Upright Motorcycle Dolly

[Ray916MN]

To help me pack more motorcycles in my workshop I tried mounting a Condor roll in chock clone to a Harbor Freight sidestand dolly, with the sidestand pad removed. I was thinking holding a bike upright instead of having it on its' sidestand would save space.

This $30-55 used on Craigslist

Plus this $75 on Ebay

and you get this

Completely stable. Makes it easier to pack bikes closely.

The pins which mount the rocker and vertical stop are too wide to fit in the channel of the dolly so you need to either cut them down or replace them with steel rod the width of the channel. When the chock is mounted in the dolly channel, the channel prevents the rods from coming out.

I believe this setup could be used fairly easily to make a lift table. A skid for loading motorcycles into truck beds might also be possible,

 

[M6erfan]

Great idea

Nice GS

 

[2fat2fly]

Excellent idea! Thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bpjr]

Wow, all I know is I want that GS 1000S...

 

[Kevkx125]

Ray916MN

Nice idea, I think I will borrow that, Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ray916MN]

Wow, all I know is I want that GS 1000S...

Haha, sorry about that. I put the Cooley on it, because after I put it together I realized that the chock would reduce the wheelbase the dolly could handle and the Cooley has the longest wheelbase of all my bikes (59") and I wanted to make sure it would fit.

 

[driftpin]

Isn't that tippy? I don't think there's enough width to the dolly. I suppose if you're really-careful, but those tiny wheels are very-susceptible to even a tiny pebble or other foreign object causing a toppled bike. Parts are expensive to-replace on vintage bikes.

Condor actually makes something like that, but the footprint for lateral support looks wider, with better wheels. I've met and spoken with the P.E. who owns the company, and while I do not own that particular product, his stuff is very-well designed, over-engineered, and durable.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BKNXJ7G/?tag=atomicindus08-20 I've seen him or an employee demonstrate this at Bike Week, it's impressive how-easy it is to load the bike onto it, and to be able to move it afterwards.

His convertible trailer is something to see, it's very-clever! The trailer becomes a ramp, and as a trailer, it can haul two full-size bikes, so with a pick-up having sufficient bed length, you could transport three full-size bikes. The trailer is just-under 600 lbs, and it can actually be off the road in the receiver hitch! See how-small a footprint for storage, folded.
https://www.condor-lift.com/tramp-utl-tlr

 

[Ray916MN]

Isn't that tippy? I don't think there's enough width to the dolly. I suppose if you're really-careful, but those tiny wheels are very-susceptible to even a tiny pebble or other foreign object causing a toppled bike. Parts are expensive to-replace on vintage bikes.

.../

I was worried about it possibly being tippy, so I put the first one together and tested it. The only way I could see tipping one over is to catch both sets of wheels on the same side of the dolly on a crack while pushing the dolly sideways. Hit a crack with one wheel and the wheel stops and the dolly pivots around it. Hit a pebble that jams a wheel and the wheel skids. The real thing you realize pushing a bike around on one of these is you don't want to push too fast, because once you get all that weight moving, stopping it without brakes takes a bit.

I regularly put all sorts of rare classic motorcycles on these. Right now there is a Bimota KB3 and an SB6R sitting on a couple of these dollies in my shop

I've looked at the Condor stuff in person and it is overkill for my use. I'm a sportbike guy. My heaviest bike weighs a little over 500lbs. I don't need a dolly built to hold and move around 1000lb bikes. OTOH, I would guess if you replaced the casters on this dolly with larger ones it would do quite well with a 1000lb bike.

 

[Bagherra]

Nice!!

 

[driftpin]

For a quick and easy, and inexpensive mod, sure, it works. But hey, you're just-done bragging-about $20K+ in Bimotas, and you're pinching pennies on a roll-around? Sometimes having excess-capacity is a good-thing. Not to-mention added insurance for avoiding an accident, and facing having to-source extremely-expensive replacements, if they're even-available. If I had a pair of Purdey side-by-side 12 gauge shotguns, I wouldn't be carrying them in an Allen fabric gun bag.

One of my acquaintances just-had an accident in the shop, it involved a bike workbench he's used hundreds of times, but it was 'the perfect storm' that launched his prized Sportster onto the floor, just-before it was due to appear in a Reno bike show (he's in TX). He caught an object on the floor under a wheel, and 'whoops!' Yes the center-of-gravity is much-higher on his bench, leading to an enhanced possibility of carnage during any movement of the bikestand.

I'll never have your collection of collector bikes, but I'm keeping an eye-out for a Condor upright rolling rack in the ads. They even have a lighter-duty rack than the one capable of handling the dressers. It's cheaper, too, probably about the price of one of those vintage Brembo master cylinders so-prone to-damage should one of those Italian exotics take a spill. $395, free shipping
https://www.condor-lift.com/GDJR-2500

 

[Ray916MN]

For a quick and easy, and inexpensive mod, sure, it works. But hey, you're just-done bragging-about $20K+ in Bimotas, and you're pinching pennies on a roll-around? Sometimes having excess-capacity is a good-thing. Not to-mention added insurance for avoiding an accident, and facing having to-source extremely-expensive replacements, if they're even-available. If I had a pair of Purdey side-by-side 12 gauge shotguns, I wouldn't be carrying them in an Allen fabric gun bag.

One of my acquaintances just-had an accident in the shop, it involved a bike workbench he's used hundreds of times, but it was 'the perfect storm' that launched his prized Sportster onto the floor, just-before it was due to appear in a Reno bike show (he's in TX). He caught an object on the floor under a wheel, and 'whoops!' Yes the center-of-gravity is much-higher on his bench, leading to an enhanced possibility of carnage during any movement of the bikestand.

I'll never have your collection of collector bikes, but I'm keeping an eye-out for a Condor upright rolling rack in the ads. They even have a lighter-duty rack than the one capable of handling the dressers. It's cheaper, too, probably about the price of one of those vintage Brembo master cylinders so-prone to-damage should one of those Italian exotics take a spill. $395, free shipping
https://www.condor-lift.com/GDJR-2500

All I can say is, I put together what I put together and it is stable and not tippy. I don't worry about putting anything i own it. If I thought it was sketchy and not worth doing, I never would have posted this idea.

Your concerns are duly noted. I had the same concerns and tested to see whether they were warranted or not. In my experience they are unwarranted.

My average cost for assembling one of these is about $130. So $265 saved over the Condor. I've made 5 of these dollies. so $1325 saved. I own what I own, because I maximize my income and minimize my expenses. This project was part of my continuing attention to minimizing expenses. For the potential savings, it was well worth paying the $130 to see whether it would work well or not. Others may see this the same way, and of course you may not.

 

[driftpin]

Yes, you've saved money, I believe you wouldn't have used it if you thought it wasn't robust-enough. The cost of what's riding on those bears that out. You either would have added to the design to make it work, or just junked the idea, and gone a different way.

When I saw the owner/mechanical engineer of Condor at Daytona Bike Week and was able to watch demos of his storage products, I was very-impressed. His rack like yours, his employee would run a Sportster onto it, the front wheel chock would pivot closed to capture the front wheel, and after he dismounted from the bike, he could wheel it around one-handed, with great ease.

The configurable trailer which allowed you to ride the bike up-into the bed of a pickup, and how it allowed two-more bikes on it, once it was dropped-into a traditional trailer layout, or to-be lifted entirely off the road, to save on tolls, when collapsed, was a masterpiece of function and design.

 

[ptgarcia]

Ray916MN,

Do you have links to the components you pictured above? I may put one of these together myself.

 

[Ray916MN]

Ray916MN,

Do you have links to the components you pictured above? I may put one of these together myself.

The chock is this one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Removable-...ycle-Wheel-Stop-Chock-Adjustable/112242676610

Hope it works for you.

 

[Ray916MN]

Video comparison of Condor motorcycle dolly to Harbor Freight sidestand dolly made to be upright.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I made this floating caliper style wheel clamp. It can be installed on any surface.

I have since given this wheel clamp away.