Ah man cheap straps suck..

[RIDE-RED 250r]

As a former steel hauling flatbed truck driver, my advice is edge/strap protectors are key. Sometimes you cannot avoid having a strap laid around a blunt edge. Might not seem sharp to the touch, but when you get tension on the strap combined with vibration and bumps in the road it doesn't take long for that edge to cut the straps like PS2fixer said.

When I was hauling finish grade aluminum coils, the shipper provided us with thick felt pads about 6" wide by 12" long to go under our straps when tying down a skidded coil with the eye to the sky. These protect the straps as much as the material itself.

When I haul my wheelers on my open flatbed, simple cut up pieces of denim folded a couple times does the trick. Anywhere a strap lays on any kind of edge like a brake rotor when hooking the swingarm, etc... The strap doesn't even have to make a 90 deg turn as it goes around, just simply "leaning" on it with only a slight change on the angle of the strap is all it takes.

Sorry to go into such a lengthy post. But I see grossly improperly secured ATV's all the time and it is just surprising to me that some folks don't take the time to learn how to properly tie down their $9,000 4x4's. (not targeting you BigDawg) And if this post helps one or two people better understand what's going on and rethink their load securement habits, that would be great.

When mine are tied down, they don't move at all... period.

And I agree, cheap straps suck... as do cam buckle straps.. Ratchet straps only for me.

[6speedthumper]

As a former steel hauling flatbed truck driver, my advice is edge/strap protectors are key. Sometimes you cannot avoid having a strap laid around a blunt edge. Might not seem sharp to the touch, but when you get tension on the strap combined with vibration and bumps in the road it doesn't take long for that edge to cut the straps like PS2fixer said.

When I was hauling finish grade aluminum coils, the shipper provided us with thick felt pads about 6" wide by 12" long to go under our straps when tying down a skidded coil with the eye to the sky. These protect the straps as much as the material itself.

When I haul my wheelers on my open flatbed, simple cut up pieces of denim folded a couple times does the trick. Anywhere a strap lays on any kind of edge like a brake rotor when hooking the swingarm, etc... The strap doesn't even have to make a 90 deg turn as it goes around, just simply "leaning" on it with only a slight change on the angle of the strap is all it takes.

Sorry to go into such a lengthy post. But I see grossly improperly secured ATV's all the time and it is just surprising to me that some folks don't take the time to learn how to properly tie down their $9,000 4x4's. (not targeting you BigDawg) And if this post helps one or two people better understand what's going on and rethink their load securement habits, that would be great.

When mine are tied down, they don't move at all... period.

And I agree, cheap straps suck... as do cam buckle straps.. Ratchet straps only for me.

I'd the same. A lot of times I don't have anything to lay under a strap, so I use the end of the strap to put between the metal and strap. One thing I cannot stand is the excess length of strap that people don't tie up properly.

[jeswinehart]

I have got in the habit of running a rubber bungee strap from foot peg to foot peg up and over the seat as a preventive on anything I trailer.

[BiGDawG]

that's a good idea i'll have to take a old pair of jeans and cut them up and keep them with my straps, yea i always try to do something with the access strap then feed the end back into the ratcheting part to keep them from flapping in the wind. last thing you want is for 1 to wrap around the tire or axle and cause a bad accident

[ps2fixer]

Since we are talking about proper loading and tie down methods, I figured I'd throw this out too. Always load a trailer with the heaviest objects to the very front, this extra important if you are hulling something long. Tongue weight will keep the trailer tracking smooth behind your truck. If you have lack of tongue weight, the trailer will weave back and forth and is not fun to discover at 40+ mph.

This looks like a pretty good writeup on the subject: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-p...gue-weight.htm

[Thorpe]

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Wheeler-T.../dp/B003GDHMK4

And more straps! Dumped my cr250 over in the trailer once at about 60mph... But was super lucky it stayed on till I got it shut down and only lost a brake lever!

[BiGDawG]

might have to pick 1 of them up till i build the walls

so i finally got around to checking out the 3 wheeler today. front breaks no longer work that might be what was leaking out that we though was oil handle is bent but still works, clutch side is fine just have to re adjust every thing to where it was comfortable to grab again. and the top of the shocks there's some air valves the 1 on the break side broke.. how can i fix it? also i'm gonna need to rebuild the shocks, they needed it before this but are way worse now anyone have a write up on that?

[ps2fixer]

Sucks about the fork valve stem getting broken. You either need to replace the bolt, or cut off the valve stem and weld another on. Biggest thing is finding someone willing to weld AL.

I checked http://www.partzilla.com/parts/searc...ORK/parts.html

That part is long gone from honda, but I wonder if #13 would work to replace it, if you don't need charge the forks (air pressure).

Also, the oil you saw was probably the fork oil, which would make it ride like crap in the front end.

[Red Rider]

...the top of the shocks there's some air valves the 1 on the break side broke.. how can i fix it?

To fix it, remove the fork cap, drill out the cap to the appropriate size, and install a metal valve stem. When fixed, it won't look identical to left fork cap, but it will function the same & get you back on the trails again for less than $5.

[BiGDawG]

yea they needed rebuilt anyway they where starting to leak oil from the seals.

a guy of fb told me i could use this


but i found a 85 350x roller (no rear plastics, motor, headlight, tank shrouds) on craigslist near me the guy is asking 250 trying to sell something so i can go offer him 200 then use the front end off it rim's and maybe the rear shock if it will fit on the 200x. or just try to find a motor for it i've always wanted a 350x

[RubberSalt]

I never user straps. I don't like them. We use rope and a trucker's knot. These will only come undone when you untie them or the rope breaks. As you pull tension on the rope, the knots get tighter. I also use the suspension as a point for constant tension.

I've had machines rock back and forth and the rope loose tension, but never come off the machine.

This picture is almost identical to the knot. Step 3 is modified for easy removal. Instead of having the last bit of rope pulled through, i double it back and pull a loop through. This serves for easy removing of the knot. A quick snap of the rope will undo the entire knot.

http://www.paddling.net/sameboat/Images/knottruck.gif