Mugged into collecting a Motorcycle

[chunkolini]

St1100"s?
Horrible things for anything but long road trips. I hated mine.
Cheap though.
Also check the swing arm, there's a drain hole that acts as a rust trap.

 

[Cato]

Height is not a problem, six footers can get in and out of the back doors without ducking, as you say, its the loading that worries me.

You're trying to push a bike that's top heavy & well over 300kg up a steep slope whilst steering it which means you're standing next to it, and when you're half way up that slope you then have to step into a van.

I wouldn't recommend it as a one man job TBH unless you're well used to doing it and familiar with the ramp etc. I am and I wouldn't do it alone whether I owned the bike or not. To be reasonably safe you want one person each side and one at the back pushing but the safer, easier options are get it transported, or if you have to do it yourself (you don't) use a trailer.

 

[RonMig]

It's a 430 mile round trip to collect and deliver so you lose a day and a tankful of fuel...

Does look like a mugging- but if you've not done it yet, it's not too late to alter the "agreement".
The ramp quality & loading risk is high, plenty to go wrong, it's a properly scary event... so -

Only go if he goes as well. It's not a one-man job. Don't want to risk injury and/or damage.
Just delay pickup until he's available; then he can take point on the deal and responsibility for loading.

And be clear he's to bring his credit card to deal with expenses, like lunch!
And direct him to refill the van before you drop it and him back home.

You're not refusing, you're laying out what makes it acceptable to You, having considered what's involved...
If his mum/wifey complains, make her go too !

Alternative is he can hire a trailer & do it himself, or a organise a delivery company, and you get your day back.!

 

[jmp49]

Please take a video if he does, then you can add it to the collection of similar videos on social media while you're waiting for the ambulance and someone with a crane to get it out of the cab.

Memories of standing back and watching first hand as someone loaded a stretched rigid meridan triumph chopper into the back of a ford cargo by riding it up a long narrow ramp, and decided to just send it because of ground clearance concerns. Then he grabbed the front brake which just caused the front wheel to skid on the wood deck of the box, and slid into the back of the separate cab bending the 12" over tele forks. Bit more momentum and stronger forks & he'd probably have been through the cab back wall too. It was funny because we tried to warn him
Sadly before the days of digital cameras or smartphones.

Loading up a saner ramp is a two person min job as mentioned, the main problem isnt head clearance to me, its that you have to step into the van to transition between ramp and van floor while still pushing the bike uphill, whereby you catch your foot on the rear van step or towbar bracket then stumble at the worst possible moment & loose your footing and the bike flops sidewards towards you squashing you against the side of the van. Whereby if your more sensible and have 2 of you, your on the ball mate on the other side grabs the bike before its past the point of no return, covers the front brake and saves you.

 

[dobbslc]

You have to realize that the bikes handlebars will be at about head height by the time it gets to the back of the van, you have almost no leverage if it starts to fall away from you!
At the point you need to climb into the back of the van will also be the same point the bike has one wheel in the van and one on the ramp and also probably the bellypan/exhaust dragging on the rear bumper.
I also wouldn't be going all the way to inspect it either, if he's already paid for it then "if you decide to accept this mission" just load it up and drop it off