Motorcycle Wheel Chock - First fabrication attempt

[iScream]

I've got a stack of 2" X 6" X 1/8" steel for welding practice but I wanted to do something besides weld it all into scrap metal. So I started playing around with cutting the pieces so they would follow the profile of my motorcycle tire. I basically just did it by eye and tweaked the angle a little to get it close enough.

The front tires on both my bikes are about 4.75" wide so I made the inside 5.75" and I'll use some kind of inserts on the sides to allow for flexibility.

So I decided to model a wheel chock in Sketchup last night. Came up with something that looked decent for the front part and left enough metal toward the back to hook in whatever I come up with. I want the front wheel to raise a section behind it when it rolls in to lock it in. The way most designs do that is with a teeter totter the wheel cams over but I don't want to have that bump.

There are a few different things I've seen on Youtube I can borrow from but I'm going to put a little more thought into it. Ideas are definitely welcome though.

So at this point I built most of what I have modeled and part of it is actually welded while some is just tacked until I roll a bike onto it and decide exactly where to position cross braces.

 

[matt_i]

Looks very nicely done, what welder are you using?

Depending on how tight you want it (like for working on the bike), you could tether a 1" ratchet strap (shortened of course).

 

[driftpin]

So no fulcrum/pivoting U-channel. Once you stop the bike and it's in-gear, it's going to stay pretty-close to the end of the U-channel, enough that you probably can step-off it, and the bike stays stationary/upright.

I'd just put some-sort of strap, like a ratchet strap, onto the front wheel at a "3-o'clock" position, seen from a side profile of the front wheel. That would hold it tight in the U-channel. Simply loop it through the spokes, and secure it onto itself, using the hook to the opposite end closed ring of that hook, and ratchet it tight. You don't need any 2,000 lb cargo strap, one of those HFT 4-pack orange ratcheting straps should be sufficient.

 

[iScream]

Looks very nicely done, what welder are you using?

Depending on how tight you want it (like for working on the bike), you could tether a 1" ratchet strap (shortened of course).

Thanks. I just have a cheap Eastwood MIG 175.

I should have mentioned that the ultimate goal is to have this mountable in the bed of my truck, for easy one person bike loading. That's the main reason I want to avoid having a bump for the wheel to go over. It can be hard to find a flat spot around the hills/mountains where I like to ride so it can be hard enough to back the bike out with a completely flat surface.

I do plan to incorporate hooks for ratchet strapping the front wheel in as well.

 

[iScream]

So no fulcrum/pivoting U-channel. Once you stop the bike and it's in-gear, it's going to stay pretty-close to the end of the U-channel, enough that you probably can step-off it, and the bike stays stationary/upright.

I'd just put some-sort of strap, like a ratchet strap, onto the front wheel at a "3-o'clock" position, seen from a side profile of the front wheel. That would hold it tight in the U-channel. Simply loop it through the spokes, and secure it onto itself, using the hook to the opposite end closed ring of that hook, and ratchet it tight. You don't need any 2,000 lb cargo strap, one of those HFT 4-pack orange ratcheting straps should be sufficient.

Both my bikes have enough slack in the chain to prevent relying on just being in gear.

While this one will probably live in my garage it's really a prototype for something that will go in the bed of my truck. That's why the channel for the tire sticks out of the front. To be sure the bike can go all the way forward in the bed. I do plan to incorporate an anchor for a ratchet strap that will go over the tire when hauling a bike.

 

[shepherd]

even just weld a "bump", some flat or round bar across the wheel track to keep it from rolling back...dont need the pivot.

 

[rpcraft]

You could also get you a length of wide velcro from anywhere that sells it. I think they make it in up to 2 inch width in rolls that are the softer variety, and then you just wrap it around the top part of the stand and use it to keep your wheel tight against the wheel channel. I have a Condor chock on my lift and it has the flip up holder on it but I put a strap made out of the 1/2 inch Velcro around it when working on it just to help keep it tight and not rock away from the channel if I am getting too crazy with a tight bolt or something. I also keep a strap long enough to wrap around the front brake handle as a backup to the backup... maybe that makes me paranoid, lol.

 

[rpcraft]

even just weld a "bump", some flat or round bar across the wheel track to keep it from rolling back...dont need the pivot.

Great idea but he could just flip a length of the aluminum angle over on its open face and tack the edges in a spot that allows you to roll over it and then stop on the closer side. It's a premade 90 degree bump!

 

[iScream]

Having any type of bump big enough to hold the wheel is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. Otherwise it would be pretty easy to build the flip thingy into it.

There's a chock out there called the Wheel Dock that uses a gas strut to flip up a rear brace and hold it in place. They use levers for your foot to lock and release it. I'm thinking of something very similar but with a simple spring and with a lever that would be caught by the front wheel when loading and a manual lever to lock it back down for unloading.

I made a model of a simple 120/70 17" motorcycle wheel so I could see if what I have tacked together out in the garage is usable, and to play around with different designs for the back. Looks like it should be fine.

 

[iScream]

This is what I'll probably build for the rear section. Shouldn't be too hard to incorporate a spring that tries to pull it up and a latch to hold it down.

 

[iScream]

I'll have a removable pin on both sides to support the rear brace so it can't go anywhere while driving or working on a bike.

 

[WoodsTruck]

What if you hinge the keeper in the back and spring load it in the up position? Simply run the tire over it to use as the spring would pop it back up behind the tire. Use your foot to lower it when ready to release the bike.

 

[iScream]

I trust my Sketchup modeling but it still seemed dumb to not check what I've actually tacked together with my actual bikes. Everything looked as expected but my R1 sits so low to the ground and the fairing is so close to the tire that I had to shorten the rear support in my model.

Had to remind myself that the main point of all this right now is welding practice rather than designing a chock. So tonight I welded together what I have had tacked for a few days.

When I started thinking about how to attach springs to pull the rear support up I realized I was going to create something that could break my leg if I used big springs pulling against a slam latch. So I've been looking at gas charged struts instead so it would be a lot less violent when I release the latch.

I've pretty much thrown out the idea of releasing a latch with the front wheel too. At least for this first pass I'll probably just do some kind of foot release.

 

[iScream]

What if you hinge the keeper in the back and spring load it in the up position? Simply run the tire over it to use as the spring would pop it back up behind the tire. Use your foot to lower it when ready to release the bike.

I thought about this quite a bit but didn't come up with anything I liked. Mostly because I don't want the edge of a support digging into my tire across a small spot.