DIY Motorcycle Dolly

I live in an apartment with a small one car garage so space to store the VFR is limited. I tried a Harbor Freight motorcycle dolly but it was too long for what I needed so I decided to make one.

I started by mounting the wheel chock on the end of the 2X12. For this I just drilled thru holes and used the mounting hardware that came with the wheel chock.

I put the bike in the wheel chock and measured where I wanted to cut my 2X12. I put my cut line about 2" past the end of the rear wheel. This way the ramp can rest against the wheel during storage.

I cut the 2X12 and then mounted the casters to the bottom using lag bolts and washers. The casters were the most expensive part of this build, about $10 a piece. But they have ball bearings in the wheels and roll really nice. Each caster is rated for 110 lbs. so I went with 6 of them just to be safe.

I used the left over piece of 2X12 for the ramp (Originally I tried to get away with a 1/2" piece of plywood for this but it cracked right when I tried to roll the bike up it). I mounted the ramp with door hinges and the hardware that came with them.

Next I added the side guides using the 2X4s. I cut a 45 degree angle into the ends where the guide on the ramp meet the guides on the main platform. These guides are really helpful. I tried to put the bike on the dolly without them it was very difficult to get the bike lined up properly.

Getting the bike on and off is pretty easy but takes some effort. Because the dolly is so short the rear tire is still going up the ramp at the same time as you are trying to push the front tire into the wheel chock so you need some momentum. The dolly stays in place when loading/unloading the bike with all the caster brakes on.

All in the supplies were about $200.

I plan to store the bike on this dolly over the winter. I'm not sure if I will cause any damage to the front tire by storing it in the wheel chock. It's no deforming the tire much it's just kind of resting in there.

Thanks for reading ,let me know what you think!

 

Nice

 

Nice work, Jonathan! How and where to keep our bikes can be a real challenge sometimes! Appreciate your sharing this with us.

My only comment would be how the kickstand interfaces with this endeavour. Most of them seem a bit precarious when the bike is on the ground floor. Elevating the bike but not the stand seems like it would exasperate the situation. Guess that's where a block of wood or paver would come in handy....which is how I handle it.

Or does the chock alone secure it upright?

 

Yeah the only thing keeping the bike upright is the chock. I've been storing it this way for a couple months now, works great!

 

I don't think that chock will cause any damage to your wheel or tire at all. Nice work.