Irish Ferries. Be warned.

[SteveR]

... Big straps such as P&O use are difficult to thread anywhere small and the load you can put on with them is worrying.

Same folk supply Irish Ferries :pinch:

[AndyB]

... Big straps such as P&O use are difficult to thread anywhere small and the load you can put on with them is worrying.

Same folk supply Irish Ferries :pinch:

Yet Stenna supply small straps which you attach to wire ropes at floor level on the Harwich - Hook ferry. There's no standard amongst the lot of them and the last time I used the Steam Racket to go to the TT they used rope to tie the bike to railings :pinch:

[OB1]

This happened to me on the way over to the NW200 a few weeks ago.

Whoops! OUCH!!!

I seem to recall the last time I saw your XC it was on the floor on a green lane in Thetford?? Wasn't it black then...?

LOL! (thumbs) That was my previous Tiger and it was an orange one.



I upgraded in January this year to the XCx as the XC was just turning 5 years old and the XCx was £2,000 off list price... couldn't say no really!

[-Ralph-]

This is why when going to the continent I always use the Eurotunnel. Ireland you haven't much choice.

[AlanHolt]

The Irish crossing can be rough...

[92kk k100lt 193214]

If I've got room I'll usually take a couple of small straps of my own and put them from the frame to whatever mounting points are available. Big straps such as P&O use are difficult to thread anywhere small and the load you can put on with them is worrying.

Best purchase I made was a set of Lidl ratchet straps. I have now used them many times and they fit in the small spaces quite well.

I felt it was nerdy at the time before a trip when I said to my travelling companion to work out how we tie the bikes down rather than trying to invent the wheel on the ferry. That's when we got the Lidl ratchet straps. So before we went on board we had worked out some tie down points, including tying off the wheels. Check out if removing the seat leaves you better access to tie down points, sometimes it can help.

However there is a big risk with the way the guys on board do it. If on a rough crossing the ferry slams into a wave and stops everything on board hops and its easy to make a bike hop. If it happens cranked over on side stand the wheels can come out from underneath, strap over the seat goes slack and down she goes because the entire of the stresses are put on the side stand. Side stand, unlike main or centre stand, is not really designed to take the weight of the bike......

[munkey]

Thanks for the warning and tips, I am off the Ireland in July. I have a sheep skin cover and I will be taking my seat off they/me can strap down across the frame under the seat.

[92kk k100lt 193214]

Be careful though and investigate first. Taking seat off if the frame tubes are well inboard can leave side panels and some electrics at risk. Do a trial run on home territory and see how it goes. I personally haven't come out bad BUT I have seen some damage incidents and you do need to be careful.

I always use a bicycle wheel tie down [short ones used to clamp bicycle wheels onto the cycle carrier] to hold the front brake on but a cable tie will do just as well. Bike in 1st gear too, then rolled back slightly to take up the transmission slack, before tieing on the front brake. And don't forget to make sure the stand is not on one of the deck lugs......

When you are coming over let us know, if you are down Cork way I'm happy to say hello.

[Ourdavid]

I remove the seat and strap across the frame on my GS LC, I use a piece of carpet under the strap and I've had no problems on BF on 2 trips through the Bay of Biscay. I always show the erk that the seat base is in fact plastic as are the mounts.

[92kk k100lt 193214]

Most seat bases are now plastic and taking it off may well be advisable.

Keeping centre of gravity low is good so I have usually ended up with panniers on the deck but held on with a cable lock.