How a Motorcycle Rides a Tow Truck in Santa Maria

Published 13 October 2026

Santa Maria Tow Truck treats a motorcycle call differently from a car call from the first question. A car can sometimes roll on one axle behind a wheel lift. A motorcycle cannot be towed that way at all, and the manufacturers say so in their owner's manuals. The job is to carry the bike, not pull it, and to keep it standing upright the whole way.

There are a lot of these bikes on California roads. The California DMV's statistics for 2025 list 763,800 registered motorcycles in the state. Below: what the owner's manuals say about towing, where the straps go and where they do not, why the side stand stays up, what the law says about a load staying on the truck, and what to tell us when you call.

Honda's owner's manual for the Gold Wing (GL1800) says a motorcycle that needs moving should be carried on a motorcycle trailer or a flatbed truck or trailer with a loading ramp or lifting platform. It then says plainly never to tow the motorcycle with a wheel or wheels on the ground, and warns that towing can cause serious damage to the transmission. Honda's manual for its CRF250R dirt bike carries the same instruction and the same warning.

Indian's 2022 Scout and Scout Sixty owner's manual puts it in one line: use a truck or trailer, and do not tow the motorcycle with another vehicle, because towing will impair the motorcycle's steering and handling. Three manuals from two makers, one rule. That is why every motorcycle we move goes on a flatbed that carries a motorcycle upright, with both wheels off the road.

The makers disagree on details, so the manual for your bike wins. Honda's CRF250R manual tells owners to brace the front wheel against the front of the bed or the trailer rail, run two straps from the bed up to the handlebar close to the fork, one on each side, and tighten them until the front suspension is compressed about half-way. It adds that more pressure is unnecessary and could damage the fork seals, and that a third strap should keep the rear from moving.

The heavier touring and cruiser bikes go the other way. Honda's Gold Wing manual says to strap to the engine guards with buckle or ratchet tie-downs and not to put tie-downs or straps on the handlebars or handgrips, which can damage the steering, heated grips or switches. Indian's Scout manual also says not to restrain the bike by the handlebars, and to loop the straps over the lower triple clamp, clear of wiring and brake lines.

• Dirt bike (Honda CRF250R): straps at the handlebar near the fork, suspension about half compressed, one strap at the rear.
• Touring bike (Honda Gold Wing): straps to the engine guards, nothing on the bars or grips.
• Cruiser (Indian Scout): straps over the lower triple clamp, nothing on the bars, anchors as wide apart as the bed allows.

Indian's manual is explicit about position: restrain the motorcycle upright, and do not engage the side stand during truck or trailer transport. A side stand is built to hold a parked bike, not one being bounced over expansion joints and rough farm roads. Leaning on it in transit puts side loads on a part never meant to carry them.

Honda's CRF250R manual says it does not recommend carrying the bike on its side, because that can damage it and leaking fuel could be a hazard. It also warns against rope, which can loosen and let the bike fall over. Indian's manual adds one more point: place the tie-downs as wide apart as the bed allows, for stability. A wide base and an upright bike are what keep the load still.

California Vehicle Code 23114(a) says a vehicle may not be driven or moved on a highway unless it is built, covered or loaded so that nothing in its load can drop, spill, blow or otherwise escape. A motorcycle on the deck of a tow truck is that load, and on the 101 that rule is about every car behind us.

For commercial vehicles, the federal cargo securement rules in 49 CFR 393.106(d) set a floor: the working load limits of the tie-downs securing an article must add up to at least half its weight, with each tie-down counted under the rule's formula. We treat that as the minimum, not the target, and add straps until the bike does not move when pushed.

A few facts let us send the right truck and the right straps the first time. Make and model come first, because they tell us which manual's tie-down points apply. Then whether the bike rolls, whether the front wheel steers, and whether the bars, levers or guards were damaged in a drop, since a bent guard cannot take a strap.

Tell us where it is, too: a driveway, a parking lot, the shoulder of the 101 or the 166, or a dirt road off a field. From there the call works like any other job on our towing for cars, trucks and motorcycles in Santa Maria line. If you also drive an all-wheel-drive or electric car, the same carry-it-do-not-drag-it logic applies, and we explain it in why all-wheel-drive and electric cars travel on a deck.

• Make, model and roughly how heavy it is (a full dresser or a dirt bike).
• Does it roll, and does the front wheel turn?
• Any damage to bars, levers, engine guards or the fork after a drop.
• Where the bike is and where it needs to go.