Canyon Dancer strap thing - would some kind soul educate the idiot?

[MightNotBeThere]

Just went for a short shake-down run (and "shake" is the operative word) with the RT on the trailer. It looks weird to see MY bike on a trailer - even my mother was surprised.

 

Anyhoo - I'm using a Canyon Dancer strap on the bars and I think I might be doing something stupid: The Canyon Dancer is peeling back my grips. Is this normal? How do I avoid this? I should mention that I have gel grips, not the original BMW grips. I don't care about messing up the gel grips as they are a huge $9 a pair, but I'd hate to damage the BMW heating elements which were salvaged from the original grips - not to mention that it would be a serious PITA if my week's vacation revolved around fixing fuses...

 

Thoughts or suggestions, anyone, please? Quick thoughts, please, as I'm leaving tomorrow morning...

[ShovelStrokeEd]

would some kind soul educate the idiot?

 

Well, since I have been one in the past and probably will exhibit tendencies in the future, I feel qualified to help, if not educate.

 

Don't use the Canyon Dancers. Bring them back and pick up some soft ties. Wrap same up around your fork legs just above your lower triple clamps and tie off from there. It being Sunday, you might not be able to trade things in but you can use the C.D. in the same manner with a little application of marlin spike seamanship.

 

Some sturdy nylon rope, tied in a into a couple of loops with a square not will serve the same purpose. Make a loop and then pass the loop around the fork leg and though itself. Run your tie down strap through the bitter end of the loop hanging down and your done. Two people make the job of getting the front secured a whole bunch easier. Start with the bike level and just snug on both tie downs. Top guy leans the bike to one side a bit and you tighten that side tie down. Top guy leans the bike the other way, thereby compressing the suspension and you tighten the other tie down. Repeat as needed until the front suspension is pretty compressed and you have a good secure mount.

 

If you find you like the trailer bit, invest in a Baxley chock and this becomes a really easy thing. Takes about 10 minutes start to finish to secure the bike with one of those.

[MightNotBeThere]

Thanks, Ed - much appreciated!

 

The Kendon does have the equivalent to the Baxley LA Chock or whatever they call it - the bike loads very easily and stands upright quite happily. Much more happily than it's owner, at least while the bike is unfettered.

 

The Kendon is - either fortunately or unfortunately, depending on viewpoint - set up so that the Canyon Dancer is more or less required for a faired bike, due to the available tie down points. Perfectly located for the CD, the tie down points are either too narrow for a fork tube tie down or too wide - in the former case, there is far too little force holding the bike upright, but in the latter case, the fairing would be destroyed.

 

Thanks for the idea, though...

 

Alex

[David]

The Kendon is - either fortunately or unfortunately, depending on viewpoint - set up so that the Canyon Dancer is more or less required for a faired bike, due to the available tie down points.

 

Not at all, Alex. I have a Kendon and have had several RTs on it.

 

Tie the front to the fork tubes just above the fork brace.

 

Remove the small black panels in the rear and tie it down via the sub-frame (small black tubes).

[MightNotBeThere]

If you do that, then there is no suspension compression, which I had always been told was a requirement?

 

Alex

[David]

If you do that, then there is no suspension compression, which I had always been told was a requirement?

 

That's not correct. It makes no difference at all.

[MightNotBeThere]

So a somewhat AR person like myself could use a pair of tie-downs on the back (under the covers - which I've already done), a pair at the front from the fork brace, and the Canyon Dancer as well, but less tightly than previously?

 

Three pairs of straps sound like severe overkill, but I have the straps anyway so it is only a question of less than five minutes wasted.

 

How does that sound?

 

Alex

[David]

If that makes you feel better, knock yourself out!

[MightNotBeThere]

I know what you must be thinking and you are probably quite right!

 

My guess is that if I like the trailer and end up keeping it, by the end of the second trip I'll be quite happy using 6 ft of string and a smile... Similarly, the first hour of Day One will be 45 mph and carefully studying the rear view mirror every 90 seconds, by evening it will be 85 mph without a care in the world!

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Alex

 

PS Some of the nervousness comes from having watched a guy tow his HD down the road - and I do mean, towing his Harley (behind the trailer by one remaining tie) raising a very colorful trail of sparks... On the other side, a friend go into a wreck with his enclosed trailer - when it was all over, the trailer was on its side with an undamaged race Ducati suspended horizontally.

[Bill J]

Over on the ADVRider site, people were warned that the Canyon Dancers were for sport bikes, and could bend the bars on a GS if they were cranked down too hard. I realize the RT has cast aluminum bars, but I think you should use soft ties like Ed described above. I was doubtful about the security of lashing soft ties on the fork tubes, but it worked well on a 2000 mile round trip for me. The bike was rock solid.

 

BTW, there are instructions on a couple of the BMW dealer sites that show how to secure a telelver bike. See www.bmwscruz.com/service/index.html

 

Click on "Tech Tips", then "Proper tie-down Procedues for your BMW Motorcycle".

[KDeline]

Take a plastic hose diameter slighty larger then the grips. Cut slighter longer then the grip. Then cut down the length of the hose so that the hose opens up and wraps around the grip. Now you can use the canyon dancer, just don't over tighten. You are putting the dancer over the hose over the grip. No peel back!

[DavidEBSmith]

This is a reconstruction of a post I posted here about 500 times.

 

How to Tie Down an R11xxRT

 

In short, no Canyon Dancer, tie soft ties just above the fork bridge. Works on a Kendon. You could probably get by with two tie downs, but I use four. You might find that the non-ratcheting tie-downs work better for doing this on a Kendon than the ratcheting kind because the strap between the hook and the buckle is shorter on the non-ratcheting ones, and it can be hard to get the tie-down short enough.

 

If you do insist on using Canyon Dancers, wrap some foam pipe insulation around the tie-downs so they don't contact the fairing and rub through your paint. Even if it looks like they just barely clear, they don't when things move around.

[tallman]

"Canyon Dancer"

good name for a GS.

 

Bad idea for trailering.

I've seen the damage they can do.

Nothing you can't fix with $$$.

They aren't needed.

[SCOTTinNJ]

hmm...I find that a canyon dancer is the easiest way to trailer my R6. then again, maybe it's because it has clip-ons?

[Ken H.]

hmm...I find that a canyon dancer is the easiest way to trailer my R6. then again, maybe it's because it has clip-ons?

Yeah until they pull one of the grips off and the bike goes over.

 

Canyon Dancers - A bad idea gone bad.

[motoguy128]

If you do that, then there is no suspension compression, which I had always been told was a requirement?

 

That's not correct. It makes no difference at all.

 

I'm new on this site and new to trailering a BMW. I had sportbikes and always used a canyon dancer... but yes it can mess up the grips a little. On my dual purpose bike, I can tie to the handlebars.

 

My dealer ties down my bike for me when I brought it home and they also used soft ties to secure the bike by the front fork legs at the bottom fork brace. However it bothered me watching the front end bounce up and down on the drive home when I hit large bumps. I know the bike is secure, but is allowing the front suspension to "float" like that OK? The only difference I can see is that the front wheel is locked in place. Would that matter?

[motoguy128]

hmm...I find that a canyon dancer is the easiest way to trailer my R6. then again, maybe it's because it has clip-ons?

Yeah until they pull one of the grips off and the bike goes over.

 

Canyon Dancers - A bad idea gone bad.

 

They cannot pull off the grips, the straps are pull "cross-cross" in the opposite direction. But yes they can slide the grips into the switchgear. Usually not a big problem.

[Mainuh]

Alex,

 

I'm guessing it may have soemthing to do with how much pressure you put on the Canyon Dancer or the angle at which it went to the trailer frame at. I have used one for years on many different model BMW's including a K1100LT, K1100RS, R80RT, R1100GS (although, not any RxxxxRT's). I've trailered bikes I've bought in NC (twice) to Maine and 2 trips to VA with bikes and not had a single issue with messing up the grips. I don't really reef down too hard on the harness. I do run soft straps to the forks or triple tree when it doesn't risk the straps slapping the paint.