solid than just the receiver hitch connection and it was insurance in case one of the tie down straps failed. A failure of the inside strap would be catastrophic resulting in the bike being tossed off the rack. Two straps on the inside would prevent the bike from coming off the rack in any sort of strap failure. Also, do not rely on the hook type fasteners on most straps. If the bike's suspension was to compress enough, due to a bump in the road or something, the strap could loose tension for long enough to come off the bar. Use a method that would prevent the strap from coming off the bar.

Thanks guys!

Jerry, are you talking about using a strap with a carabiner on one end?? All of my straps have those unreliable open ended hooks on them and I've been thinking about replacing them.

I try and use the type of catch that isn't an open hook. The type like a carabiner is probably best, but I've also just used a loop in the strap that ran back on itself. Heck, I've even just tied it in a knot for that matter.

So no one carries gas on their Moto Carrier? I checked out DiscountRamps.com and could not find a gas rack that mounted to the carrier.

I have a carrier that I bought from Discount Ramps that I use on a 4runner. Mine has a collar that slides up to the hitch and has 3 bolts that lock the bar to the hitch so there is no slop. I just used it on a 150mile trip an it didnt move or come loose and there is very little to no side to side movement. Do you have the collar?

Yes I do. I visited the Discount Ramps site after my post and saw their helpful photos ("Ah, so THAT is what that piece is for!") I then bolted up the carrier with the collar and I had no side to side movement either. The whole unit worked surprisingly well.

I'm still not sure about how to transport gas with the carrier. I might be able to fasten a gas can to the ramp itself during transport, but I need to come up with a more secure way to fasten the ramp to the carrier than just the two dinky wingnuts that came with it.

How do YOU transport gas with the carrier??

See what I stole!

http://auctions.overstock.com/MOTORCYCL ... m/43591500

WOW! You got that for $56??? You made out like a bandit! "Stole" is the right word...good for you! I wish I would have gotten it for that price...

It really does work well, better than I expected.

OK Vince, figure out how to transport gas and share it with us!

Throw it in the back of the truck... what's so hard about that?

If you have a truck, why do you need the carrier??

I have an SUV, not a truck...

The reason is that it is not real easy to load and unload a truck loaded bike by yourself.... I have hurt myself a time or two with no one around... not fun! .....with the rack it is real easy and I have room for all my camping gear.....

I have been using one of these for a few years now and has served me well...

http://www.bdiracks.com/index_006.htm

So Inda do you have 2 of those now?

Sure do! Need one?

If he doesn't I might be interested...

Re: carrying a gas can..

This is what I was talking about http://www.discountramps.com/mcImages/mx-hauler-4.jpg

Maybe you can rig something similar for yours.