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Bike ramp
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I may be about to buy a SOB, and I'll need to trailer / van it home[1].
I can hire a van OK (no tow bar on the car), but getting a ramp looks
like it's going to cost £65, which is a large proportion of what the
bike's going to cost.
Does anyone have one I can borrow for a day or so, or possibly know of
a cheap one available?
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Scaffold plank, from all good builders merchants, about a tenner.
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reminds me of a time i was touring with a mate in the south of france,
he had a new r1100gs and needed his first tyre change. we stopped at
guichard in montpellier
a tiny wizened man, must have been about 90, came grinning out from the
repair bay at the back. he probably only came up to the handlebars on
the bmw. he didn't even bother getting on the bike properly, just
balanced on the left hand side peg to put it in gear, and was off round
the back with it, up a ramp and round an 90 degree corner before you could
say jack robinson. startled we were.
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How about a van with a tail lift - usually only another £10 - £15 a day to
hire, saves all the grunting and straining (with the bike that is), most
have a working load of 1/2 ton or more, so unless you're fetching a Boss Hog
home...
Otherwise a scaffold plank might do it if the bike's not too heavy, or even
a pair / a single car wheel ramp, if the van floor's not too high - how many
mates to help? Four of us managed to get a Honda Dullsville[1] into the back
of a Suzuki Carry[n+1] without a ramp...
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Amazing what can be accomplished with a bit of manpower and ingenuity.
watching the marshals at Parliament Square moving bikes parked in a 'no
go' area, whose owners had wandered off, is amusing. A scaffold pole
under the steering head with a marshal each end was effective on almost
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Can you elaborate? That sounds like a technique that could be useful.
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everything. The only thing to defeat them was IIRC a speed triple with a
steering lock on. That took four of them to manhandle away.
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On Friday night Danny and I physically lifted the ZX10R racebike into
the back of a hired Transit van between us with no ramp[1]. it took
seconds and wasn't that difficult.
[1] The co-owner of our race van had gone to Wales in it with his
TDR250, taking the loading ramp with him. Danny had to hire one for
the weekend.
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[1] it might be possible to ride it home, but I haven't got the time to
muck about if not. It's cheaper to hire a van than get the train there
too.
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Or get me to do it for you, of course ;-)
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