Bikes on ferries

Just decided to pop over to Ireland for the Bank Holiday weekend on the
Bandit. We had vaguely planned to go in the car, but after a two-up blast
round the county on Saturday morning, the other half is insisting we go on
the Bandit. Result. All now booked online before she changes her mind.

I've never taken a bike on a ferry before. Anyone got any Top Tips,
especially with regard to keeping the thing secure during the sailing?
Stena Line, if that matters.

TIA

 

Yup, we're going on the Cat. Thanks for the info.

 

Most decent ferries have a bike area/section complete with ratchet tie downs
and more importantly, lugs or cables on the floor to attach the ratchet
straps too. Use a minimum of 2 tie downs and compress the suspension on the
side opposite the side stand first. Crank it down until the bike is almost
vertical, then crank the other side down 'til the side stand is stopping the
bike from leaning any further and you're done.

I've done a few VERY rough 24 hour trips over the North Sea and never come
back to a fallen over or damaged bike. Unlike some others I have to say.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Cheers Beav. Using the side stand seems pretty obvious when you think
about it, but I hadn't, so that's useful. A couple more:

Where do you attach the ratchet straps, or do they lie across the bike
and tie down at both ends? In which case, where do you prefer to have
them on the bike? I'm thinking of avoiding damage to paint, levers
etc.

Do you recommend leaving it in gear or lashing the front brake to stop
fore-and-aft movement? Chock the wheels?

Sorry to sound like a clueless plonker, but from experience I know
that once you're on a ferry you've only got a few minutes to sort your
vehicle and baggage out, and I'd rather think about what I am going to
do now, than have to think about it from scratch when I get on there.

TQ muchly

Rich

 

All the ferries I've been on just put one big strap over
the seat and ratchet it down. This has never been any problem
with mine although watch that the strap doesn't rub on your
nice expensive seat unit; you can always put your gloves
under the strap to stop this and some of the ferries even
have pads you can use.

Stick the bike in gear to stop it rolling about and you should
be fine. I wouldn't worry about it too much. As long as it's
on the stand, in gear and under load it should be fine.

 

I do that.

 

"Rich B" wrote in message

Was on the Stranraer - Belfast catamaran on Saturday. As Beav said there was
a dedicated bike section in the centre of the bottom deck. They used a broad
webbing strap from the floor on one side across the seat to the floor on the
other side then ratcheted it down. I'd thrown a towel over the seat to
protect it as it was an R6 with a gay red seat covering. The only ferries
I've been on previously were to the IOM. Here you park beside a foam covered
rail (On LHS) and they tie from the right hand rear set to the rail and back
again with a lenght of rope, not so high tech but seemed to do the job.

I've always been told to let the ferry staff tie the bike down because if
your bike is damaged the ferry company replace evrything with new bits with
no problem. If however if falls over after you tie it down its a different
matter.

 

I go with two on the handlebars first and if there's any spare ratchet
straps, one over the seat for the insurance man..

In which case, where do you prefer to have

Indeed, so the straps go inboard of the grips and levers and UNDERNEATH, not
over the top when you route them to the ground anchor points.

I always leave the bike in gear. I've contemplated using a cable tie on the
brake lever, but I've never actually done it.

Chock the wheels?

If you've got them, use 'em

The real clueless plonkers are those who think they know how to lash a bike
down and the discover (to their dismay when they find their bike lying down
when they get back to it) that they don't.

NP


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

I wish all ferries would use that method. I'd choose lashing the bike to
something solid over any other method, but I had one 24 hour crossingthat
actually took 36 hours, the sea was that rough and I had no damage to the
bike using the bar and seat straps..

The ferrymen are getting ever more reluctant to do the tie downs these days.
I think it's because the carriers have been sued too many times for damage
to fallen bikes, so nowadays the just let the owner get on with it. I
believe some ferries have stopped taking bikes altogether for that reason
too. Mind you, I've only HEARD that, I've not experienced it yet.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

<delurk>

Were these trips on DFDS ferries from Norway to Newcastle by any
chance ?
I'm ferrying me & the bike home from Bergen in June.

 

Just to add a couple more data points: I did St. Malo - Jersey, Jersey -
Portsmouth (can't remember the line) and Dover - Calais (P&O) last summer.
In each case the crew secured the bike, with a single ratchet strap over
the seat, which they protected with a large PVC-covered cushion. All fairly
confidence-inspiring, except that on the Jersey - Portsmouth leg they
insisted I put the bike on the centre stand. I wasn't entirely comfortable
with that, but it seemed to be secure, so I assume they know what they were
doing. They did on each occasion tighten the strap really firmly,
compressing the suspension. I wonder if side stands ever break?

 

Yeah, DFDS. To Sweden and to Holland. The 36 hour one was back from Sweden
some years ago. Should've taken 24. Even some of the seamen were puking.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Nice innit.

--
'Chill Winston.......'

Nige

Subaru WRX (54)
Land Rover Discovery II (2001)
BMW GS1200 (2007)
Honda CBR900RR Fireblade (1997)

 

Try the Southern Ocean (down to 68° S) in a 2,000 tonne boat...

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

Thanks all - got my head round it now.

 

Brittany Ferries seem to have the right idea. Having seen a few bikers
trying to secure their own bikes made me wonder why DFDS leave it to the
owners. Not a lot of them seemed to grasp the idea that a bouncing bike
could well bounce free but were reluctant to crank down on the ratchets to
hold the bike properly secure.

Yeah, but fortunately, they don't carry lots of bikes like DFDS and P&O do.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

I dunno, I just jammed myself across my bunk and ate a cheese sarnie while
they got on with it.

The pub and disco/cabaret were strangely empty that night though.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Never been that far South, although I rounded the cape a couple of
times. Some of the worst conditions I remember occurred in the Bay of
Biscay and the Indian Ocean. The latter brings back memories (which
I'm sure I've mentioned here before) of one period of about three days
heading SSE from Pakistan to round Sri Lanka, with the ship containing
a part-load of iron ingots and nothing else. So it was riding very
high, but with a lot o low-down ballast, as it were.

This meant that the resistance to rolling was small, due to the height
of the 'Metacentre' ('M' - the point around which a floating body will
tend to rotate) relative to the water, but that the forces pulling it
back again were large, due to the distance (GM) between this point and
the low-down centre of Mass ('G' from gravity).

Anyway, the result was a ship that would pitch and roll on a millpond,
but then fight that roll and jerk itself upright in double quick time.
Couple that with a force 8 Gale and huge seas, one from the port and
one from the starboard quarter, and you get someting that rolls over
through an arc of up to 90 degrees, with the maximum recorded roll
being from 48 degrees one side to 43 deg the other, at the same time
as trying to bury its nose into the waves every few seconds.

On one such roll we nearly head some fatalities in the Officers
Wardroom (bar); everything, and I mean everything, needs to be lashed
down in such conditions, but some keen soul had changed the beer keg
(5ol, IIRC) and forgotten to secure the old one. So it chose the most
opportune moment to make its bid for freedom, and only narrowly missed
the three or four of us sitting there at the time as it flew, at head
height, from one side of the bar to the other, before crashing to the
floor and into the opposite bulkhead.

A stunned silence ensued (for storm values of silence) before being
broken by the alcoholic (and therefore, of course, pissed) radio
officer with the words "Good job that wasn't a full one - it might
have sprung a leak and we'd have been trampled in the rush."

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing)
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

'Kin 'Ell that's a good story. I have to be topsides in weather like that or
I spew continuously.

 

I'm quite sure a few sailors and passengers in history will have jumped
overboard in the manner you describe.