Tying Down (channel ferries)

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swebb

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Hi,

This will seem a bit lame to many of you, but i've never taken my bike (R1200GS) abroad before, and I'm now planning my first foreign tour.....

To that end, when it comes to crossing the water, what is the procedure for tying down my pride and joy?

Do i have to supply my own tie down strapping? If so, whats best? Do i tie the bike myself? Do I get the ferry staff to do it? etc etc

Where are the best places, whats the best procedure for tying the bike down etc?

What should i look out for (potential problems etc)

And basically any good/bad advice you can give me will be appreciated, as you can tell, i'm absolutely clueless regarding this part of biking, and i'm VERY concerned about damaging it etc.

(don't know if it matters, but for info, it'll have BMW OEM panniers and a Givi E52 maxia top box on it)

Thanks guys.... your help, advice and experience is appreciated (as well as needed !!)

Stu :beerjug:
 
Ride it aboard, there's usually someone telling you where to stop. (which is smack middle of the tiedown slots).
Then they sometimes throw a sort of padding/cushion over your seat, and two lads come with ratchet straps and tie it down by putting the strap over your seat...

... and you're walking up to get a full English brekkie... awwyea!

In other words, nothing to worry about! :D

:beerjug:
 
Phew!! Was hoping it would be a kind of ride on, ride off scenario, but wanted to be sure!!

Should i observe the strapping down process? I'm thinking of potential horror stories, regarding "careless" strapping down, as in, metal ended ratchet straps being "bounced" all over the bike as straps are passed over/around etc, from your experience is this something i should be concerned about? Or are the companies normally very good at taking the correct care of the bikes?

thanks again...
 
Most ferry crew are knowledgeable and careful when tying down your pride and joy. The GS is strong and fairly devoid of plastic, so makes securing easy. When you park it up, put it on the side stand and in first gear and let the crew secure it. They don't always have a cusion to protect the seat from the strap, so you can always place your gloves or something similar on the seat first.
Don't fret and worry about this process or it will ruin the travelling experience. Remember at the end of the day it's insured and just a pleasurable means of transport.
 
I always watch and check!

I have found the deck crew to do a fair job usually, but I always watch and check it before leaving the car deck. I did find a loose tie once. After all whose toy is it?

My other bikes have only side stands, and that has always worked well as the suspension is compressed a little by the tie downs so the bike is effectively held in tension by them on the wheels so it has nowhere to go.

BUT, with a 12GS on the centre stand it also needs ties to hold laterally and longitudinally as the rear wheel is off the deck and the front in poor contact. Having seen the krauts doing it on various channel,IOM and NS crossings I will not use the centre stand on my GS as it ends up like a spider web needing at least four attachment points at 45 degree compass points if they go to the deck and otherwise two more just to hold it tight down on the stand.Otherwise in really rough weather it could roll off the stand if the tension to the rear was insufficient as the suspension loads/unloads with pitch and roll of the ship.

One other thing I always do is apply the front brake and tie a couple of turns of strong cord around to keep it on.

Often the crew only have ropes so I carry ratchet ties and route them to avoid rubbing, which will take off paint to bare metal/plastic in no time.

With that done there is nothing to be concerned about.
 
Dave Price said:
Most ferry crew are knowledgeable and careful when tying down your pride and joy.
Click to expand...

Regrettably, some are absolute knobs!

Make sure that the tie-down strap hooks on one deck-point, passes over your saddle and then hooks onto another deck-point.

Two years ago I saw a Popeye-oik hook the end of a tie-down strap to Mark Dilloway's rear brake master cylinder before we told him to feck off and do the job ourselves!

:eek:

Greg
 
Britanny ferries are reputedly much better than the oiks on P&O, who use dirty straps, maybe a bit of cushioning and really wellie them down. Worrying - when working I have seen steel fabrications bent by drivers being over enthusiastic with the ratchets.

So dont walk away - supervise them. Personally, after last time, I will remove the saddle this year. It was 2 days before it recovered its original shape after vigorous tieing down.

Better still, a pal took his own straps and did his own thing.

Sidestand not centre and in gear.
 
To be fair, in my experience P&O were excellent last year - Portsmouth Bilboa - instructed to leave bike in gear and on side stand, they then used rope over bike to secure to footpeg. Nowhere for bike to go, with pillow in place to protect body work and seat. Even asked me to pick the bike up on return journey so they could put an additional pillow in to protect pannier which was close to contact with railing. Friendly and took time to get it right. Somewhere else around here I also read that if you DIY it, you have less/no comeback if something does go wrong. Norman
 
In Summary:

Thanks guys, i appreciate the voice of your collective experience..

As i see it, the general rule/s of thumb seem to be:

1) side stand and in gear
2) observe and make sure i'm happy
3) use something to buffer between ratchet strap and bike to prevent rubbing
4) head to the lounge/bar and enjoy the rest before the journey really starts!!

:D

thanks again, i feel much more at ease and prepared now.

Stu :beerjug:
 
One last thing - you will be told that you have to have various extra bits and pieces to ride on the continent. Cant remember what they were apart from spare light bulbs. Anyway, if you are going to get them as opposed to chancing it, make sure you do so before the ferry terminal. They rob you blind in there.

Enjoy the trip - I thought it was bl**y marvellous. Empty roads, nice scenery, good food.
 
I have found P&O always very good but have had bad experiences with other ferries with no tie downs and only old rope to tie the bike to the side rail. I take my own tie down (ratchet strap) just in case they don't have one and always watch/help the guys tie it down, I usually have a towel or my gloves to protect the seat from the tie down as often the [pads are missing. I always used to put my bikes on the centre stand but it is much more secure on the side stand.
The tunnel is best, no need to secure the bike just ride on and stand next to it.
Having said all that, I've been loads of times and never had any damage to the bike so relax and enjoy it.
 
I've always used the centre stand. The side stand strikes me as a bit flimsy.

And I strap it down myself.

Personally, I love taking the ferry across rather than the tunnel.
 
birdseye said:
One last thing - you will be told that you have to have various extra bits and pieces to ride on the continent. Cant remember what they were apart from spare light bulbs. Anyway, if you are going to get them as opposed to chancing it, make sure you do so before the ferry terminal. They rob you blind in there.

Enjoy the trip - I thought it was bl**y marvellous. Empty roads, nice scenery, good food.
Click to expand...

Dead right. But you can get a first aid and bulb kit for a fraction of the UK price in Europe.
 
I always use Seafrance, its like being in France as soon as you get on the boat with all those Frenchies.

They have two good boats, a new one this year called the Berlioz and one existing called the Rodin.

The Rodin (and I assume the new one as it is its sister ship) has specific bike bays at the pointy end. The bays are constructed from steel rasied from the deck with a chanel you run your bike wheels into, this hold the bike firmly upright. No stand required.

They place a natty wedge behind the rear wheel then throw a tie down strap over the seat for good measure, Im telling you once in the bay its going no where. Used the service going to Assen last year and it was great.

One word of warning though. French passport control is now in Dover and British is in Calais, I think the idea is to give them the opertunity to refuse entry to the respective country before they set foot on their soil. Consequently you really do need to allow more time, used to take 20 mins to check in now more like 45.
 
TheJoker said:
Then they sometimes throw a sort of padding/cushion over your seat, and two lads come with ratchet straps and tie it down by putting the strap over your seat...
Click to expand...

...and if they don't use padding before laying the straps over the seats, bung your gloves under the straps before they ratchet them tight.

Stops the seat material rucking.
 
Tying Down

There is a massive variation between ferries. If you go to your local BMW dealer they will give you a selection of tie down straps that secure the new bikes in their crates. Rainbow at Rotherham just tell you to help yourself. I use one either side and then a third between the front wheel and the centre stand (stops it rolling forward off the stand if you hit a bit of sea). The straps roll up quite neatly for stowing after use. - Stan
 
Re: Tying Down

Stan Croot said:
There is a massive variation between ferries. If you go to your local BMW dealer they will give you a selection of tie down straps that secure the new bikes in their crates. Rainbow at Rotherham just tell you to help yourself. I use one either side and then a third between the front wheel and the centre stand (stops it rolling forward off the stand if you hit a bit of sea). The straps roll up quite neatly for stowing after use. - Stan
Click to expand...

Very useful information, thankyou, much appreciated. A trip to my dealer is iminent me thinks :D

:beerjug:
 
Just ride onto the ferry's wet steel cargo deck..............slip on the oil and park it up, tipped over on it's side

Step off and take your lid off, give the bike a kick to make sure it's not going to move..........

Panniers will stop any damage to the vital components.

Shrug your shoulders and go for a full monty breakfast.........
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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