Bikes get bought, sold and moved constantly, and a great many of those movements happen in a hired van rather than on the road. A machine that is off the road, newly bought unseen, or being taken to a track day or a specialist for work all needs transporting. Motorbike van hire is straightforward once you understand two things, which are how the bike gets up into the vehicle and how it is held once it is there. Booking van hire in Warrington is the easy half.
Ramp Angle Is the Whole Loading Problem
Getting a bike into a van is a question of geometry. The higher the load floor, the steeper the ramp for a given ramp length, and the steeper the ramp the more likely the bike is to get away from whoever is pushing it. A steep angle also means a long machine can ground out on its belly or exhaust at the transition, which is how fairings and pipes get damaged. Two things reduce the angle. A longer ramp, and a lower load floor. You can bring your own ramp, but you cannot change the vehicle once you have booked it, so the body you choose does most of the work here.
Why a Low Load Floor Makes the Difference
The Luton low loader van is the body worth asking about for bike moves, because the lower deck height meaningfully reduces the ramp angle compared with a standard box body. That single change turns a nervous push into a controlled walk. The large enclosed box also means the machine is out of the weather and out of sight, which matters if the bike is valuable or if it is being left loaded overnight. Every vehicle we run is within three and a half tonnes gross vehicle weight and driveable on a standard category B car licence.
Strapping a Bike So the Suspension Stays Compressed
The principle that people miss is that a bike must be strapped down hard enough to compress the front suspension and keep it compressed. A machine held loosely will bounce on its own springs, and every bounce momentarily slackens the straps until one works free. Take the straps from the handlebars or the yokes down and forward, pull the forks down into their travel, and add rear straps to stop the back end swinging. Use soft loops rather than hooking metal directly onto bars or brake lines. Wheel chocks or a front wheel in a corner of the load space stop lateral movement, and something under the sidestand foot spreads the load if the bike is standing rather than fully strapped upright.
Two People and a Plan Rather Than One Optimist
A large machine is heavy, top heavy and has a clutch and brake that only work when someone is on board or beside it. Loading alone is possible for a small bike and inadvisable for anything else. One person walks the bike up while the other steadies from behind and to the side, never directly behind it where a slip puts the machine on top of them. Have the straps ready and within reach before the bike goes up, not in a bag in the cab, because holding a bike upright in a van while hunting for a ratchet is exactly how bikes fall over.
Fuel, Fluids and the Journey Itself
Keep the tank low rather than brimmed, turn any fuel tap off, and check that nothing is weeping before you close the doors on an enclosed body. Drive as though you are carrying something that can move, because you are. Brake early, take roundabouts gently and stop after the first few miles to check the straps, since they will have settled. Customers collecting machines from around St Helens van hire bookings and the wider area often find the first mile tells them whether the load is properly secured, so it is worth pulling over somewhere sensible to look.
Booking the Van Around the Collection
Our depot on Tilley Street at the main entrance to Cockhedge Shopping Centre next to Asda is open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 4pm and closed on Sunday, with free secure parking on site for your own car. Bring your photocard licence and a DVLA check code, and note there is no deposit on most of our vehicles. Private sales often happen at short notice, but if your dates are known a fortnight ahead it is worth checking whether the ten per cent advance booking discount on selected vehicles applies, which is set out on our van hire special offers page.
Paperwork and Handover on a Private Sale
If the bike is being collected as a purchase rather than moved between your own addresses, do the paperwork before the machine goes anywhere near the van. Check the frame and engine numbers against the documents, look at the registration document properly rather than glancing at it, and make sure you are satisfied with the machine while it is still on the seller’s driveway. Once a bike is strapped into a hired van it becomes very tempting to overlook something rather than unload it again. Take photographs of the bike as it stood before loading, which settles any later question about damage that might have happened in transit. It is also worth agreeing with the seller how the bike will be started or wheeled out, since a machine that has been standing for months may not roll freely and a seized brake turns a simple push into a considerable effort.
Tell us what the bike is and whether you have a ramp and we will make sure the body suits the loading rather than only the carrying. Call the depot on 01925 396 222 before you agree a collection time.
