BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

Were the straps provided or did you have your own?  Looks like a better set up than I expected. Did you lash from one side of the bike to the other or just one side pulling it onto the Sidestrand.

straps provided, over the seat with my gloves as protection, ratchet on sidestand as picture.    As I said earlier, very apprehensive at first, but everything was  fine.

Just back today from Motorrad Days using Hull-Zeebrugge.  Strapping is easy, but, do note that one side is anchored to metal decking, one side to a metal rope running down the centre of the mezzanine deck.  The front of the rope can get a little bit loose by the time shed load of bikes attached. The outbound trip had lots of bolt down anchors for the rope which was far better than the return trip today. Side Stand in gear. Wouldn't worry, have to be darned bumpy to cause real issue.

hi Dave, going with White Rose tours myself in September. we could be on same trip.

Small world isn't it . Are you all prepared for the off. Just got to sort some new tyres for the trip. Are you travelling to Hull or going on the train from Folkestone?

we live near Manchester so going from Hull. The ride down to the south coast is not my favourite .Still got a few things to sort out,insurance etc. Are you travelling alone ?

Yes on my own.i did the Folkestone route last year had to book a hotel room the night before plus it's lots of boring motorway miles. If we are definitely on the same trip (18/09) we can meet up for the ride to Hull

Unfamiliar with ferry travel, but would suggest using the bottom of the forks triple tree as a tie down point as opposed to handlebars or across the seat.

Wouldn't dream of tying down across the seat. The Seat base is only plastic and any excessive force may damage the seat and even the seat heat wiring.
I had permanent nylon strap loops attached to the frame tubes near the battery which poked out between the front and rear fairing panels. These where then attached to my own lightweight straps (the one's bikes are tied down in delivery crates with obtained free from my dealer).

We have just travelled to Orkney using Pentland Ferries.  This crossing can be rough and as a consequence all bikes are solidly strapped down over the riders seat with a thick canvas cover on the seat and the bike on its side stand.  All 15 bikes came to no harm nd remained very stable during the slightly choppy crossing.
If you are planning  ferry crossing don't loose any sleep over your bike coming to harm, it's a rearity that anything happens that shouldn't.

I've been going over to the continent at least once a year for nearly 30 years and I've never seen a bike fall over during a crossing.
The best advice I've seen for securing a bike is :
1. select first gear
2. push bike forward to take slack out of the transmission
3. put bike on side stand
4. turn bars to the left and lock steering
5. if you've got string, bungee or similar, use it to tie the front brake lever back to the bar)
From here, it depends on what is available. A ratchet strap over the seat will almost certainly keep the bike steady enough, even on a fairly rough crossing.
If you have a bike with lots of exposed frame, the ideal thing is to attach a ratchet strap on the right side close to the centre of gravity and snug it down until the side stand starts to clear the deck. Then attach a second ratchet strap on the left side opposite the other strap and snug it down until there is weight back on the side stand. This can be repeated until the suspension is compressed to your satisfaction and the bike is then unlikely to move in anything short of a gale force 10.
Unfortunately, a BMW RT is a bit short on attachment points for straps so I generally use the strap across the seat technique. Some sort of protection between the strap and the seat would probably be a good idea, but I've never done any lasting damage by not using any.
One thing I would advise against is using the centre stand - you might be surprised how wobbly a big bike can become on the centre stand at sea !

Re: Ferry crossing

This is a picture of my own method of solving the problem of securing an RT on Ferries. I accept that not all will approve but this works fine for me and has done so on my last 3 RT's. The Red nylon loop can be seen securly attached to the main frame tube and exits between the fairing panels at about 45 degrees. A couple of weeks ago I did a return trip Dover / Calais on P and O Spirit of France and the bike never moved an inch. Side stand, In Gear, Steering Locked. By the way, a Club Lounge Pass (£12) gets you on and off first and access to a very comfortable quiet lounge with snacks, drinks and newspapers.

I always lock the steering to the left for even more stability.

I'm guessing that they supply the chair ... Or do you have to take your own to tie to? ;-)

RTman10 wrote: I always lock the steering to the left for even more stability.

Yes dead right, That's what I meant when I said "Steering Locked" above.