Bike/ATV loading fails

[Sieg]

Best investment I made after 30 years of risk taking was two good aluminum ramps for load and unloading my dirt and street bikes..........and some friends make fun of them. :D

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At the end of the day when you're close to exhaustion they are your best friend. :unibrow:
http://sieg.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/4-Corners-10-31-2010/i-wWnM7cq/0/M/IMAG0730-M.jpg

[Ron in SoCal]

Yep. Not a big fan of riding my lowered streetbike up a ramp. 700 lbs takes 3 guys. Period.

No shame in alum ramps Scotty.

[Sieg]

Yep. Not a big fan of riding my lowered streetbike up a ramp. 700 lbs takes 3 guys. Period.

No shame in alum ramps Scotty.http://sieg.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Ducati-S2R-1000/i-Jwhth7K/0/L/IMG_4740-L.jpg

This was the bike that motivated the purchase of the second ramp. It was only 400 lbs. but dumping it off a ramp would have been $3K if I was lucky. Wheelbase was short enough that clearance wasn't an issue with the arched ramps.

[WSSix]

I made a ramp out of two 6' 2x12s and put a 2x4 under them. Screwed and glued together. It's wide enough I can put my feet down while coming off the truck. Otherwise, I ride up into the back of my truck. It's a 2wd so it's not high. Personally, I'd rather not even have to put the bike in the back of the truck but oh well.

[glassman]

I made a ramp out of two 6' 2x12s and put a 2x4 under them. Screwed and glued together. It's wide enough I can put my feet down while coming off the truck. Otherwise, I ride up into the back of my truck. It's a 2wd so it's not high. Personally, I'd rather not even have to put the bike in the back of the truck but oh well.

Very limited traction when raining.

I've had my share of embarrassing moments using only one ramp:wow:

[Sieg]

Very limited traction when raining.

I've had my share of embarrassing moments using only one ramp:wow:

Embarrassment is one thing.........pain is another! :D

One of my all time favorites which I read fresh off the press in '81:

THEY CALL ME MISTER DANGER
By Rick Sieman/July 1981
(Notes: Way too much of this story is true. Honest to God, I think I got hurt more – and more often – loading and unloading dirt bikes. Follow along and see what I mean.)

There are those who claim that flat track racing is the most dangerous thing you can do on a bike. Others say that going flat-out in Baja is treacherous. Some mention ice racing on spiked tires as a sure path to the Pearly Gates. Their detractors point out the controlled lunacy of road racing and the close-in violence of stadium moto¬cross.

Hah! The most dangerous thing you can do with any racing bike, without exception, is to load or unload the thing—from whatever conveyance you choose. I have personally lost more skin, bled more blood, moaned louder and squeezed out more tears attempt¬ing to load a bike, than I have in all the races I have ever ridden.

And that, as I am reminded constantly, goes back a long way.

The single most deadly thing you can load a bike into is a van. Consider: Once I was rolling a bike up a loading ramp into the back of a Ford Super Van. As the bike was heavy, it took a bit of speed to get it up the ramp. Just as the bike started its upward path, a gust of wind blew the left door partial¬ly shut. My knuckles caught the lead¬ing edge of the door and both the bike and I came to an immediate and painful halt.

However, the right side of the bike had a bit of momentum in it and swung lazily over. An instant later, I was on the ground with the bike on top of me, upside down. Gas dripped steadily over what used to be a good pair of pants. Naturally, I couldn't move and no one was around. So, I just laid there for a while, hoping the pain would go away. It didn't.

Another time: I had a bike on a trailer strapped in place with two tie-downs. After getting all of my riding gear together, I rocked the bike a bit to check it and made a last-minute deci¬sion to snug it down a bit more. For safety, you understand.

First, a tug on the right tie-down. Then, a good strong pull on the left one. Sprannnng! The ancient tie-down snapped and the bike absolutely lunged off the trailer and pounded me dead-center in the fore¬head. As luck would have it, the end of the bar made the initial contact—and the bar had a thrashed grip on the end. For about a month after that incident, I walked around with a big circle stamped in the middle of my forehead. Folks must have thought that I was a member of some odd religious cult.

More? You want to hear more? Okay. I had two bikes in the back of that same cursed Ford van one day and it appeared that the lever on one bike might kink the throttle cable on the other. It was impossible to move either bike, as they were both snubbed down in place. So I leaned over the bars and released one tie-down.

Now, if I had done this in the mid-seventies, there would have been no problem to speak of, because back then all of the bikes had maybe seven inches of travel. Tops. But this was one of those 12½-inch Maicos. When the pressure was taken off those massive forks, the bike rose up sharply and pinned my head to the roof of the van. The bars were rammed across my throat and I was being strangled by my own 490 Maico!

To save my life, I had to turn my head sideways and drag my head out from between the bars and the roof. I left a trail of blood against the roof that is there as of this writing, as a mute testimony to the perils of transporting race bikes. My ears looked like liver for about two weeks.

Enough? No? Alright. How about this? Once I was pushing a shiny, new test bike up into the bed of the vomit-colored Toyota DB truck. Things went just fine until I stepped on a number plate that was laying on the tailgate. Don't ask me how it got there. Please. Anyway, the number plate shot off into the air like a frisbee, and my leg spasmed above my head like a ballet dancer with a bad case of the Mexican trots.

A portrait is necessary at this point, if you will. Picture a full-grown, 200-pound man holding onto a motorcycle with both hands. One leg, as stated, is high above the head and straight as an arrow—toes pointed. The other is tucked underneath like a flamingo of sorts. The entire body is horizontal and about five feet from the ground. The loading ramp has taken a walk off to one side and is sus¬pended in the air. Only the front wheel of the bike is touching the tailgate. The bike is also leaned over, much like a road racer on the banking at Daytona. Freeze this picture into your mind for a moment. I refuse to relate what happened a fraction of a second later. Suffice to say that I walked with a pro¬nounced limp for some time after the accident.

No more, no more! Well, one more; but this is the last. After having had my share of grief with that vile Ford Super Van, I started using a great deal more caution when loading the bikes. I welded a bolt on the end of the loading ramp and drilled a matching hole in the floor at the back of the van so the ramp wouldn't slip anymore.

I had an extra section welded to the bottom of the ramp to guide the tires into the groove comfortably. No more slipping off this way. I bought a set of bungee cords to keep the doors of the van open and well out of the way while I was pushing the bikes up the ramp. I even went so far as to glue carpeting to the ramp itself, so the tires would grip, no matter what.
All bases covered, right?

It was a warm, spring day. I had to take a new bike out to the Dunes for a test session. The loading ramp was slipped into place. The doors of the van were carefully hooked back out of the way. All of the area at the back of the van was checked for dangerous debris.

Everything clear? Good. I clutched the bars and started pumping the legs. Bike and pusher picked up speed. The front wheel hit the ramp cleanly and the bike headed up the center of the ramp, straight and true. I kept two fingers poised over the front brake lever to slow the bike down when it was needed. That moment never arrived.

Somehow, some way, I had for¬gotten about the roof of the van. That cold, hard, unyielding roof caught me square in the forehead, putting a crease directly across the faint circular scar still there.

The bike had a great deal of momentum. So much so that, when my hands left the bars (involuntarily, I assure you), the bike hurtled all the way to the front and blasted a chunk out of the windshield and put the radio perma¬nently at 94.7 on the dial. FM, for¬tunately.

I refuse, absolutely refuse, to go into any more details. A man in my position deserves some respect! After all, danger is my business.

[WSSix]

Very limited traction when raining.

I've had my share of embarrassing moments using only one ramp:wow:

I don't load/unload in the rain for that reason. I built the ramp so I could get the bike back and forth to CO and NM on my days off. Once I get back to the ATL area, I might use it to get out of the city but I'll have to see how comfortable I am riding around the city first. Riding in a city to me is like playing Frogger in real life and I'm the frog.

[WSSix]

I feel bad for laughing at Mr Sieman's pain. I'm glad I can't relate and hope never to be able to relate to his story.

[Sieg]

I feel bad for laughing at Mr Sieman's pain. I'm glad I can't relate and hope never to be able to relate to his story.
I've had the pleasure of meeting him and thanking him for all the years of laughter with his Dirt Bike mag columns. He's a great guy to engage in conversation with. I have his DVD with all his mag column articles......priceless, don't feel bad about laughing that's Mr. Danger's objective. :thumbsup:

[WSSix]

Finally watched the video, as you can see most of the people forgot to secure the ramp to the truck via straps or something to keep them from sliding off. I have straps on mine.

[WSSix]

I've had the pleasure of meeting him and thanking him for all the years of laughter with his Dirt Bike mag columns. He's a great guy to engage in conversation with. I have his DVD with all his mag column articles......priceless, don't feel bad about laughing that's Mr. Danger's objective. :thumbsup:

OK good! Sometimes, it's the worst moments in your life that you look back on and can't help but laugh at later.

[intocarss]

Good stuff here :thumbsup: GEEEEZZ Sieguowski I haven't read that much since Jr High... Will there be a pop quiz later?

[intocarss]

Rick Sieman was "Super Hunky"..Right??

[Sieg]

Rick Sieman was "Super Hunky"..Right??

Very good Dawgy!

http://www.cycleworld.com/assets/image/2008/W27/732008194223.jpg

[glassman]

Just about to restore an all original 1974 KTM (jack piner special) love those old bikes, that pic reminded me.

[Sieg]

Just about to restore an all original 1974 KTM (jack piner special) love those old bikes, that pic reminded me.

You'll enjoy these pics then :thumbsup:
http://sieg.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/AMA-Museum/5157240_FzV4GZ

I was there as a special event for the KTM dealer meeting. On any Sunday was playing on a big screen downstairs and I was watching it with Malcolm Smith, Jack and John Penton were also part of the event, the following evening Super Hunky MC'd the festivities. A cherished life long memory.