Bob Martin from Westchester County, NY says "I frequently tow my RT (and my wife's F650) when touring in Canada and Northern New England. The best formula I have come up with is to:

  • Purchase a “Canyon Dancer” for the handlebars, six ratcheting tie downs, 4 short (10”) soft hooks and a 3’ length of split æ” neoprene pipe insulation. Cut the insulation in half so you have two 18” pieces. (Soft Hooks are 1" wide webbing that is sewn into two loops. You use them on mounting points so the metal hooks from the tie downs don't scratch the bike's fairing or frame. Some folks don't use them on the frame but the tie downs hooks will damage the paint.)
  • Take off the saddlebags and sides covers and store them in the tow vehicle.
  • Ride the bike onto the trailer and stall it in first gear against the wheel chock. Make sure the bike is straight!
  • Put the bike on the side stand.
  • Slide the Canyon Dancer over the handlebars and attach ratcheting tie downs to each loop and to tie down points on the trailer. Take out the excess slack from the tie downs. Always go forward with the tie downs.
  • Put the pipe insulation where the hook from the tie down goes into the loop on the Canyon Dancer. This will save your fairing from damage caused by the hook or wind chafing.
  • Take up on the ratchets so the bike stands up by itself (you may want to have someone help you with this the first few times). Put the kickstand up and compress the suspension about half way.
  • Put a soft hook around the diagonal frame members exposed by taking off the side covers. Be careful not to get the soft hooks around any wires or hydraulic lines. 9. Use a tie down on each side and compress the rear suspension slightly.
  • Install the last two soft hooks on the mounting brackets for the saddle bags
  • Attach tie downs and just snug them up. Dress up the slack in the free end of the tie downs.
  • Go around the bike and take up on the ratchets to make sure that the bike is not leaning. Shake the bike hard by the handlebars to see if it is solid and look for loose tie downs. You should not get excessive slack in any of the tie downs when you shake the bike side to side.

The bars and frame points handle the entire load. The attachment at the saddlebag brackets is there to make sure the rear doesn’t dance and to provide a safety in the event of a tie down working loose. Do not place excessive load on these brackets!

Once underway stop after about 10 miles to see if anything needs to be adjusted. After that, you’re good to go."