Tyre Down Review |
 |
| Friday, 12 March 2010 16:29 | |||
 Ask anyone who transports a motorcycle regularly by van or trailer and they will tell you there is more damage caused to the bike as a result, than is ever caused by actually riding the machine. The journey too is often fraught with constant checks that a strap or tie-down has not loosened off and the bike is laying on its side, or fallen into another one.No matter how regularly you do it, there is always a worry that damage is going to be caused. Some people have elaborate clamp systems to combat this, which is fine if you only have one bike and you have plenty of time. Not great if like me you need to transport a variety of machines and time is often tight. However, help is now at hand thanks to the Australians who have come up with a blindingly simple and quick way to secure modern bikes clad in acres of plastic, as well as genuine competition bikes. Called Tyre Down™ it secures machines quickly and easily using only the rear wheel and eliminates the need for multiple strapping.  Even better, it is robust and simple and apart from the ratchets on the straps, has no moving parts to go wrong. Basically it consists of two heavy-duty metal plates, each with a friction pad to grip the rear tyre. Attached to either side are Ancra webbed straps that are rated to hold 400kg with large vinyl coated hooks at the end operating through heavy-duty ratchets.Once the bike is loaded either onto the trailer or in the van, it is just case of slipping the plates over the rear tyre, before locating the hooks in suitable anchor points before tightening things down via the ratchet. The machine is secured by the rear wheel only, with no compression of either the rear or front suspension, so no pressure is put on oil seals. A big plus if the machine is left in position for extended periods. The other big plus is that there is no need to drape other straps across painted panels risking rubbing or damage to any small items like brake levers. Thanks to the thin metal used, the metal arches easily slip around the rear wheel and slide under most huggers. There is a road and off-road version, the width of arches being the major difference with road bikes needed the larger contact area on the wider tyres.  However, I have been using the road going version for the past three months and have used it on dirt bikes and still had no problem with any movement on the bike at all. However, in an ideal world you would have one of each type! I have had used it on large sports tourers, race bikes and just about everything in between and just can’t rate it highly enough. It has made securing hassle free and taken away the worry of anything moving mid-journey, so good is it, that after a month I gave up checking! The legendary California Superbike School swear by them and so do many professional users and I can see why. It might look like something out of an S&M dungeon, but unlike such objects, it takes the pain out of bike transportation! A five star product! It costs £64.99 for the road version and £45.00 for the dirt version.  Available from www.V2mal.com Review by Ian Kerr
|
