Front forks get damaged when ham-handed morons tighten the front down until it almost bottoms out. A good rule of thumb to go by, is:
Look at your front forks. There's a "dirt" line, where your normal suspension travel stops. From where your forks sit relaxed, tighten the bike, 1/2-2/3 of that travel distance, to that dirt-line.
This allows the bike to "flex" a little while in the vehicle, when the truck hits bumps, yet prevents the bike from bottoming out on it's own suspension.
Tighten the front first (kickstand side). Left front, then right front to balance it out.
Then secure the rear, to prevent it fronm moving around. There's no need to compress the rear, just secure it.
When taking the binders off, undo the rear first, then ALWAYS undo the right front first, then the left. (kickstand side).
Undoing the left, front first can pull the bike over to the right, and tip it over.
Buy quality straps. You get what you pay for, and they're going to be holdng an $18K+ motorcycle in a $30k+ truck. Now's not the time to skimp, and buy WalMart junk.....
