How Macarthur Tows a Motorcycle From Inwood, From a Dead Battery to a Drop

Riders in Inwood who have had a bike towed badly know the signs: a fork that is not quite straight, a scuff on the tank from a ratchet hook, a fairing cracked where a strap was cinched over it. All of that comes from towing a motorcycle like it is a car, and none of it happens when the bike rides upright on a flat deck with the suspension loaded by soft straps so it cannot rock. That is the only way Macarthur's drivers do it.

The setup is simple when it is done right. The front wheel goes into a wheel chock on the deck, which holds the bike upright before any strap is on. Soft loops go over the lower triple tree or the frame at the front, never over the bars, the controls, or the instruments, and over the rear subframe or the passenger pegs at the back, never over the seat or the exhaust. The straps are ratcheted down evenly until the suspension is compressed about a third of its travel. The bike is checked from both sides and the straps are rechecked after the deck is raised.

The driver who comes to Inwood has done this on bikes from a 250 to a full-dress touring bike, and he asks about the bike before he leaves the yard so the right straps and chock are on the truck. The motorcycle towing page covers the method in more depth; this page covers what the job looks like when the bike is sitting in Inwood.

Buying a bike you cannot ride home, because it has no plates, no insurance yet, no inspection, or because you do not have a license for it yet, is the most common planned move. The driver picks it up at the seller's address, photographs it before loading, and delivers it to your garage in Inwood. If you send us the title, he confirms the VIN against it before the bike moves. A bike bought from a dealer in another county is the same job with a dealer's hours and paperwork; tell us both and we schedule around them.

Storage moves run both ways: into a storage unit in the fall and back to your Inwood driveway in spring, often with the dead-battery jump on the way out. Project bikes with no running engine ride the same as any other bike, chocked and strapped, and a basket case in boxes rides as freight on the deck. Track days and long rides that start somewhere other than Inwood are a flatbed job with the bike delivered to the start and collected at the end if you want.

Moves beyond the county, into the city, upstate, or out of state, are quoted by mileage and the bike and scheduled rather than immediate; the long distance towing in Inwood page covers how. Local moves within Nassau County, to Island Park, Island Trees, or Jericho, are quoted the same way as a breakdown tow.

Sport bikes have plastic everywhere a strap wants to go and clip-on bars that bend if they are loaded. The soft loops go over the lower triple tree, under the fairing, and over the rear subframe or a rear-set bracket. A sport bike with a steering damper or a tank bag gets those checked before a strap goes near them. Cruisers are heavy and low, with pipes that will scorch a strap and a rear fender that is not a strap point. The front goes over the lower triple tree or a frame downtube; the rear goes to the frame near the swingarm pivot or the passenger pegs.

Touring bikes are tall, wide, and heavy, with bags and a top case that are not structural and that come off if they are in the way. They need the heavy-duty chock and the long straps, and the driver may ask you to remove the bags before loading. Scooters have bodywork covering most of the frame; the driver finds the frame under the floorboard and at the rear and avoids the plastics entirely. Trikes and sidecar rigs are wide and do not use a chock; they are strapped at four points like a car, over the frame, with the width accounted for on the deck.

Dirt bikes, dual sports, and minibikes are the easiest: light, exposed frames, and obvious strap points. The driver can also bring a second bike on the same deck if you have two down. Whatever you ride in Inwood, say so on the phone, and if it has anything unusual, a custom tank, aftermarket bars, a lowered rear, say that too. The special vehicles section on the towing page covers other vehicles that need their own handling.

Motorcycle tows are flatbed jobs and are quoted like any other flatbed tow, with the bike's size standing in for the vehicle's weight. Distance is the biggest factor: from the bike's spot in Inwood to wherever it is going. A bike that stands and rolls into the chock is the simplest load; a bike with a bent fork, a locked wheel, or a seized chain that needs a dolly or has to ride on a padded surface is a little more work, and the driver tells you so before he starts. A second bike on the same deck is quoted as part of the same job.

Night and holiday calls are priced as such; towing runs 24 hours. Recovery, if the bike went into a ditch or over an embankment and has to be winched or carried up, is priced as recovery. Storage applies by the day if the bike waits at our yard before going to a destination. What we will not do is quote low to get the truck to Inwood and add on the hook. If the job is what you described, the quote is the price; if the driver finds a different job, he tells you the new number before he touches the bike.

The how a tow is priced section on the towing page explains each factor. Same fleet, same pricing for riders in Inwood, Island Park, and across Nassau County.