I know they allow trailers, but I’d like to just put the bike in the bed of the truck. Or maybe on the trailer hitch? Anyone ever done this or know if it’s even allowed? TIA
My grandparents did it a lot from dc to Florida. They had their car loaded up and it was fine. Not sure if there is a height limit or limit for stuff in bed of a truck.
Had several friends take the train out of Sanford FL up the east coast, but motorcycle only. Hopefully someone else chimes in on truck + bike. Sanford is about 20 miles from us so a great option. Everyone I know thought it was a great way to get up the coast then ride the Appalachian hills back home.
There’s a height limit, but I’m wondering if there’s a clause that won’t allow a motorcycle in the bed of a truck. I can’t find anything on their website.
Some friends wanted me to ride down to Daytona Bike Week with them. But I'm not a fan of riding two-wheels for hours straight on the interstate if I have a choice. And March is a cold month, imo. I have heated gear but it's my choice to just not ride in cold weather. Again, my choice so spare me the debate. Plus, a riding buddy who, at first wasn't going on his bike (because he was joining his daughter on her car drive back down to college IN Florida) was now able to do both. We followed his daughter on our bikes to the train station, watched them get loaded up on the train and "rode together" to Florida. Was able to change into casual gear and shoes, then pack everything on the bikes before they got loaded on the train. I figured it was crazy not to travel as light on the train as possible. Brought travel pillows/blankets and an assortment of alcohol and mixers. Got into Florida -- rested and fed -- ~12 hours later than the group who rode down via I-95. Lots of friendly people and two of us hung out with a few MILFs. Auto train FTW right there. So, yeah, you can ride/drive down quicker but if you're not in a rush, you'll be rested and during the winter... need I even finish that sentence? Or rain all along the trip? It was crazy empty on the way down (10 of us in a single car) but kind of crowded coming back (95% full but we hung out in the cafe car part of the time. Again, plenty of ways to pass the time. And sleep is possible. I slept comfortably enough, in both directions. Woke up ready to go at sunrise (in warmer weather). Coming home, same thing. Ride home from the train. Rested instead of being barely about to put your bike and gear away. My friends who left Florida coming back, they hit rain and cold. Still beat us home but didn't come hang out at the sports bar that evening with us.
I wish it came though the ATL, even being a longer trip it'd be nice to get somewhere, still have all my normal crap but be rested instead of worn out.
No one is allowed to drive my vehicles other than the boss. I also couldn't afford it. Also that is part of what I'm hired to do
My mom swears by it (as do her snowbird friends). No sense in wearing out the middle of a sportbike tire by going straight for 1200 miles, IMO (Philly to Florida).
My wife and I did an auto train round-trip on a BMW K1200GT. Always looking to add something novel to a trip, and that fit the bill. We combined a bike ride in a nice part of the country, a Formula 1 race in a great city and take a train ride like you see in the old movies (which we are both fans of). So we took a short ride to the station (downtown Sanford is one of our typical Sunday bike ride destinations) got off in Virginia, rode through Pennsylvania and New York up to Montreal, watched the race and reversed the process. It was fun, but the verdict was a little mixed on the train. We went first class because it was a big vacation, so it was hardly cost effective, but we knew that going in. The waits to load and unload were tedious, but you got a break if you were on a bike (bikes get palleted first). Once we got into our cabin, it was more waiting while the loading finished. Comfortable, but the reek of diesel fumes was tough on my wife. Seems to permeate everything on the train for quite a while. A lot of the passengers on our trip were snowbird types. Elderly folks who didn't want to make the long drive and wanted brought down vehicles packed to the ceiling with stuff for a winter in Florida. I guess they wanted to save their lousy driving skills for us Florida folks . At the time we went, this crowd was mostly heading back home, so were more numerous on the trip up to Virginia. But all that said, there were a mix of other folks as well. Most of the train were the "mini sleepers", which were probably the best cost/benefit ratio. There was a guy when I was leaving that had gotten his custom Harley damaged, but the train people seemed to be taking care of it to his satisfaction. We had no issues, in spite of the BMW being a bear to tie down. I got to supervise, which I appreciated, so tried to stay out of the way. There were definitely some very cool aspects that would make me say to give it a shot at least once. Watching the country roll by while sitting in your cabin, reading a book, or eating dinner was pretty neat. Getting to start a bike ride to Montreal from Virginia rather than Florida (and with a shower and food to start off) made the trip a little more doable as well. So, a little info. I know it doesn't answer your questions about a bike in a truck, but maybe gives you a little more feel on the experience.
