Custom Bike Dolly w/Integrated swingarm and Fork stands

[bweight]

Hey guys, I've been at it again.. too much time on my hands I think, but oh well.. I've been wanting to build this for quite some time because when I'm working on my bike with the stands, I HATE it because I can't move the bike if I have to make more room in the garage. So that's why I built this..

It's changed substantially since I first began building it, and we're a night of welding away from completion, so here's the pics of the build up until it's current state tonight..

Enjoy:


This is a picture of the roller bearing at the front end of the dolly so it's fully adjustable to allow different lengths of bikes...









Out with the wood, and in with 3/4" x 1/8" thick angle bracket framework


And here's what it looks like as of right now.. Almost done..




And here's a close-up of the rear stands.. I'll explain a lil more when I get home as I've gotta go get the wifey from work... ..

[megaloxana]

That's a really neat idea. Matches the bike too. I tell ya, you're one crafty SOB.

[95FZR600]

Thats pretty freakin cool. If my work lift had 360degree wheels I could use it to move about the garage but it only has straight wheels.

Are you going to mount some D hooks or something on the front side for strap hold downs?

[bweight]

Thanks guys

As for the "D" rings, they're not actually needed. With ratcheting tie downs the hooked ends will fit and hold inside the side channels no problem. Hopefully my dad will bring the remainder of the piping we need home from work on Monday.. we ran out so we couldn't finish the front fork stands completely. The crossers are installed with the risers, however we don't have enough to make our pivot bushings... I'm anxious to set the bike on it and test out how the stands will work.

There's a little more to do once we get the welding done on the front fork stands though still.. I've gotta drill the uprights every 1" or so to accomodate a lock pin for when the bike is raised up off the surface... The actual stands for the swingarm and forks are completely adjustable width wise, to allow for different bikes to be used on this as well.. Then it's just a matter of cleaning the rest up, painting the front and testing it out.

I know bike dolly's aren't a new idea, however ALL of them I've seen lack the ability to raise the bike while it's still on the dolly and still be able to move it around the shop. The ones you see from Harbour Freight are only pretty much as wide as the tire channel, and I don't know how stable they are, but if you wanna take a wheel off, you have to remove it from the dolly. This design incorporates everything in one therefore eliminating the need for seperate stands either..

To date, I'm about $75-80 invested into it (haven't actually tallied everything up) and the design took a few weeks to work on and iron out the kinks, but if it works like I know it will, I've already got an order for one for my buddy's Zx6...

It weighs in around 50lbs or so, again haven't actually weighed it.. But I'd be willing to make some more if there's enough interest.. Probably in the $200 range or so, maybe a lil less. depends + shipping obviously which may be the deal breaker in some cases..

We'll see.


I'll take some more pics when we get the front stands done and take a little video showing how they work...

[yamaha_george]

I know bike dolly's aren't a new idea, however ALL of them I've seen lack the ability to raise the bike while it's still on the dolly and still be able to move it around the shop.

Just to let you know what the competition is like :-} at least it is Italian


http://www.2pkart.it/catalogo/lista.php ... ord=&lis=P

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=vhou7uJ9-Aw

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=CDEpvfZUenU

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=eoXS9R2qYRc

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=KqrKVK3-lZM

[95FZR600]

Actually the one I have is from Harbor Freight and it has the removable plate to remove the rear tire. If only it had it in the front as well it would be tits. Pretty cool....cant wait to see it when its finished and holding a your bike.

[ShogunTX]

I like the design, and agree your one pretty crafty guy. So just to confirm you will be doing a write up so the rest of us can give it try.

[yamaha_george]

I like the design, and agree your one pretty crafty guy. So just to confirm you will be doing a write up so the rest of us can give it try.

The design is good enough to sell so put the write up in the for sale section or at least sell the plans after all the hard work and ingenuity .
Get some cash for your work even if it is a token of respect :-}

[bweight]

Thanks guys.. I'll see what happens for sure.. I still haven't drawn anything up yet plan wise... we were wingin it the whole way through.. My dad and I just kinda started and this is where it led us to. I'm definitely going to be drawing up plans, material listings and instructions on how to build it. Just haven't gotten that far yet..

So, I was hoping tonight that I'd have a couple of pics with the bike on the rear stand, since we didn't have the materials to finish the fork stands yet, however we got sidetracked on a few things and instead I'll just show you what the rear stands are going to look like, and the handle that will raise the bike as well..
I'm missing 1 bracket to go under the swingarm, but that'll be fixed tomorrow..


Here's a few pics,

*** Please ignore some of the ugly welds on there.. We were near the end of the roll of wire and the welder didn't like it very much ***

Here's a close up of the pivot pin used when pushing down on the handle to raise the rear stand.


This is the other side of of the rear stand... Don't mind the nails you see.. They made good temporary pins


Here's a pic of the handle assembly inserted into the bushings.. You can also see the risers..


Close up of the LH riser.. Right hand side will be replaced tomorrow..


Here's a shot of the whole thing..


We sorta tested the rear stand out.. We had it mounted a slightly different way before I remembered I had my swingarm stand in the garage at my dad's place, so we pulled off the "L" supports and we're going to use it on here.. Anyways, with those in place, my dad put in a 2x12 plank between the risers, resting on the supports and sat down. He weighs around 215-220, and all I did was put my foot on the handle in the back and up he went.. There was very little effort required, and he rose up close to 2". I'm VERY optimistic that the bike will lift with no issues at all. Hopefully Tuesday we can test it out with the bike on it.

[ShogunTX]

Wicked cool man!

George, I think would could set up something for paypaling for plans. That may not be a bad Idea

[sweekster]

Impressive is the only word i can think of...

[yamaha_george]

Wicked cool man!

George, I think would could set up something for paypaling for plans. That may not be a bad Idea

BWeight
You have put a lot of effort & thought into this idea, so it would be good if this was recognised by those who want a version of their own. With PaYPal & electronic files it is a doddle to set up Plan sales. If nothing else yo will cover your R & D development materials which I do not think anyone will bitch about.

Be sure however to add a statement that your plans if used are the sole responsibility of who ever uses them. So if a bike fall because some one did some birdpoop welding it is their problem not yours
Best O' luck.

[bweight]

So it got cold here last week.. VERY cold.. Then we got lots more snow.. .. Everything was delayed in finishing the stand and testing it out.. That is until last night............

First, the final touches on the front stands.. Not painted but that's ok, I'll get to that sometime.









And now, what you've all been waiting for.. The bike actually mounted on the stand.. (**NOTE: The rear stand works great now that we shortened it.. However we can't lock it in place with the pins just yet because I have to re-drill the holes for it. The rear wheel will lift off the ground about 2" so that you can remove it. I will be replacing the 2" casters with 3" casters as well to give more travel of the handle, thus raising the bike even more off the stands.**)











I hope to have the front fixed tonight possibly, it's gotta be made shorter since my measurements were off... but either way, it'll work. And when the bikes on the stands, I'll have it tied down and move it around the garage and record a video..

[yamaha_george]

So it got cold here last week.. VERY cold.. Then we got lots more snow.. .. Everything was delayed in finishing the stand and testing it out.. That is until last night............

First, the final touches on the front stands.. Not painted but that's ok, I'll get to that sometime.
<SNIP>
And now, what you've all been waiting for.. The bike actually mounted on the stand.. (**NOTE: The rear stand works great now that we shortened it.. However we can't lock it in place with the pins just yet because I have to re-drill the holes for it. The rear wheel will lift off the ground about 2" so that you can remove it. I will be replacing the 2" casters with 3" casters as well to give more travel of the handle, thus raising the bike even more off the stands.**)
<SNIP>
I hope to have the front fixed tonight possibly, it's gotta be made shorter since my measurements were off... but either way, it'll work. And when the bikes on the stands, I'll have it tied down and move it around the garage and record a video..

B,
How about making the tops of each stand

A} adjustable for height using a slightly bigger pipe as per the bottom piece & lock pins

B} interchangeable top pieces to say take paddock hooks for bobbins


to see what I mean :-
http://saltmine.org.uk/fzr/paddockstand.html

which will lift both my RD's & my FZR which require different lift heights & widths

[bweight]

Absolutely George, we noticed a few things last night that sorta hampered it going smoothly.. I want to change a few things before finalizing it all.. However for my bike in particular I don't have the bobbins or anything so the saddles from my old stand will suffice.. We started doing up a parts list and what-not on the weekend and in the end, the way you actually have the bike mounted to the stand is entirely up to each and every person.. With so many different bikes out there, with different size wheels, swingarm styles/widths, bike lengths, etc, it's almost entirely impossible to make this stand 100% universal, however if I can make the design aspect of it and the general layout universal, then if anyone does buy one or the plans, they can tailor it to meet their needs.


I'll definitely take it into consideration though as I do know many people have swingarm spools and those make things easier to use the mounts.