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Motorcycle Dolly

S

sterob

New member
I've got 6 Beemers ( all Airheads except for 1 ) and I have been thinking of buying some Dollys to make moving them around easier.
I made a couple where you put the bike on the centre stand and wheel them around, but the bikes are a little unstable and difficult to get up there. ( I'm an AK amputee, not that its a huge factor. )
I am leaning towards the 'long' type, where you wheel the bike up and lean on its side stand( these are cheaper ), or where the front wheel goes into a chock and the bike is upright.

Then there is the 'Skate' type where the rear wheel sits on the Dolly and the front wheel stays on the ground and is used to steer.....( these are cheap too ) They look a little awkward to me?

I may end up getting 4 of these....dunno yet.

I have to store 4 of my bikes in a 6 x 3 m storage unit for a while and want to maximise the space. Have lots of other gear to get in as well....lol


Has anyone had any experience with either type? The cheap ones good enough or is the 'chocked' type worth the extra expense, seeing as I will be getting 4 or 5?
Steve

Dolly 1.JPG Dolly 2.JPG Dolly 3.JPG
 
I have one of the long cheaper models for my Concours, works fine, easy to move no issues. I don't know if there is a Harbor Freight in OZ, but they were pretty reasonable, when I used one of their discount tickets.
The only issue I had was when I used the locking feet at each end of the dolly (which raise the ends so wheels don't make contact) , when i started to move bike upright the dolly shot out to the side a bit and I had to catch bike from falling over. Saw that when I engaged one end after the other was engaged it would sometimes cause the first end to flip down back on wheels.

Other than that one mishap, been pretty happy with the dolly.
 
It is interesting that people with serious questions get these stupid answers and comments from jokers who think they are funny!

Shame!
 
My father has the Harbor Freight version (like your first picture) for his K75RT - it works well and is pretty easy to move. He added a 2x4 to the kickstand portion so it would sit closer to the wall. Over I think it's pretty stable.

I have a motorcycle lift like the one that ExGMan linked to on Amazon (Mine is also from HF). I've used it to push my bikes into the corner with another person is around for support. These types of lifts are great to use when working on the bike, but I wouldn't suggest that you use them to actually move your bike around, the bike is too unstable and it's a lot of weight for those small wheels.

Previous discussion:
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?67607-Motorcycle-dolly

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?90641-Park-n-Move-by-Legal-Speeding&highlight=dolly
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I ended up ordering 4 of these.
Dolly 1.JPG

I will look at adding a single rachet strap to the bike to keep it on its sidestand when moving it around.
I think its the best solution for me,
Steve
 
Please report back on how well you like them. I have a two car garage and one of these is my strategy to keeping a bike off the street under a cover (where the old one was) and in between my cars.

The jack that ExGMan posts is great for maintenance but isn't good for storage. I used that to "restore" my R65. I would chock up the frame with some 2x4s and took the whole bike apart that way. I still used a strap as it was sort of unstable.
 
Sterob,

Just to reiterate my warning:

When I was taking my Concours off the style dolly you chose, I had the same bad dolly issue yesterday. After I flipped the lever to lift up the front end then went back to do the rear, the front would flip down as soon as the rear was engaged. Went to the front to engage, soon as I did the rear flipped down on the wheels.

Gets really scary when you lift the weight off the side stand to upright the bike and the wheels are down on either end, the rack tries to shoot out from underneath flipping bike into you. So be careful when locking and unloading the dolly, I had to go back and forth a few times till I managed to get them to stay lifted.
 
R65_Steve said:
Please report back on how well you like them. I have a two car garage and one of these is my strategy to keeping a bike off the street under a cover (where the old one was) and in between my cars.

The jack that ExGMan posts is great for maintenance but isn't good for storage. I used that to "restore" my R65. I would chock up the frame with some 2x4s and took the whole bike apart that way. I still used a strap as it was sort of unstable.
Click to expand...

Will do. Hope they will be fine as I have no way to 'test' before I buy....
 
jagarra said:
Sterob,

Just to reiterate my warning:

When I was taking my Concours off the style dolly you chose, I had the same bad dolly issue yesterday. After I flipped the lever to lift up the front end then went back to do the rear, the front would flip down as soon as the rear was engaged. Went to the front to engage, soon as I did the rear flipped down on the wheels.

Gets really scary when you lift the weight off the side stand to upright the bike and the wheels are down on either end, the rack tries to shoot out from underneath flipping bike into you. So be careful when locking and unloading the dolly, I had to go back and forth a few times till I managed to get them to stay lifted.
Click to expand...

Thanks...I will keep an eye on that. If it does happen, hopefully I can work out a mod to stop it happening.:thumb
 
jagarra said:
Sterob,

Just to reiterate my warning:

When I was taking my Concours off the style dolly you chose, I had the same bad dolly issue yesterday. After I flipped the lever to lift up the front end then went back to do the rear, the front would flip down as soon as the rear was engaged. Went to the front to engage, soon as I did the rear flipped down on the wheels.

Gets really scary when you lift the weight off the side stand to upright the bike and the wheels are down on either end, the rack tries to shoot out from underneath flipping bike into you. So be careful when locking and unloading the dolly, I had to go back and forth a few times till I managed to get them to stay lifted.
Click to expand...

I have had this thing for about 2 months and I have the same issue of the ends flipping when you flip the other end. When I unload it, I flip open the side with the front wheel and take the bike off and not worry about it. When I get the bike off, I turn it around and flip both ends down. My garage floor is slippery with a coating. Where the leading edge (front wheel) is, I place a rubber matt (tool drawer liner) under the foot to keep it from sliding when I try and load the bike.

I try and load the bike by walking it on. Just rolling. With the bags, it's a little heavy in the rear. On Saturday, I tried goosing it on with the throttle and I'm not so good at low speed stuff. The front wheel went over the front stop bar and tipped over. It was a challenge righting the bike, because it's heavy (and only a naked) and I was worried the dolly would shoot out sideways. It didn't but I need to be more careful.
 
I realize that you've already made your decision, but if for some reason those dollys don't work out, I favor the Park‒n‒Move. It goes under your center stand. I hit an obstacle when moving the bike around on it once and the center stand collapsed. I was able to catch the bike and keep it from falling, but now I secure the center stand with a racheting strap and I check for obstructions before I move the bike.

It helps to get the bike onto the center stand if you elevate the front wheel a bit. I use a stack of magazines I place on the ground when I pull into the garage. I have one edge tapered and then duct taped the stack into a solid unit. I ride up on it when I pull in.

[ATTACH]70503._xfImport[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]70504._xfImport[/ATTACH]
 
Those center stand dollies work pretty good, I have the cheaper version for my R90 and it works OK. The issue I have with that style is that you have to get the bike up on it and you have changed your fulcrum length when you place a stand underneath the center stand, so it becomes so much harder to get the bike up on the new platform.

I am using the side stand dolly primarily because it's easier to get the bike on it. Maybe a modification is in order for the front flapper of the HF unit, either drill a hole so a screw or bolt can be stuck in side when raised so it can't flip or bend the arm so that the flapper can rotate just a bit further. I am thinking that it is not rotating far enough when raised to get past the center of the fulcrum.
 
beemerdood said:
I realize that you've already made your decision, but if for some reason those dollys don't work out, I favor the Park‒n‒Move. It goes under your center stand. I hit an obstacle when moving the bike around on it once and the center stand collapsed. I was able to catch the bike and keep it from falling, but now I secure the center stand with a racheting strap and I check for obstructions before I move the bike.

It helps to get the bike onto the center stand if you elevate the front wheel a bit. I use a stack of magazines I place on the ground when I pull into the garage. I have one edge tapered and then duct taped the stack into a solid unit. I ride up on it when I pull in.

[ATTACH]70503[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]70504[/ATTACH]
Click to expand...

I just got one of these for moving my bikes around in the off-season storage unit. In addition to the mounting difficulties that Jag describes, my ‘84 RT really exceeds the device’s 500-lb weight rating. Probably because of this, it wasn’t really very easy to move the bike around once it was on the thing, even on smooth concrete. I’ll use it for my Vespa P200, which is only half the weight of the RT.
 
FWIW- a half century of rigging has me look at this device and I would pass on it. I guess it would be the difference between stopping on two wheels and stopping on four wheels. It’s not that I think that it is a bad idea, I just see everything needing to be “just right” for it to work well.
Add the fact that the center-stand folds and I would rather see the long ramp or channel style with two sets of wheels.
As always, YMMV.
OM
 
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