HM-MSP

[Unhofliche_Gesundheit]

Hi.

 

HM-MSP: home made movable motorcycle (er i mean bmw! ) storage platform

 

this is my first winter with the bike - need to get it out of middle of garage so can get a car in - cant have 2 in the driveway of the townhouse when the big snow dumps happen.

 

cant put bike in back yard - i'm not an end unit - riding bike thru the house - is plan of last resort.

 

 

i bought 6 sets of 2" wheels - 150lb load capacity each. am going to bolt them to a plywood platform. Will put the R115RT on platform, on the centre stand. I'll remove the mirrors and should then be able to push bike into corner of garage so can fit in a car for snowy months yet still have easy access to get back on the road quick if/when get mild weather. trick is to make the platform just big enough. if too big will use up too much valuable real-estate. need to squeeze in the Hum-vee too (saab 9-3 or ML320 actually)

 

any thing wrong with this plan?

 

i was advised that a motorcycle jack on wheels could be obtained at canadian tire, on special, and would be a better solution and when on sale only a few $ more - but i think only on sale in the spring. 130$ these days. so obliged to make my own.

 

maybe the platform will 'drive away' in the opposite direction when i try to drive on it?

maybe the whole thing will be very unstable - i.e fall over ?

maybe the thing will tip over if i get up on it, put on side stand and try to dismount?

maybe thing will skate away when i try to put on center stand.

 

maybe should i just use 'stand on slidy surface' technique? 'slidy surface' = 2 sheets of plastic (example krazy carpet) with bike on stand on top - can i move by 3 feet with such a method?

 

opinions solicited. extra points for citing engineering principles and personal experience .

 

thanks. your humble servant, etc, etc.

[Gregori]

If it's something you only need to do once a year (to store it for the winter) then why not just roll/drag it into place, put on the centerstand, and be done? With the top-case off, the rear rack makes an inconvenient but passable grappling point.

 

Last year, I wintered the RT in my cargo trailer, and had no problem 'scootching' it 90° and then sideways across the carpeted floor to tuck it up tight to save space. I certainly wouldn't want to do it regularly, but as an annual occurrence I didn't figure it was worth the expense/headache of a special solution... (This is advise from a guy who, like many of the folks here - often spends more time/resources solving a problem than the problem costs, just for the satisfaction of 'fixing' it.)

 

Oh yeah - it's REALLY easy to spin the bike on the center-stand - just get the balance a little on the right side, and it pivots merrily on that leg. It ain't quite as graceful as ballet, but the turns are pretty quick and painless

The left leg of the center-stand isn't *quite* as good, as the foot-loop doesn't always want to play nice, but 'walking' the bike using the two sides back and forth is also useful...

[tallman]

Remove mirror and saddle bag from the side that will be closest to the wall.

Put bike there.

Put on centerstand.

Hook up battery tender.

Remove bike in Spring.

Ride.

This will have a much smaller footprint than any "stand/base.

Best wishes.

[Unhofliche_Gesundheit]

with all this cold weather finally decided i had better jam my bike up against the wall.

taking the advise here and abandoned my plans for a 'float' (home made wheeled platform - will be taking the 6 wheels at 7$ each back to Princess Auto ) i got ready to perform "'walking' the bike using the two sides back and forth" - was not able. the beast with full tank of gas is just too big and heavy

looking at gregori's picture i think i see the problem... my rt is much bigger than that thing you are riding in the picture - no wonder you can walk the bike on the stand

 

so there i was - my bike 24" away from the wall - stranded!

however was easily moved into place with my wheeled hydraulic auto jack (3 ton- 3.5" to 34" lift) ... placed under bike just forward of stand - one easy pump - so centre stand just off the ground - slide diagonally into front most corner of the garage (both mirrors and both bags removed). i think the mercedes SUV will squeeze in but there will be no room for active mechanical projects on it... but at lease i get to keep both my cars and the bike

 

thanks all

[mefly2]

LOL ... I tried the same thing for similar reasons. The "dolly" tended to move when I drove onto it ... even when propped up in the front so that the wheels were off of the ground. Suggest: borrow a floor jack and several bodies to help move over to the side of the storage area. I now have a wheel chock ... great for summer ride in and store. For winteer, simply back the bike into the chock (it is bolted down now) and use a floor jack to move the front end over to the wall. Sears often has "special" motorcycle / ATV floor jacks on sale. My jack is an older one that I use to slightly take the weight off of the front end for a sliding move over to the wall.

[11101110]

I would add a reminder to the garage floor (or tennis ball on a string from the ceiling right in the line of site of the driver) that will let you know when to stop pulling the cars foward. Lets you not to squish the bike but not to chop off the end of the car with the garage door either.