Will a Valk fit in a pickup truck bed?

[Bill H]

I'm sure that this topic has been asked before, but didn't find it on the board. 

I have a 1999 Valkyrie Tourer.  I am looking at getting a pickup truck and trying to decide on length of bed.  It looks like it should fit in an 8' bed, possibly with the tailgate down.  What about a 6 1/2' bed?  Does anyone have experience in fitting their bike in a truck?  This could influence my choice. 

Also, what type/size of ramp have you used to load your Valk into a truck?

Getting a bigger truck to tow my boat and would like to be able to take both on trips.

Thanks,
Bill

[bogator]

 YOU will need an 8 foot bed --the valk is 7 ft long

[Big IV]

Perhaps you need a boat that you can pull with the Valkyrie. That would get them on the same trip.


I have never put the Valk in the bed. I have a low motorcycle trailer which loads easily on the rare occasions when my Valk needed help home.

[Red Diamond]

A valk will fit in an 8'-0" bed with the tailgate up.

[Davemn]

A std Valkyrie is 8 ft 4 in long. It wont fit into a standard bed unless its a bit sideways.

[hubcapsc]

I got my tired Valkyrie on eBay and hauled it back to South Carolina from Philadelphia in
my old pickup. Everyone was shocked at this picture, and they probably have a point...
The sharp angle between the ramp and the bed in this picture is the kind of place the Valkyrie
kickstand mount can get caught when passing over, and you don't want to bend the
kind-of-flimsy frame cross-member that the kickstand hooks too... I arranged to pick my
bike up at a Honda Shop, and I imagined backing up to a loading dock, but I got
these two guys and a four-wheeler ramp instead 



I had no problem, and the longbed pickup truck had no trouble with the valkyrie, even during
the detour into the West Virginia mountains we took. The Valk would fit (I guess) into a shortbed
with the tailgate down, but you would want to be confident that the cables that hold the tailgate
were sound...

I hooked my ancra tie-downs to the handlebars, some people use the top of the forks/triple trees, some people
are pretty set on using the engine guards  ... I like to get a good 45 degree angle on the straps and
get them just tight enough so that when you rock the bike, the bike and truck rock as a unit... there's
such a thing as too tight - like when you deform the lip of your truck bed, or over-stress your forks, or your tie-down
hook pops out of the truck bed socket and knocks you unconscious...

-Mike

[T-Bird]

I have a 6.5 bed and hauled a interstate 1500. miles, with not a problem. The back tire will ride on the tailgate, but is not enough weight to do damage. I have hauled alot of bikes this way and never had a problem, but I'm sure someone will chime in here that has never done it and say it's impossible.

[Chrisj CMA]

I load mine in my 6.5 F-150 short bed easily and the rear wheel lands right on the joint between the bed and the gate so I use a piece of heavy pluywood to span the gap and share the load, works perfect

[wdvalk]

99 ford f 250 ,8 ft. bed,tailgate will close after I cinch the bike down

[Kaiser]

I'm sure someone will chime in here that has never done it and say it's impossible.

I've never put my Valk in the back of my truck, but I know it cannot be done.

(Sorry T-Bird...couldn't resist) 

[Bill H]

I thought that it would be a close fit, but didn't want try and load it in a truck to find out.  I have a lightweight trailer to put it on when I have to drive the family to Colorado, but couldn't drive a truck; pull my boat and take my motorcycle all on the same trip.  I guess I could get the wife to drive the truck.  Our Honda Ridgeline is not big enough to pull my boat so; looking for a bigger truck.

I have heard that it is a pain to park a Crew-Cab truck with an 8-foot bed so; if I get one I won't parallel park it then.

I used to do all sorts of crazy things in my younger days to get a bike from Point A to Point B in a pinch with a truck.

Thanks for the replies. 
Bill

[Stanley Steamer]

I'm sure someone will chime in here that has never done it and say it's impossible.

I've never put my Valk in the back of my truck, but I know it cannot be done.

(Sorry T-Bird...couldn't resist) 

The next thing you know, ppl will be saying you can run CAR tires on a Valk......

[larryd]

Get a little bit smaller boat. Trike the valk. Load mom & kids in boat and hook behind trike....well on second thought.......Got to treat the valk nice....lol

[scoot]

Check this out. I don't know much about it, but it looks like it would work pretty nice.

http://www.overbiltlifts.com/puloader.html

[TearlessTom]

Get a small truck and tow it with the Valk with the boat in the back?

[alph]

i have an F-150 supercrew with a 6'6" box.  with the gate down it's almost 8'.  get a 2x10, that's 8' long and set the cycle  tires on that, you're good to go.  sure that 2x10 will cost about $10, but if you're worried about the gate crashing, or those cables braking, it's worth the piece of mind. 

[Hook#3287]

I've put all my Valk's in my Dodge 3500 at one time or another.  Did a trip to GA, a trip to FL, a trip to NH with the black 99.  I always left the gate down and tied it so it wouldn't bounce.

When I bought the 2nd 99 in MD and the 98 in NY, I put them in the truck by myself (with a spotter) on a ramp I made on site.  It was made out of 3- 2x6x10 cut with an angle on the bottom, I screwed a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 plywood on them about 2 inches over the top of the joists, and a 2x4 piece of plywood on the bottom to the ground.  I put some eye bolts on the two outside 2x6's and strapped them to my trailer hitch.  The middle 2x6 was over closer to the right one so that most of the bikes weight was on two joists.  With the 3/4 ply hanging on the truck tailgate, I was able to walk the bike up in first gear.  The last time I did it, instead of breaking the ramp down, I flipped it over and with the bike tied down and in netural, I was able to push it under the rear tire up to the front wheel.  I put the bike in gear, tied down the rear and the bike held the ramp down all the way home from GA.  It's sitting in my yard waiting for the next trip.

[Big Rig]

I had my IS in the bed of a 61/2 bed ford F150 with the tail gate down. I also built my own ramps so I could split them and slide them up on each side of the bike...

I have pictures some where...

Will post them tomorrow I hope...

[T-Bird]

I'm sure someone will chime in here that has never done it and say it's impossible.

I've never put my Valk in the back of my truck, but I know it cannot be done.

(Sorry T-Bird...couldn't resist) 

 

[X Ring]

A std Valkyrie is 8 ft 4 in long. It wont fit into a standard bed unless its a bit sideways.

Really?  Hmm.  



Marty

[Walküre]

Sure.......once you throw the HARLEY out!!!

[Big Rig]

Sure.......once you throw the HARLEY out!!!

NICE!!! LMFAO!!!   

[Sludge]

LOLOL thats good!   

[mugmarine]

I hauled my 02 standard from Atlanta to Dallas in a 02 ford f350 longbed.

[old2soon]

Do ya'll have any frikin idea just how many dogs and harleys you be pissin off???

[bigfish_Oh]

I thought that it would be a close fit, but didn't want try and load it in a truck to find out.  I have a lightweight trailer to put it on when I have to drive the family to Colorado, but couldn't drive a truck; pull my boat and take my motorcycle all on the same trip.  I guess I could get the wife to drive the truck.  Our Honda Ridgeline is not big enough to pull my boat so; looking for a bigger truck.

I have heard that it is a pain to park a Crew-Cab truck with an 8-foot bed so; if I get one I won't parallel park it then.

I used to do all sorts of crazy things in my younger days to get a bike from Point A to Point B in a pinch with a truck.

Thanks for the replies. 
Bill

It's not that parking it is so hard, you have to find a hole big enough to get it in

[X Ring]

Sure.......once you throw the HARLEY out!!!

That's a pic from when I drove out to Colorado to buy that I/S.

Marty

[ricoman]

A std Valkyrie is 8 ft 4 in long. It wont fit into a standard bed unless its a bit sideways.

correctomundo!
tried mine once in an 8' trailer-nope
don't see it in an 8' bed unless the rear fender lower half is off.

[Tx Bohemian]

I can't tell you if the Valk is 7' or 8'4" like others have stated here but here is a thought to consider:

I have never hauled my Valk in the bed of my truck but I have hauled long stuff where I needed to have the tailgate down and then attempted to hook a trailer up.  The clearance between the ball and tailgate was too close to where I had to lift the tailgate to get the trailer hitch over the ball and not bend/scratch the gate.

Not sure what kinda hitch combo you have on your trailer/truck but you may want to consider this if the Valk is going to be sticking out over the tailgate, might be a chore to lift.
 

[Bill H]

Thanks again for the answers, discussions and lively conversations. 

I just bought a 2000 F-350 Dually Long-bed on eBay.  It is Southern California and I am in Dallas, TX, so; trying to decide whether to have it shipped or fly out there and drive it back.  It has a tool box in the bed and I'll have to see how much room it takes up.  However, I should still be able to fit the Valk in back with the tailgate down.

I'll try to post some pics of my bike and truck when my truck gets here.

Have people used wheel chocks or just tie-downs?  I already have tie-downs, but I need to get a ramp.

Thanks,
Bill

[hubcapsc]

Have people used wheel chocks or just tie-downs?  I already have tie-downs, but I need to get a ramp.

I used to push my turned-off CR500 up a board into my pickup truck, using a 5-gallon bucket as a step (hundreds of times)...

My only loading-a-Valkyrie-into-a-truck-with-a-ramp experience left me cold...

At home I have an old agricultural terrace I can back up to and just ride out, but you can't carry that with you to load/unload
on the other end 

Hopefully you won't have to put the Valkyrie in the truck very often... when I brought mine back from Philadelphia I bought
a brand new set of Ancras with un-marred plastic on the hook-ends, I have saved them, unused since that one time, in case
I ever have to haul the Valkyrie again. I have a pile of other motorcycle tiedowns I use to tie in trash and limbs all the other
stuff that has to be hauled, the gnarly plastic on their hook-ends will never touch the Valkyrie's chrome 

I don't see how a chock helps if you tiedowns don't turn loose, or how it would help if they do turn loose  , but whatever gets
your Valkyrie to the other end unscathed is a good thing...

-Mike

[Hollywood]

you can get a nice ramp at harbor freight pretty reasonable. they are aluminum, but very sturdy. we have one and have used it many times. good luck! Ride safe. 

[sumers]

I blew a front tire on my standard in the middle of nowhere, I was able to load and haul bike home 300 miles in the back of a dodge dakota short bed with tailgate down with no problems.

[wdvalk]

remove tool box ,cinch down the front of the bike,close the tailgate and go,do it twice a year in my f250