Tie downs?

[Paul in NZ]

I'm getting very fed up with the lack of quality in the Aerofast cam lock motorcycle specific tie downs. They are utter shit in the value for money stakes! Their moto is 'tough tested' well it should be tough luck if you bought these because your patience will be tested.

I catch the ferry (on average) once a year or so and always one of the damn tie downs has died (spring pops out the side and cam flops open)... They are always cleaned and dried and hung up carefully but they average about 1 trip. Its always 1 of a pair go tits up - admittedly - never while locked on.

Its not like the things are cheap yet I end up at Repco or supercheap in some village buying something unsuitable to get home... I have the bra thing that goes across the bars which works OK...

There has to be something better out there that isn't meant for a HGV...

sigh - I feel better now - off to supercheap I go...

[Paul in NZ]

Hmm - this looks promising... Anyone used these?

http://www.macsequipment.co.nz/shop/Tie+Downs+%26+Hardware/Macs+USA+Tie+Down+Packs+Car+%26+Bike+%26+Utility/510002+Macs+USA+Ratchet+Tie+Down+Motorcycle+Pack+B lue+1.83M+6Ft.html

[Akzle]

uhhhhh. paracord, nigga.

[Paul in NZ]

uhhhhh. paracord, nigga.

Nah - its got to have a hook to get into the deck hole

[Akzle]

i bet you it doesnt. but if it does, then a coupley SS S hooks from a chandler of repute.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Weird one Paul. I've been using Aerofast tie downs for the last 20 plus years and never had a single failure. On the back of utes, in the rain etc etc...best tie downs avail. All the boys here are the same too.

[Scubbo]

$20 torpedo7 ones are great.... abused mine, no problems still... and only $20! fark linked the wrong ones-- here- - https://www.torpedo7.co.nz/products/T7TD2N1TDA9/title/torpedo7-tie-downs-2-pack

[george formby]

Weird one Paul. I've been using Aerofast tie downs for the last 20 plus years and never had a single failure. On the back of utes, in the rain etc etc...best tie downs avail. All the boys here are the same too.

I have had no probs with the bike specific ones either. Well, had one pop off but I don't think it was the tie down at fault.. :whistle:

[neels]

I use non bike specific ratchet ones, don't trust those cam lock things.

[Grumph]

Weird one Paul. I've been using Aerofast tie downs for the last 20 plus years and never had a single failure. On the back of utes, in the rain etc etc...best tie downs avail. All the boys here are the same too.

Likewise..I've got usable tiedowns older than some who post on here. FWIW I think Aerofast is still Dale Wylie.

[Crasherfromwayback]

I use non bike specific ratchet ones, don't trust those cam lock things.

With the cam type, if you loop the loose end through, they can't poss let go even if they do slip a lil.

[awayatc]

uhhhhh. paracord, nigga.

Akzualy......bit of decent rope and a wee google on some basic knots will see you right....

cheap, doesn't take up a lot of space,

and very multi functional......

[Paul in NZ]

Weird one Paul. I've been using Aerofast tie downs for the last 20 plus years and never had a single failure. On the back of utes, in the rain etc etc...best tie downs avail. All the boys here are the same too.

Some bastard must be sneaking into my place and breaking them then... :shifty:

[Paul in NZ]

Likewise..I've got usable tiedowns older than some who post on here. FWIW I think Aerofast is still Dale Wylie.

I'd send him the collection of dead ones but I totally lost my rag with them and er - disposed of them. Vicki was a bit shocked, I'm normally fairly calm but I was severely pissed off...

[Crasherfromwayback]

Some bastard must be sneaking into my place and breaking them then... :shifty:

You calling me a bastard? How else am I gonna keep selling them to ya.

[OddDuck]

Sorry to hear that Paul - I've been using the Aerofasts for years and they've been great. Only issue might be that they can take a few minutes to work out if you're new to them - had to help a couple of mates with theirs on the last ferry crossing.

Recently used mine to lift the Ducati motor, worked a treat.

[Ocean1]

Hmm - this looks promising... Anyone used these?

http://www.macsequipment.co.nz/shop/Tie+Downs+%26+Hardware/Macs+USA+Tie+Down+Packs+Car+%26+Bike+%26+Utility/510002+Macs+USA+Ratchet+Tie+Down+Motorcycle+Pack+B lue+1.83M+6Ft.html

Don't. Like most web ratchet tie downs the latch jams sooner or later, leaving you with tight tie downs and a knife...


Weird one Paul. I've been using Aerofast tie downs for the last 20 plus years and never had a single failure. On the back of utes, in the rain etc etc...best tie downs avail. All the boys here are the same too.

I've killed a few, but I was abusing them. I gave my last pair away a couple of years ago and ended up buying some of these:


$20 torpedo7 ones are great.... abused mine, no problems still... and only $20! fark linked the wrong ones-- here- - https://www.torpedo7.co.nz/products/T7TD2N1TDA9/title/torpedo7-tie-downs-2-pack

Which work bloody well. Except they don't pack down very well if you're hauling them all over the south island.



Akzualy......bit of decent rope and a wee google on some basic knots will see you right....

cheap, doesn't take up a lot of space,

and very multi functional......

Which is all I used for fucking years (before cam-locks were invented), long spliced onto a stainless hook one end with one loose one. Although I do approve of the karabiners on the new stuff...

[merv]

My favourites were the early Aerofast that had the red soft webbing. The later ones are too hard in the webbing and much harder to pull to the correct tightness and have the steel ends and not the earlier aluminium ones that stayed much straighter on the webbing. That's my only bitch and I have had none fail like you have had in over 35 years.

My one regret is I bought a trailer a few years ago that I didn't realise was too sharp in its galv panel ends and on one trip some of my beautiful old Aerofasts ended up sliced through the webbing where they went across the side panels. Luckily not enough to lose a bike overboard at the time but enough to ruin the tiedowns :angry:.

[Kickaha]

I catch the ferry (on average) once a year or so and always one of the damn tie downs has died (spring pops out the side and cam flops open)... They are always cleaned and dried and hung up carefully but they average about 1 trip. Its always 1 of a pair go tits up - admittedly - never while locked on.
Fuck you're hard on gear

I've got some a decade or so old and still work mint


I use non bike specific ratchet ones, don't trust those cam lock things.
I got a few of those as well and they work good, haven't ever had a cam lock let go but I always tie the strap ends under the lock so they can't come loose anyway


Likewise..I've got usable tiedowns older than some who post on here. FWIW I think Aerofast is still Dale Wylie.
The racer?

[roogazza]

Likewise..I've got usable tiedowns older than some who post on here. FWIW I think Aerofast is still Dale Wylie.

was gunna mention those old ones, Dale made. I found them great thru the seventies.Still prefer them now. (Those ratchet things shit me !)
Dusty of LEDA fame,(and Pete Stark) had a go at them for a while in the same style, but lost interest for some reason.Probably too busy with the leathers around then?

[jellywrestler]

Weird one Paul. I've been using Aerofast tie downs for the last 20 plus years and never had a single failure. On the back of utes, in the rain etc etc...best tie downs avail. All the boys here are the same too.

probably gone offshore for their suppliers and quality plummeted. Superior springs in taita who used to sponsor the plastic fantastic also made clips for electricla cables, they changed and made them so thin they would rip apart, i took the time to go and see then=m and tell them i'd measured their old aluminium compared with new was 40% down, they said they didn't make them anymnore, the company who they made them for sacked them and even wanted their old unused boxes, they refused. the new supplier still called them superior but were offshore so the feedback would never have got back, the only way they'd find out was the lack of sales which would've taken time, meanwhile another product gone offshore.....

[caspernz]

As much as I like cam tie downs and such, in reality a length of 1/4 inch utility rope, bowline at the hook end with a basic trucker knot will do the trick every time.

[jellywrestler]

As much as I like cam tie downs and such, in reality a length of 1/4 inch utility rope, bowline at the hook end with a basic trucker knot will do the trick every time.

yip, but tying down a bike with suspension and trying to tie knots is not as straight forward as pulling on a tie down, as is undoing same....

[BMWST?]

yip, but tying down a bike with suspension and trying to tie knots is not as straight forward as pulling on a tie down, as is undoing same....
indeed,hook em up pulled just taut enough so they are even and just starting to compress the suspension,then another couple of goes for luck will never move,if its really rough i do one on the back as well,in gear.I have had the same red aerofasts for years,but the steel hooked hard webbing type

[caspernz]

Trucker knot is all we used to lash down live ammo when I was a Boy Scout.. Bike suspension is no sweat. But yeah, cam or ratchet tie downs are good for those who struggle with knots haha :oi-grr:

[Grumph]

was gunna mention those old ones, Dale made. I found them great thru the seventies.Still prefer them now. (Those ratchet things shit me !)
Dusty of LEDA fame,(and Pete Stark) had a go at them for a while in the same style, but lost interest for some reason.Probably too busy with the leathers around then?

A quick google suggests Dale is still Aerofast. I'd heard he bought back in somewhere around the late 90's. Probably outsourced now though...

From observation there is a difference in quality between stock from the bulk stores - Bunnings, Mitre 10, and ones ordered from source.
A racer customer has several sets with his name on - won as a prize - and they're at least as good as the old originals. Probably dearer though...

Don't talk to me about rope...when i started I had the use of the spare mainsheet from the family sailing dinghy. Try tying a Manx onto an old standard 6 X 4 trailer with one piece of rope around 45 feet long....

[Crasherfromwayback]

probably gone offshore for their suppliers and quality plummeted. Superior springs in taita who used to sponsor the plastic fantastic also made clips for electricla cables, they changed and made them so thin they would rip apart, i took the time to go and see then=m and tell them i'd measured their old aluminium compared with new was 40% down, they said they didn't make them anymnore, the company who they made them for sacked them and even wanted their old unused boxes, they refused. the new supplier still called them superior but were offshore so the feedback would never have got back, the only way they'd find out was the lack of sales which would've taken time, meanwhile another product gone offshore.....

Yep. It's why I don't buy Icebreaker any more. Greedy cunt that Jeremy Moon. Fuck him.

[Akzle]

yip, but tying down a bike with suspension and trying to tie knots is not as straight forward as pulling on a tie down, as is undoing same....

your doing it wrong

[HenryDorsetCase]

Weird one Paul. I've been using Aerofast tie downs for the last 20 plus years and never had a single failure. On the back of utes, in the rain etc etc...best tie downs avail. All the boys here are the same too.

that is my experience also. All hail the king of tiedowns AEROFAST

[merv]

What I'm talking about is the one on the left in this photo is the old one and so much better to use due to its cam block and the webbing type. Sure the later one on the right added the extra loop to allow you to wrap it around handle bars or whatever, but the webbing was so much stiffer and the cam block is too wide and too coarse in its action to make pulling tight as easy as the old one. Usual problem of progress going backwards.

My old ones date back to around 1980 and are still my preference though neither have failed for me except where my trailer was the problem slicing the webbing.


321348

[scumdog]

I use non bike specific ratchet ones, don't trust those cam lock things.

What this man says.

Never trust a cam-loc.

[Crasherfromwayback]

What this man says.

Never trust a cam-loc.

Just loop 'em off Tom, far better, faster and easier that rat shit ones.

[Corse1]

Interesting....I am still using the cheap ratchet type I bought in Picton 10 years ago to get the new bike North after a SI purchase. I used some cheapo cam lock thingo's that came with some ramps last week to take to bikes to a track day and they worked fine.
BUT....my mate borrowed a set of the across the handlebar type sets that had those climbing type spring clips at the end with cam type tightening adjustors and I was suitably impressed. Going to find out where he purchased them from. Good quality and easy to use. After 10 years I need an upgrade.

[Crasherfromwayback]

What this man says.

Never trust a cam-loc.

Can't slip if you do this mate...

321349

[Paul in NZ]

Well you know like anyone that runs old bikes I don't think im hard on gear - maybe just unlucky then...

[scumdog]

Can't slip if you do this mate...



True Pete - but how easy is the undoing??

[F5 Dave]

Its a slip knot. You just pull it, but it self tightens to the sideways force. Easy.

Ratshit type are good for lifting a bike in the garage but camlock are soo much better. Used properly and decent quality of course. Always used to buy my aerofast at the warehouse. They tend to get borrowed before they wear out.

[Crasherfromwayback]

True Pete - but how easy is the undoing??


Its a slip knot. You just pull it, but it self tightens to the sideways force. Easy.

.

Wot e says!

[JATZ]

I've been using a setof Aerofast jobbies I got from the warehouse for a number of years now. They've tied bikes on utes, trailers, and ferrys, tarps to trees when camping and the boat to the trailer :niceone:

[nodrog]

What I'm talking about is the one on the left in this photo is the old one and so much better to use due to its cam block and the webbing type. Sure the later one on the right added the extra loop to allow you to wrap it around handle bars or whatever, but the webbing was so much stiffer and the cam block is too wide and too coarse in its action to make pulling tight as easy as the old one. Usual problem of progress going backwards.

My old ones date back to around 1980 and are still my preference though neither have failed for me except where my trailer was the problem slicing the webbing.


321348

I've got a set of those new ones and they get used for solos, sidecars, hanging bikes and engines from the ceiling, towing.

must be over 10 years old. Never had any problems.

[Kickaha]

Weird one Paul. I've been using Aerofast tie downs for the last 20 plus years and never had a single failure. On the back of utes, in the rain etc etc...best tie downs avail. All the boys here are the same too.


Likewise..I've got usable tiedowns older than some who post on here. FWIW I think Aerofast is still Dale Wylie.


Sorry to hear that Paul - I've been using the Aerofasts for years and they've been great.

have none fail like you have had in over 35 years..


I've got some a decade or so old and they dtill work mint


that is my experience also. All hail the king of tiedowns AEROFAST


I've been using a setof Aerofast jobbies I got from the warehouse for a number of years now. They've tied bikes on utes, trailers, and ferrys, tarps to trees when camping and the boat to the trailer :niceone:
So we all seem to agree it's a problem with Paul and not the tiedowns :shifty: maybe he needs some training

[bbnet]

always a good idea to tie safety knot with the slack end behind the clasp so if it gives it can't go far, e.g:
http://www.sportbikes.net/forums/attachments/fz6-fz6r/78207d1143565037-best-tie-down-points-fz6-while-trailering-tie_down-1.jpg

[F5 Dave]

Golly, that's not a slipknot. A good grippy tiedown you just loop it around, back through itself and yank it tight. Then just yank the loose end of the bow to release. Slippery tiedowns are no use.

[Paul in NZ]

So we all seem to agree it's a problem with Paul and not the tiedowns :shifty: maybe he needs some training

Retraining - the original training was obviously faulty...

[Big Dog]

Nah - its got to have a hook to get into the deck hole


i bet you it doesnt. but if it does, then a coupley SS S hooks from a chandler of repute.
From the sound of things you already have a collection of donors to provide a hook.

Sent from Tapatalk. DYAC

[Big Dog]

Retraining - the original training was obviously faulty...
I have only ever used cheapies. I haven't towed many bikes but I have used them a lot for towing other things.

I have only ever broken cams or ratchets when I thought it was tight enough but went a little tighter to satisfy someone else.

Sent from Tapatalk. DYAC

[MarkH]

uhhhhh. paracord, nigga.

I got lots of paracord (a few hundred feet) but it isn't the best stuff to use - try 3/4" mule tape! Gotta be safer with 2,500lbs breaking strain than with 550lbs.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.X3%2F4+mul e+tape.TRS0&_nkw=3%2F4+mule+tape&_sacat=0
Basically it is polyester webbing 3/4 inches wide with 2,500 pound breaking strain, easily up to the job of tying down a bike.

[Akzle]

I got lots of paracord (a few hundred feet) but it isn't the best stuff to use - try 3/4" mule tape! Gotta be safer with 2,500lbs breaking strain than with 550lbs.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.X3%2F4+mul e+tape.TRS0&_nkw=3%2F4+mule+tape&_sacat=0
Basically it is polyester webbing 3/4 inches wide with 2,500 pound breaking strain, easily up to the job of tying down a bike.

a) not the 3mm shit. More like 5-9mm single line.
Paracord was probably a poor choice of phrasing.

B) tying down and pulleying, you can end up with 4+ lengths, 4*550=...

[MarkH]

a) not the 3mm shit. More like 5-9mm single line.
Paracord was probably a poor choice of phrasing.

B) tying down and pulleying, you can end up with 4+ lengths, 4*550=...

Yeah, but I have this 250' length of 3/4" mule tape here - I could just use that. :yes:

[russd7]

i have an old set of blue camlock tie downs that are over 30yr old (don't think they are aerofast tho) but they still work, then i have another two sets of blue aerofast ones bout twelve yr old, and also have a more modern set of areofast ones with the karabiner, never had any problem with any.
have used ropes from time to time as well.

it all works

[babysteps]

Excuse the Spam, I work for Bridon Cookes, we sell quality Motorcycle tie downs for $30.00 a pair. PM me if you want some more info

[MarkH]

Yeah, but I have this 250' length of 3/4" mule tape here - I could just use that. :yes:

So, I'll be heading down to the South Island in a few weeks, got 3 weeks off work soon and going to spend 2 weeks riding in SI with the Magpie Madness rally one weekend and the Burt Monroe on the following weekend.

Last time I took the bike on a ferry I used some straps I got from Repco (2 x Camlock, 2 x Ratchet in a set, I think I ended up using the ratchet ones).
This time I'm thinking that it would save space to forget the camlock or ratchet hardware and just take some lengths of my mule tape (aka bull line) since it is only 3/4" polyester strapping which is pretty light despite having a 2,500 lbs breaking strain.

I'm thinking about this idea:

As much as I like cam tie downs and such, in reality a length of 1/4 inch utility rope, bowline at the hook end with a basic trucker knot will do the trick every time.

I'm thinking of Pretty much doing it exactly that way - cut the desired lengths (and burn ends to stop fraying) and setup a bowline at one end, on the ferry use bowline to put the mule tape through anchor point on boat, run the other end up and around suitable point on the bike and then use a trucker's hitch. Or bowline bike end, down and around the anchor point on the boat and then trucker's hitch - either way should work fine.

It seems to me that doing it this way means no hardware to fail and less crap to carry riding around the SI for 2 weeks.
I should probably practise my knot tying before the trip so I know I can quickly and easily get the bike strapped down.

[Coldrider]

Markh if you travel back Tues nite or wed morning sailings after the burt that is peak time for bikes returning to the wellywood. In the past the ferry dudes have run out two lines of chain in open deck area to accommodate bikes. Everytime someone hitches on to the chains they tighten and slacken appropriately, and you may have to reapply ties several times till everyone is settled.

[Jeff Sichoe]

One thing to consider with carrying a set of tie-downs around with you on a longer trip is they can be used for more than the ferry...

Strop up your hard/soft case after a tumble

ratchet your bike out of a ditch (or stop it sliding further)

if you get a flat or some shit you can tiedown to the first trailer / ute that goes past rather than having another thing to try and organize.

[MarkH]

One thing to consider with carrying a set of tie-downs around with you on a longer trip is they can be used for more than the ferry...

I was considering this idea:
Use my straps to hold a bag to the back seat.
Get on to the ferry and remove the bag.
Use the straps to hold the bike down.
Take bag with me for the duration of the ferry ride.
Return to the bike and undo the straps holding it down.
Use those straps to hold the bag on the back seat.
Ride off the ferry.

Whether I do this or not, it is still not a bad idea and could be done on a future trip if I have less room.