Another "wee" one...

[Phoenixfz]

What a great site!

I stumbled onto it a few weeks back, and some of these garage-builds have left me breathless. Kudos to the generous members who shared the pics of their dream-garages, (-like the gentleman from NY state with the carriage-house garage , and the gentleman from Utah with the underground theatre-room and "secret tunnel!" )

Wow. I wish I had the space/$$$ to adopt some of the great ideas I've seen here...

* * *

Anyway, here's my garage...or what's left of it. We had our basement renovated a couple of years ago, (-we live in a semi-detached house), and in an effort to gain more space we basically chopped the garage in half to create a laundry room.



I have to do washing/detailing outside on the driveway now...



The contractors that did the work in the basement built the shelves for tools, chemicals, etc... We routed the drying-machine's exhaust under the shelves to the front of the garage. In the future I'm going to install an insulated garage door, and a new side door. I'm not sure if I'll tile the garage...I'd end up using rugs to protect the tiles, (-from scuffing caused by sidestands/centrestands), anyway.











I mounted these hooks on the wall for my racing-stands when not in use:



At least the laundry room has a sink for washing bugs off my gear, which is much nicer than using a garden hose! I use a fan to dry-out my helmet(s) after a long sweaty ride:



I store all my gear in here, too. Which is a lot better than running to the upstairs closet like I did for years...





I installed eyelets in the ceiling to help dry-out the gear:



For the benefit of the car-driving-enthusiast members of the site that aren't very familiar with motorcycles:



The silver one is a 2002 Yamaha 1000cc sport tourer with a steel frame and upright ergonomics. 125 hp and 500-ish lbs wet. It is modified with better suspension components and intake and exhaust mods, too, (-at the time of this pic I was experimenting with LED turnsignals, which was a mistake!). It has just over 50,000 kms.



The blue one is a 2006 1000cc Honda supersport bike that is basically stock, (->I raised the bars a bit since this pic was taken!). 150-ish hp and 450lbs wet. It has just under 10,000kms.

 

[thdewey]

That is the coolest thing I've seen...... the G-force poster.

Oh and the bikes are cool too.

 

[Zoobee]

My wife has been eyeballing my garage space for 4 years now. While I agree that our laundry is a bit narrow, my instinct has been to not give up a square inch. Think I've found a way to give up 12" across the width and make everyone happy.

Thanks for posting.

 

[Stu.C]

You may not have a lot of space, fella, but you've used it well. Nice job.

 

[badhst]

Great use of such a small amount of room !!! Very neatly done.

 

[The Rusty Gear]

So, if you can fit in two bikes, does that make it a double garage?

Wow, looks great - you sure did a lot with not much space!

 

[Boyd Who]

Excellent use of space! Life would be so much easier for me if I'd stuck to messing with bikes, rather than cars. LOL

 

[Phoenixfz]

Thanks for the kind words.

This is a pic from 10 years ago:

 

[boiler7904]

Great use of space. It ***** that you had to give up part of the garage but at least the bikes have a place to park indoors and you have a place to take care of your gear.

 

[smsteve]

Great job, nice to see another "bike" garage .

And I thought my garage was small.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41308

You have, like the others said, made great use of your available space, and kept the significant other happy at the same time.

 

[Phoenixfz]

Update:

I now have MP3 speakers, (you can see the 10 year-old player attached), moved the manuals beside the tool-box, and attached my magnetic tray to some metal L-brackets on the wall to the right. Beside the manuals is my tape collection and behind that are misc. tubs with hooks, and other infrequently used items. Allen keys are all affixed to the wall now.



Left side has opened up for more chemicals, and there's an air-dryer hanging beside the gas can. Under the dryer are bins containing various attachments.



I affixed the black tray to hold misc. nuts and bolts and to the side of it I have my nitrile gloves.





This last pic is not of the garage. Just a friend's new bike....

 

[HurricaneJesus]

Does Yam make a Rossi paint scheme bike or did he have to get that done somewhere?

 

[Jack Olsen]

...in an effort to gain more space we basically chopped the garage in half to create a laundry room.

Those are the saddest words on the GJ forum. It's like a wall running through the heart of Berlin -- any chance of taking that territory back for a 're-united' garage?

Because... what happens when you go over the handlebars in a bad way and decide that a track car with a cage is the safer way to get your speed fix?

Granted, you've done a great job with what you've got. And sometimes big limitations bring about the most innovative solutions.

But if you got a stacking washer dryer set, maybe a work bench could go in there. It might not be much, but it'd be a foothold.

 

[bunghole]

Good job with a small space!

The benefit to a bike only garage is that your wife won't try to park her car in it

I achieve the same ends by filling mine with multiple bikes and a lift table.

 

[Lightfighter]

Does Yam make a Rossi paint scheme bike or did he have to get that done somewhere?

For 2010, Yamaha has released a limited-edition R1 in the Rossi MotoGP livery. MSRP is $14,500.00. Check with your local Yamaha dealer. I'm sure they'll sell out pretty fast!

 

[kizer]

Personally I think you did awesome for the space you have. Your lucky you are a bike fan vs a car guy or you would be in big trouble.

Man where did you score that Battle of the Planets poster. That's killer.

 

[Finley]

i gotta say, i thought i had a tiny space to deal with, you pulled it off well. im stealing your rear stand idea!
the only thing i'd suggest is to clear our your cubicle to get a little elbow room for tinkering.
good work!

 

[HurricaneJesus]

For 2010, Yamaha has released a limited-edition R1 in the Rossi MotoGP livery. MSRP is $14,500.00. Check with your local Yamaha dealer. I'm sure they'll sell out pretty fast!

Bitchin' but I don't have the means or the skill to ride an R1.

 

[Phoenixfz]

Those are the saddest words on the GJ forum. It's like a wall running through the heart of Berlin -- any chance of taking that territory back for a 're-united' garage?

Someday....maybe in a decade or two!

But if you got a stacking washer dryer set, maybe a work bench could go in there. It might not be much, but it'd be a foothold.

That's a great idea. Unfortunately the machines are only 2 years old....it will be a while until we replace them.

Good job with a small space!

Thanks! If only I had more space. I'd love to get a nice little compressor and a Handy bike-lift. Do you have pics of your set-up?

The benefit to a bike only garage is that your wife won't try to park her car in it
I achieve the same ends by filling mine with multiple bikes and a lift table.

I wish my wife could drive! She doesn't have her liscence despite living here for 11 years, (she's from Japan).

I am the "taxi-man." To everywhere.

Bitchin' but I don't have the means or the skill to ride an R1.

Very few of us have the skills required to ride a 600cc bike let alone a litre-bike, (-but that doesn't stop me! ) To be fair to my friend, he used to be an amateur racer and he could do the R1 some justice. He has an R6 that he takes to the track, too.

Why should I or You buy a 2009-2010 YAMAHA R1?

i gotta say, i thought i had a tiny space to deal with, you pulled it off well. im stealing your rear stand idea!
the only thing i'd suggest is to clear our your cubicle to get a little elbow room for tinkering.
good work!

Thanks! Luckily, my best friend is a motorcycle mechanic, so we do most things over at his place. I get about as far as oil changes on the driveway at my place!



Here is a pic of all the stands mounted on the wall:



I also installed an eyelet in the garage ceiling, (in case the stands were being used on the other bike). It makes it easy to remove the forks for an oil change.

Personally I think you did awesome for the space you have. Your lucky you are a bike fan vs a car guy or you would be in big trouble.

Man where did you score that Battle of the Planets poster. That's killer.

I can barely afford the bikes let alone a sports-car, (-I drive a Corolla with 260,000kms on the odometer ). I got the poster here, (I think):
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Gatchaman-Posters_i4910498_.htm

 

[Phoenixfz]

Updates!

I now mount my bike luggage in the laundry-room so they're not kicking-around on the garage side. CD tower removed from garage as well for more space:





New micro-system replaces 20 year-old sony stereo, (which is now in laundry room). New location opens up more shelf space in tool area:





Carpeting was re-done this past summer, and garage door + side door repainted, too:

 

[sasquach]

Thats a nice space for bikes . I really like it

 

[Phoenixfz]

Thanks!

I can only dream of what would be possible with more space.... like a handy-lift and compressor...

 

[usmc_noma]

That has got to be the smallest garage I have ever seen. What's the dimensions on that. I figure most members have a shed that's bigger than your garage.