Interislander

[zaq]

Dunno what the new ship is like though.

[pritch]

Take yer own tie downs (at least three) packed where you can get at them easy. There are good ones which protect your chrome and which have caribeeners instead of hooks at the bottom, and there are crappy cheap ones. Your bike, your choice...

Either duct tape the front brake on or use a cable tie of suitable size. A knife/multi tool will come in handy at the other end.

Put it in gear, and use the chocks supplied.

Bon voyage

[Beemer]

The biggest reason to take your own tie-downs is because the ropes on the ferry are often wet, greasy and covered in cow shit! Don't forget the bikes are on the same deck as the big stock trucks and all the waste from them swills to the lowest point, which seems to be the same place they store the tie-downs!

[Lord Pac]

Good post. thanks for the pic zaq.

[buellbabe]

Doin a lap of the south Islandearly in March an was wanting to know if there any tricks as far as taking the bikes on the ferry, Do the deck hands know what there doin ect as far as securing the bike go ?? any tips??? dont want the missile gettin hurt

SHIT NO! They do supply ropes and I have used them in the past but last time I had my own flash-jobbie rachet tiedowns. They were the bomb! And don't listen to people who tell ya not to worry about tying the bike. 1 trip this guy on a HD returned to the vehicle deck to see his brand new baby laying down and spinin' round... OUCH! We had tried to tell him...

[Blackbird]

As everyone else says, do it yourself - you wouldn't want any mishaps so close to other vehicles. On the attached pic, I used ratched tie-downs on the front (ones with saw-toothed locks can slip) and to protect the fairing, I used some plastic timber packet edge protectors backed with some thin foam. Strips cut from the edge of a plastic ice cream carton would be fine too. I steadied the rear of the bike with 2 bits of thin rope with a loop in them to get a decent amount of purchase. I was on the top deck on this occasion and the steel was quite wet and scary - take care.

[Hammer]

As everyone else says, do it yourself - you wouldn't want any mishaps so close to other vehicles. On the attached pic, I used ratched tie-downs on the front (ones with saw-toothed locks can slip) and to protect the fairing, I used some plastic timber packet edge protectors backed with some thin foam. Strips cut from the edge of a plastic ice cream carton would be fine too. I steadied the rear of the bike with 2 bits of thin rope with a loop in them to get a decent amount of purchase. I was on the top deck on this occasion and the steel was quite wet and scary - take care.

You must show me where you secured those tie downs on the front Mr Blackbird. Am I imagining it as there looks to be some pressure on the fairing by the straps at the front end.

[oldrider]

Dunno what the new ship is like though.

I have always been well prepared for the ferries but that new Kaitaki has a built in trap.
She does not have the same style "links" to tie down onto the deck!
Instead there is a cloverleaf hole in the deck and you can not get the carabien (sp) style hooks on your tie downs into the lip to get a grip!
If you don't have suitable hooks, use theirs and just hook your tie downs into those hooks.
Well that's what I did anyway! I don't like that ferry it doesn't feel right to me.
No real reason, just don't like it.
Ive been to sea on seven different ships so am probably just a superstitious old git but I will avoid her if I can. Cheers John.

[rfc85]

went over last weekend and on the way down there was only a chain running the along the deck to tie the front of the bike down too,which was dumb because if the bike next to you tightened his rope/tie down it made yours come loose,i tied down to the deck but all the others used the chain,lucky it was a very calm crossing

[adifferentname]

I have always been well prepared for the ferries but that new Kaitaki has a built in trap.
She does not have the same style "links" to tie down onto the deck!
Instead there is a cloverleaf hole in the deck and you can not get the carabien (sp) style hooks on your tie downs into the lip to get a grip!
If you don't have suitable hooks, use theirs and just hook your tie downs into those hooks.
Well that's what I did anyway! I don't like that ferry it doesn't feel right to me.
No real reason, just don't like it.
Ive been to sea on seven different ships so am probably just a superstitious old git but I will avoid her if I can. Cheers John.

The bonus with the Kaitaki (I've worked on all the current Interislander ferries) is that she handles the rough weather far better than the other 2 ships and things are far less likely to move around. Also we always put the stock trucks on a different deck to where the bikes are.

I'll find more of those hooks that you can tie the caribeana style tie downs to and put them in the motorcycle area (unless they've been knicked).

My TL1000 currently lives on board (Kaitaki) when I am on board and is quite happy with three tie downs and a rubber chock at each end. I have some clean rags wrapped around the points on the bike where the tie down webbing goes, that is because my bike is on there for a lot of time and I don't want the webbing rubbing on it. I haven't had any need to pull the bike down hard on the forks. I also have the bike down on the sidestand.

[Marmoot]

Cheers for the info guys. Planning to go South at the end of year or beginning 07, so I have few months to learn tying down.

[oldrider]

I'll find more of those hooks that you can tie the caribeana style tie downs to and put them in the motorcycle area (unless they've been knicked).

My TL1000 currently lives on board (Kaitaki) when I am on board and is quite happy with three tie downs and a rubber chock at each end. I have some clean rags wrapped around the points on the bike where the tie down webbing goes, that is because my bike is on there for a lot of time and I don't want the webbing rubbing on it. I haven't had any need to pull the bike down hard on the forks. I also have the bike down on the sidestand.

I saw that bike there and went looking for the "other biker" on board for a chat during the crossing! No wonder I didn't find one.lol
When I went to get my bike at the other end, I had a good look at the way your's was tied down and came to the conclusion it was there for the longer haul, it was firmly anchored.

Thanks for looking out for other bikers too by the way. Appreciated. Cheers John.

[vs04]

We to are planning a trip down south early 07.Must admit to having concerns about tieing the bikes down on the ferry,very informative thread this one,cheers everyone.

[texmo]

Doin a lap of the south Islandearly in March an was wanting to know if there any tricks as far as taking the bikes on the ferry, Do the deck hands know what there doin ect as far as securing the bike go ?? any tips??? dont want the missile gettin hurt

I just went acroos and learnt some thing the midnight ferry can be 2/3rds the price and if you book 2weeks out you can save even more money and more again if you book a return jobbie.

[Ralph]

This is how I tied mine down using the side stand for two reasons 1. I dont have a centre stand 2.It provides three points of contact instead of two. Much more stable as long as the suspension isn't compressed to much on the side of the stand. I compressed the suspension enough to be firm but not hard down.
Used my own tie downs too, wouldn't trust the ropes on the ferry. The front is looped around the forks.
Sweating the whole trip that I'd done it right as the bike was only a couple of months old and I hadn't taken a bike on the ferry yet, got there in one piece though.