The bike is about 480lbs. My intent would be to place a 3/4" 4' x 8' plywood sheet on the floor of the bed that covers the lowered tailgate, also to further distribute the weight. Realistically, there wouldn't be more than 240lbs on the gate once loaded. Heck...that's one guy standing on it. Will use a wheel chock also. I like the idea of a folding, wide ramp.

 

yea my cbr weights close to that and ive never had a problem with towing the bike with the tailgate down and the rear tire on it

 

You are brave. I wouldn't want the gate down. But you gotta do what you gotta do I guess. If you put the bike in backwards then most of the weight would be in the bed.

 

For god's sake, why tow it, ride it!

 

I'm surprised it took someone this long to say this one.

But honestly, when I had a Gixxer 1000 that weighed in about 400 pounds wet, I used to use my Dads Chevy 2500 HD to tote it around. Same problem there. I had further problems of bottoming out on the center since I only had about 4 inches of clearance. I picked up a folding ramp for about $140, took the cables off the tailgate to reduce the angle. Then found someway to lower the back end height. One way to do it is find a ditch or something similar, OR get those wheel ramps / jacks where you drive the truck up onto them. That significantly reduces the height and angle. Then I just drove it up from there and made sure I stopped right before. Though walking and clutching is a much safer idea.

Good luck.

 

I've been transporting my bike and quads back and forth over 2 hours to my place upstate with the tailgate down for over 20 years. The weight is almost evenly distributed in the bed. I was even using my little Toyota SR5 back in the 90's and it was fine. However, I never put something over 500 lbs in the bed.

Driving it up the ramp was a little scary at first but you get used to it. Just don't give it too much throttle or you will wack the front of the bed. I bent the crap out of it but was able to pull it back out. My driveway has a slight pitch to it and cuts the angle of the ramps down.

Talk about crazy. My Step Father uses 2x8's to load his utility quad into a Ridgeline. They bend quite a bit but still hold the weight.

 

Can you spell "A-c-c-i-d-e-n-t-a-l D-e-c-a-p-i-t-a-t-i-o-n"?

 

cool iwas asking myshelf this question.. i also own a cbr600 and my truck has 6.5 bed!! but there is no way to reinforce the tailgate so you can keep the bike straight ?

 

I have had the rear wheels of my 600 pound John Deere rider and the rear wheel of my 2300cc Triumph Rocket III motorcycle that weighs 800 lbs on the tailgate with no concern or problems. Make sure the back end is strapped down enough that the suspension is loaded to keep it from bouncing. If you are that worried lay a 2x6 or 2x8 in the bed and load the bike over it. I've also sat on the tailgate with my father and that's over 400lbs, probably more than what your CBR weighs wet.

 

You absolutely don't need to worry about the weight distribuiton in the bed. Buy a set of GOOD straps. Not the kind you get at walmart. Go to a bike shop and get a good set, they will run you about $30 for 2 straps. Pull the bike into the truck facing forward and leave the gate down and forget about it. when you strap the fron end down you will be taking a tremendous amount of weight off the back wheel so you don't have to worry about that.