My current setup is to reverse the bike down the drive, between car and wall. It is OK, but can be a faff and there is potential to slip! I am getting a new bike on Friday and am thinking it would be good to have a way to ride in forward and then spin the bike round. The new bike is a triumph gt1050. Do they go up onto the centre stand easily (my old Tbird 900 was quite heavy to lift)? I'm thinking of making oe buying some kind of dolly/trolley/turntable thingy . Cheers all.
@Stu9000 No my sprint was easy to lift on the centre stand It all depends on the room you have to man handle it.
I made my own turntable with a 'lazy Susan' from eBay and square steel plates top and bottom, large (around 300mm diameter) last Susans usually have a load capacity more than enough to take a GT1050. The other way is to buy a square of heavy duty plastic which is normally smooth enough to allow the stand to slide around on it, I don't know how much strain this puts on the stand and I prefer the turntable. You can also buy a ready made turntable
Interesting! I was looking at these a few months ago, wondering if they were man enough for the job. Cheers.
Hi Stu, If you are going this way just check the load capacity of the turntable. There are some mamby pamby ones on eBay for table centres. You need a heavy duty one of about 300mm dia. with a load capacity of 1,000lbs/450kg.
Mine - using two sheets of heavy duty ply. There's a pin in one corner to lock it into place. Edit.. Only thing to be aware of is it's very hard to get it onto the centre stand due to the extra height. You may need to ride the back wheel up onto a plinth of similar height to the turntable.
This guy is always showing off his method. Looks doable with a little practice ... https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NvXe9BvfwrU
Gosh!!! No thanks not for me! I think I'll stick to the turntable!! I wonder how long before the side stand or the lug where it attaches to the frame cries enough!!
In the end I bought some lockable caster.wheels from Ali Express. The plan is to make a ply wheeled platform that I can ride onto.
What about the jack in a box type lifts with wheels on? You might have to modify the top face so the bike sits nicely, but it onlys needs to lift the tyres just off the floor. I have one ( without wheels) which I use for off road bikes but just check the load rating. Something like this, and you could always use a battery drill to operate it, but grease the thread mechanism well. The benefit here is it takes very little space when not in use. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40521432...yEQKC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=WHATS_APP
This type of lift is probably ideal if you have a high pipe, duplex cradle frame but, one word of caution/advice around using this type of lift - don't be tempted to use it if the bike's exhaust pipe(s) sit (s) on the lift platform. I know it sounds obvious, but I've actually seen it done. The bike should never have any lift placed beneath the exhaust pipes - even briefly - or you risk bending the pipes or distorting the head ports. If the bikes pipe(s) are lower than the frame rails (or sump on a non-cradle frame) then you may need to block spacer the platform which might mean a less than stable arrangement.
Just as a thought. How far is it down past the wall between the wall and car. Is it worth getting off and pushing it in backwards negating the need to construct something to turn it around? I push my bikes in backwards into my bike shed... stand over the front wheel, legs either side of the front wheel. Push on the handlebars a la tight sales showroom manoeuvres. Have a look at this vid to see what i am poorly explaining
Must admit, I move the car out of the way to get a clear run at the garage , then push the bike in backwards from the left side with the seat nestled against my hip/leg. Going back out I can then ride past the car without moving it..... just!
I looked at these. I want sure about the locking mechanism. I'm hoping to knock up something similar with the Ali Express castor wheels ove bought.
I have a dedicated bike trolley 'thing', I've used it for years moving BMWs (GS & RS) bikes around the garage. Its reasonably easy to put the bike on the trolley and works well providing the bike has a centre stand. My Triumph Speed Twin doesn't have a centre stand so I use the pushing backwards from the front method. With practice it works well and is quicker than the trolley.
