Best way to trailer an R3T

I have to trailer the bike to the shop on Thursday and I have never trailered a bike before. Dumb question but what's the best way to trailer it

Cinch both down front and back just a smidgen against the shocks with the rear end down a tad more. Put the front up against something like the front rail. I rocker the beast forward and pull the cinch straps. I flop my fat ass down on the seat and pull up the rear cinches. She's now good to go, provided you considered wheel chocks. With straps from the handle bars to the bed flailing in the wind you can see how much slack is necessary, which is not so much sidewards sway. there's room for debate on this subject. I feel this is my best answer. I could be persuaded otherwise. I've used homemade 2x4 chocks and lag bolted them to the wooden bed. Chocks or other anti-wheel hop measures are a positive in my trailering experience. I think of securing the load and trailer as one entity instead of two. They are integrated, in harmony and balance. Sure, your oil and gas will be sloshed a bit. So don't fill up until you get where you're going.

I don't have a chock so 4 ties 2 front 2 back and one through wheel in front should work right

You never said how far you were going. A short trip with your idea will be just fine. take it easy and think integrated. BTW: Experience is not always the best teacher. Some one else did it wrong from experience, so don't do it that way either.

It's a 60 mile one way trip and 60 back I am going to buy some straps when I get off then what would be the best number

Buy good quality ratcheting straps, not the cheap WalMart ones. I have used a strap through the wheel to keep it from going forward before. Then I used four straps to pull the bike forward against that strap. Two on the handlebars and two on the back on a solid point. I now cheat and use the same tie down points that Triumph uses when they ship the bike. They use the lower shield mounts on the fork with two little triangle pieces of metal. Check with your dealer the next time they uncrate a R3T and see if they'll save those pieces for your.

well I went ahead and purchased 8 straps 4 with a 1200 limit and 4 with a 900 limit as well as 2 soft straps for the bars. hopefully with 8 straps I will be ok I will take it slow

Don't "over-do" the cinching though. If you put too much pull on the front shocks (I mean a lot of draw down as you could with ratched straps), it could cause the fork seals to to start leaking & from then on, they will not stop. That is from experience, not with the Rocket though. I had to replace 2 sets in the old Yamaha until a friend shared his knowledge with me on this.

Here is another tip. If the straps you use have hooks on the ends (most of them do) and you will be hooking through a "hook eye" on the trailer, take precautionary measures as follows.

When the suspension compresses due to a bump or dip in the road, the straps will sag due to the loss of tension (duhhhhhhhhhhh). Experience is speaking once again. When this happens (the sagging straps), the lower hooks can release from the eyes and you suddenly have a catastrophy. I always "double up" on the front straps. I'm able to do this because the trailer I built has 6 load securing eyes, 4 for the front & 2 for the rear.

Anyway, to the point. Get yourself some good heavy rubberbands, make a couple of twists in them (you know what I'm describing, just like around the newspaper), slide the loops onto the lower hooks (continue to hold the rubberband with one hand, the hook in the other), put the hook through the tie-down eye and place the loops onto the end of the hook again. This assures that, even though the straps see slack from a bump, the hooks are secured to the eyes and will not "drop out".

I always set my straps up first on the trailer (affixing the lower ends to the eyes with the rubberbands as described) then throw the excess strap length over the sides of the trailer (if your trailer has sides). Then as I roll the bike onto the trailer & nose the front tire against the center front post, I can let go of the grips while straddling the bike, grap one of the two straps on each side & hook the upper ends to the handlebars temporarily & draw out the slack. This will hold the bike while you "unsaddle" & grab the other two front straps & find a stout hold on the front frame. Then adjust the handlebar straps accordingly. The rear is not so critical but you don't want the back tire hopping around & changing your "departure" angle for getting the bike "straight" off the trailer. I usually cinch down the rear, the grap another strap (& maybe a piece of rope with a loop tied in one end) and pass a complete loop around the rear tire (at the very back) and secure the ends of that attachment "forward" to help keep the bike pressed against the front center post. Because I designed the trailer, the center post is there so that I can "lash" the front tire to it with a rubber bungie cord. This also assists in keeping the front fork from turning while bouncing down the road.

Call me silly but I've never "lost" a bike. Now, with the experience of the straps coming off the eyes of the trailer and not "over cinching" the front suspension, I feel pretty confident with hauling a bike. One trip was over 1000 miles round trip with not problem. Heck, when I picked up my Rocket, I had to trailer her over 2 1/2 hours home but the "lashing" experience I have made me pretty confident she was staying put.

One other mention, the upper hooks don't "jump" off the frame or the handlebars when the straps go slack so rubberbands are not really necessary there. Also, somewhere along the way I acquired two short nylon straps (about 12" long) with loops sewn into each end. I'm able to loop those straps around the frame at the rear & pass the upper strap hook through the loops, in lieu of searching for a place to put the tie-down hook directly on the frame somewhere.

Experience will help with your comfort in trailering a bike. Stop after a few blocks & check everything, stop after a mile & check, stop after another few miles & check until you convience yourself that baby is going to stay with you. I'm telling you, my vehicle, trailer & bike could "roll" & that bike is staying put in the trailer, guaranteed.

See ya.

I will have to stop and check things out a few times at least up there. I will also cover her eyes for the ride I wont allow her to see another trailer after this. I almost feel bad for having to do this but she wont get any better if I don't.

I haul bike all the time.......

Lets see. I just pulled the Rocket 645 miles from my house here in Michigan to Marne, Iowa and I believe Pigger and Tomo will attest it was upright and on the trailer when I got there. I checked the straps once after about 30 miles, once after bouncing across 80 on the southern side of the Windy and once in Grinell, Iowa where I stayed the night. They were never loose and neve got loose.

I'm going to take 3 bikes back to Marne with me this time, A Triumph, a Norton and a Matchless. That will be 12 straps, 4 per bike and 3 Canyon Dancers.

Now, I do have a bke trailer, especially meant for hauling bikes but I have used a small enclosed box trailer with a front wheel chock and E-Track on the floor to secure the tiedown straps.

I always use Ancra ratchet straps, never cam lock straps and I almost always use a Canyon Dancer Bar harness on the front. Canyon Dancers are nice because they distribute the pull evenly across the front of the bike.

I always tie down with 2 ratchets in the front and 2 in the back. Load the bike and secure the front (you always need a front wheel chock) using 2 straps pulling downward and slightly forward to seat the front wheel in the chock. Ratchet one side down a bit and then the other side and then go back to the original side and ratchet some more. Then go back to the other side and ratchet the bike level. I always leave about an inch of suspension travel, no more. Go to the back and secuse the bike with 2 straps again, employing the same method as the front. You want the straps pulling slightly backward or directly downward and collapse almost ALL of the rear suspensiion travel. Leave the bike in gear, not in neutral.

I always put my ratchet end of the strap at the BOTTOM, not the top. Reason is, I can see them in the mirror and I roll the excess strap up and zip tie it to the secured strap.

You only need 4 straps ber bike. I regularly haul bikes plus I haul my sidecar outfit to shows all the time. I just use 6 straps on the sidecar outfit, 4 on the bike and 2 on the tub.