In order to transport your motorcycle safely in the back of your truck, whether you are heading to the track, the trail, or a bike show, motorcycle loading ramps are a necessity. No doubt you have a lot of money tied up in your bike. You can protect your investment by investing in a quality loading ramp.

It’s important that you use the right ramp to load and unload. One important factor is the height from the ground to the truck bed. Another is the size as well as weight of the bike. The heavier the bike, the more challenging it can be to load and unload. The risk of damage occurring can be minimized simply by using the right ramp. Motorcycle loading ramps are made with metal, often aluminum. In order to get better traction, ramps may be designed with a textured surface. Some come with holes drilled out at equal intervals.

If you load or unload your motorcycle by riding it on or off, a good feature to have is the safety strap. The strap is attached to one end of the ramp and can be connected to the back of the vehicle to prevent the ramp from moving while in use. Some of the better ramps also have rubber padding on the end that leans against the truck and help keep the ramp in place. Motorcycle loading ramps generally come in one of three main styles.

One of the main types is a non folding ramp. This type of ramp has a long straight span and is often made from aluminum. Aluminum is often favored in ramps because its light weight makes it easy to handle when you are by yourself. In general an aluminum loading ramp is able to handle loads of greater than 500 pounds. Spans may be perforated for better traction when loading a motorcycle.

The second kind is a folding ramp. A folding ramp is designed to be folded into two, three or even more sections. This makes them easy to both set-up and store. Folding motorcycle ramps may have greater weight capacity than non folding ramps. That makes them perfect to use with heavier larger motorcycles and even ATVs where extra width can come in handy.

With folding ramps, aluminum is the most common material used. It’s not only strong, but much lighter to maneuver around than ramps made with heavier metals. Aluminum also remains rust free. You can also get a ramp extender. With a ramp extender, you get an inclined type ramp as well as a bed extender. This comes in handy when your motorcycle is too long for the bed of your truck. Motorcycle loading ramps come in many styles and designs and with the added features available make loading or unloading your motorcycle both easy and safe.

The hand controls on most motorcycles older than five years are screwed together using a variety of screws and bolts, usually finished in an MOD black finish, sometimes zinc passivated or black painted. Hand controls for the purpose of this article would be the clutch and brake lever clamps, the throttle tube pulley housing, left and right hand switch gear assemblies, hydraulic reservoir mounts and tops and, perhaps for aesthetic value, the rear view mirror mounts on faired machines.

Screws are often of the pozi pan or Phillips head type and are prone to deforming when being unscrewed after corrosion has seized the threads insitu. Another problem with these screws is that they are often quite long (up to 50mm) for a typical M5 screw in a switchgear assembly and these are not the sort of length screw most people will have a spare of lying around in their toolbox or garage. With time and change of owners the fixings on the hand controls are often damaged, corroded, seized or missing.

There are two main benefits of replacing these bolts with new ones. Firstly, replacement fasteners will give you new, undeformed threads which will clean the female threads of the accessories they fasten. It will also give you the chance to use a proprietary anti seize compound such as copperslip to future proof your hand controls against corrosion and guarantee ease of disassembly later on. Secondly, you can address the aesthetics of your machine in this area by considering the use of stainless screws, bolts, washers and nuts, which will not corrode, and will retain their finish for longer than your motorbike is likely to last.

You can also consider the use of a socket type head in lieu of the Phillips or hex heads that may be on your OEM arrangement. Socket heads receive allen keys rather than screw drivers, are less prone to deformation under higher torque and look nicer. Where you have a Phillips head, replace this with a socket button head screw. A hex bolt can be replaced with a socket cap head of the same length and thread size and countersink Phillips screws can be substituted with socket countersink screws.

Here is an example of a hand control kit for a Suzuki 1200 Bandit in stainless socket type screws and bolts.