Sport Tracks Ramp
SPORT TRACKS RAMP
Bike loading made easy
CAN YOU THINK OF ANYTHING MORE infuriating than trying to load a streetbike into the back of a pickup truck without a loading ramp? No, you say? Then you haven't tried to buy a proper loading ramp for a roadbike. The off-road guys have it easier; there are numerous aluminum ramps for sale at motorcycle dealers. Chances are you’ve tried to use one of them for loading your streetbike, not realizing that most aluminum ramps have only a 300-pound maximum load rating. Bending a $50-$60 aluminum ramp into useless scrap is an expensive lesson, especially if you drop the bike in the process.
To the rescue comes a company called Sport Tracks (12775 Foothill Blvd., Sylmar, CA 91342; 818/3616070), which sells a steel loading ramp that's load-rated at 600 pounds. We’ve been using a steel Sport Tracks ramp for several months now, and we've loaded all kinds of streetbikes (touring rigs excepted) and dirtbikes without bending it. That fact alone is enough to recommend this $39.95 loading ramp, but it also has a couple of design innovations that make it even more inviting.
Its sides flare from a 6-inch bottom width to 7 inches at its top, which helps keep a motorcycle tire from climbing out of the channel. Although this width doesn't seem enough to accommodate the wide rear meat of the latest sportbikes, it is. An additional feature is the beveled front edges of the ramp’s sides, so they don’t catch on the bike’s underside.
The Sport Tracks ramp measures 71 inches in overall length, which is about 6 inches shorter than most aluminum ramps. This shorter length lets it fit nicely into the bed of a minitruck, but also means that the bike has to be pushed up a slightly steeper incline when loading. And, like most aluminum ramps that we have tried, the Sport Tracks ramp lacks any traction-improving material on the bottom of its tongue (the part that rests on a pickup’s tailgate), so it easily slips when wet.
Even so, we like this ramp better than any we have used. The Sport Tracks ramp is available at motorcy cle dealers in a variety of flashy col ors. We suggest you try one: it's the best ramp we've come across.
