I have Finally Solved the Tie down problem!

[Mel46]

Many of the people on the forum have shown an interest in finding a way to tie down items behind the rider. The problem has always been that there are no places to connect your tie down straps. Even when we have a tail box there are times when we want to tie something down between the tail box and the rider. So, over the holidays I decided to experiment, and I believe that I have found a useful and somewhat easy fix. First of all I needed to find a website that handles cargo straps. The site I found was Strapworks.com (http://www.strapworks.com/Softies_p/softie1n.htm) . They had all sorts of straps, but for my experiment I only needed the 1 inch Soft strap. I think they called them Softie (soft-tie). I also needed some pieces of round hollow tubing. I happened to have some laying around. They are about 2 3/4 inches long but you could probably get by with 2 inch long ones. I wrapped these pieces of tubing with silicone tape. You can buy this stuff at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, and even Ace Hardware. It is called 'Stretch and Seal' in some stores. It is in plumbing and works great for fixing leaks in pipes and hoses. I also needed some long tie wraps so that they could be passed through the tube and would hold the straps around the tube. Essentially, you place the closed loop strap around the tubing, and then to make sure it won't slide off, you tie it in place with the tie wrap. How you do that is up to you. I just passed the tie wrap thru the tubing so that the strap can move on the tube but won't come off.
Now for the installation. Take the Grab Rail cover off. Then take the bolts out of the grab rail itself. This gives you room to now pass the softie strap between the grab rail and the frame. This will leave about 6 inches protruding out to the side of the scooter. pull the strap until the tubing is tight against the frame. Now bolt the grab rail down on top of the straps, and put the grab rail cover back on. Be sure to pull both straps tight before bolting the grab rail down. Now use a piece of industrial strength Velcro on the strap and under the grab rail to hide the strap until you are ready to use it. That's it! you now have something to attach other straps to, or bungee cords, or anything else you want to. We will be attaching additional straps we purchased to those when we need to tie things down. Oh, and by the way, this is a great way to tie down the back of your bike for transport in a pickup truck or on a trailer . I hope this turns out to be useful to someone else here on the forum.

4. Feed Straps Thru opening.jpg (76.85 KiB) Viewed 4703 times

5. Placing Straps.jpg (84.34 KiB) Viewed 4703 times

6. Secure Strap in place.jpg (89.74 KiB) Viewed 4703 times

[markz]

So the tube holds onto the strap, and it acts as a keeper, to prevent it from slipping out. It took me a few minutes to absorb that one. Not sure what the tie wrap is doing...

So do you place one or two on each side? Do you plan to use a ratcheting tie down, or bungees?

I used a bungee net with 3 hooks a side, and I get the hook up under the grab rail with good results.

Thanks for sharing...

[Mel46]

The tie wrap keeps the 'keeper' from eventually working loose and falling out of the loop. I could only put one on each side. I thought about putting two on one side but the straps are thick so if I wanted to put a second one on I would have to use the bolt that is in the back ( there are only 2 bolts on each side that hold the grab rail on). That bolt is too far back, I think. Anyone who wants to try to put a second one on is welcome to try. Just let us know if it works. With the way these straps are connected you can use ratcheting tie downs or bungees. They are not going to come loose, nor are they going to break any Tupperware. On top of that, they can be hidden under the grab rail until needed.

[Mel46]

Looking at my pictures I realized that if I used a longer piece of tubing as a keeper I could put 2 straps per side, side by side. We don't need that many straps because we have a tail box, but those without a tail box could definitely use 2 per side.

[Driller]

Great idea! I too have pondered how to attach things to the back.
Now I have a project to keep me busy while it is too cold to ride.

I have used ROK-STRAPS http://www.jpcycles.com/product/445-257 to tie down gear on several motorcycles. These straps work the best of any others tried. They come in different sizes and lengths. Be sure to check out the video on that page.
Actually, the attachment loops for these straps might be attached to the keeper under the grab rail. I will experiment and report back.
Just another reason to like this forum.
Thanks again!

[Mel46]

Yes, they do fit around the keepers.We have ROK Straps also, but since we won't be using the straps a lot we decided on the smaller loop straps to which we could attach the ROK Straps if we needed to. The ROK Straps are ideal if you plan on using tie downs a lot. Just run the keepers through the loop at the end of each strap. Make sure you use the tie wraps in order to keep the keeper from inadvertantly falling out. There is definitely room for 2 straps on each side. The keepers I used are wrapped in rubber tape so that they will have more of a tendency to stay in place after they are pulled tight before you bolt everything back together. I believe in double security when it comes to tie downs. The entire job took me about an hour because I have a tail box with lights and the tail box rack has lights also. I had to undo the connections before taking everything apart. Without a tail box it should be a 15 minute job. I hope all goes well with the project. Let us know if you run into any problems.

[WhiteNoise]

I just bookmarked this thread. Clever! Thanks Mel for your ideas!!

[Mel46]

Just to let everyone know, I am now working on the wind problem where it is funneled in where the turn signal posts are. I have created something that can be taken off during the summer and put back on during the winter. After some tests I will post it for review. It looks nice. I call them 'Bat Wings'. Laugh at them if you want, but they should work well. Can you tell that I am a bored, retired engineer?

[maddiedog]

Clever idea. I'll want to look at this next time we ride together in the spring, I strap things to my seat all the time, and either look straps under the seat or secure to the rack. The latter has nearly resulted in disaster once, so a solution is clearly needed there.

[Daniel]

Nice on, thx for sharing. I applied same(ish) solution, except I secured the strap to the front of grab-rail, took it outside from the and looped the strap arount the ducktail behind front bolts for top-box.

[Tribpreper]

Like WhiteNoise, I bookmarked this thread. Great idea Mel! Hopefully, the 2015 will not vary too much.
Or better yet: perhaps the U.S. 2015 will come with bungee hooks!

[ONTWOWHEELS]

Very good idea !
Thank you very much for sharing !