We introduced you to Acebikes several months ago, and like many of us, the Dutch specialist firm wagered that our motorcycle transportation game could use a little tune-up. Lucky guess. Pioneering purpose-built gear from straps and wheel chocks to ramps and dollies, Acebikes supplies just about everything your motorcycle needs when your bum’s not in the saddle, short of storage insurance and STA-BIL.
Admittedly, Acebikes loaded us down with new kit right in the middle of our off-season, but we’ve had time to put it to the test now that spring has sprung. With our web cred on the line, I seized every opportunity to use what Acebikes sent, and loaned it out to every friend in need. The most notable of these hauls was the transport of a Honda Rune (that’s an 890-pound bike for the uninitiated) from Florida to Northern Wisconsin, just short of 1,600 miles. So I hope you’ll agree that due diligence was done.
Buckle-Up How novel can a tie-down strap really be? In the case of Acebikes’ Buckle-Up cam-buckle strap, it was definitely something I hadn’t tried before. I usually avoid cam straps in favor of conventional ratchets, but the Buckle-Up strap may have restored my faith.
Essentially a long single strap with cam buckles on both sides, the Buckle-Up is the most hassle-free system I’ve ever used to tie down a motorcycle. It has two sewn-on nylon sections that slide over your grips, and it takes a fraction of the time it would take you to fit two conventional straps. And those cam buckles I was sweating are rated to 300 daN (roughly 675 pounds of force) each, meaning I could hang that Honda Rune upside down and I’d still be good.
I have to hand it to Acebikes, you’ll never damage paint with a hook, or pinch a wire under a strap with this system, and the faux sheepskin sleeve provides a velvety barrier for your TFT screens and instruments. The only thing I questioned was whether the webbed nylon sections would damage handlebar controls on older bikes, but I have a Norton Commando and a Honda CL350 on hand that passed with flying colors.
Ratchet Premium Deluxe You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to have a solid product, though, and we found plenty to like with Acebikes’ more basic Ratchet Premium Deluxe as well. These straps work like others on the market, with sewn-in hooks and loops, and they’re easy to wrap around handlebars, triple clamps and rear subframes.
Built with 38 mm [1.49-inch] straps and 900 daN [2,023 lb] ratchets, Acebikes recommends these straps for heavier motorcycles, but we found them confidence-inspiring and easy to use on everything we hauled. The simulated sheepskin sleeves keep the threat of scratches far from your mind, and while it sounds persnickety, I really appreciate that Acebikes includes Velcro loops for you to tie up the slack. Little things like that are what separate a premium product from the rest.
SteadyStand Multi Acebikes didn’t invent the wheel chock, as far as we know, but you could argue they’ve perfected it. The company has eight different SteadyStand configurations covering everything from Softails to Super Cubs, and they use a pair of ramped surfaces to support the front and back of the wheel for improved stability. There’s an ideal chock for just about every customer, but the one we found to be the most handy was the SteadyStand Multi.
The built-in value of the SteadyStand Multi is that this single wheel chock provides sure-footing for just about any motorcycle you’ll need to haul. There are six pairs of pin holes in the front ramp, corresponding to tire diameters from 15 to 21 inches. Switching between them is a tool-free afair, as the adjustment rods are secured by beefy cotter pins. Adjusting for tire width is even simpler, as the back ramp consists of a pair of spring-loaded plates. Fold them in, and slide them to whatever width you need from 90 to 200 mm.
In addition to all that adjustability, I also really came to appreciate the grab-and-go versatility of this wheel chock. Sure, if we had a dedicated trailer for hauling bikes, a bolt-in stand like the SteadyStand Fixed would always be there when you needed it, but we don’t all have that luxury.
The non-slip rubber feet on the SteadyStand allow you to toss the stand where you need it, which is especially useful in a V-nose trailer where strapping the bike securely can be problematic. In practice, I preferred to butt the front feet of the SteadyStand up against the E-track in our trailer, but I can’t say the stand gave me a reason to need that extra margin of safety. It’s heavy and doesn’t fold up or disassemble easily, but you can’t beat the extra set of hands this stand offers when you’re loading up.
TyreFix Pro While everyone’s guilty of having done it, it’s really not advisable to leave the back of a motorcycle unsecured while transporting it. One good jostle, and the back of the bike can pivot, which loads the front straps unevenly and eventually leads to catastrophe. But what do you do if the back of your bike lacks tie-down points, as is the case with the Indian FTR?
Acebikes’ TyreFix offers a solution to that problem, and for certain motorcycles, I couldn’t imagine a better system. It uses a grippy I-shaped section that wraps over the tire, with straps, ratchets and hooks built right in for a smooth installation.
But I say certain motorcycles for a reason, and that’s because the TyreFix needs a lot of clearance around the rear tire to work. Mid or low-mounted exhaust pipes are the biggest issue, as the ratchet wants to occupy that same space, and you’d hate to end up with a scuffed-up pipe from the ratchet rattling against it.
That said, the TyreFix works spectacularly for bikes with short or high-mounted pipes, and we put it to good use on my Honda CRF450RL and a Yamaha FZ-07. Sport bikes and standards like the FZ are really the target audience for the TyreFix, and as long as you have some room to work with, it’s a quick and easy way to keep your rear wheel secured.
Since it’s not as glamorous as any other aspect of riding, transporting a motorcycle is one of those things we’d prefer not to think about until we have to. And I understand the sentiment, but a lack of preparedness can bite you in the backside quickly and lead to costly repairs when you’re hauling a bike.
I can confidently say that the gear represented here from Acebikes has become our go-to kit for transporting motorcycles, meaning even if it’s the last thing to cross my mind, odds are my bike’s arriving shiny side up.
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