How to tie down motorcycle in the garage?

[jacq]

Hi,

I'm planning to do some maintenance on my bike, which will sometimes require the removal of one or both of its wheels.
I don't have a ramp or lift, so I will be using the centre stand for most of the work.
However, I would like to tie down the bike to ensure a safe working environment for both myself and the bike.
Can you please suggest any ideas or advice on how to tie down the bike in my garage?
I'd prefer not to add permanent anchors to the concrete garage floor as they can be an obstruction and a tripping hazard.
Unless you know anything that can be easily removed from the floor when not used.

 

[Ianak]

suspend from the roof beams couple of ratchet straps
I have an RSJ steel beam and trolly with chain block in mine

 

[Pootler]

When doing wheel off or other heavier work I use a wheel chock and rear paddock stand that hold the front and rear of the bike steady and upright. I my case (F70GS) I use the ABBAstands wheel chock and tie the front wheel to the upright to ensure there is no chance of it coming out. No ground anchors or drilling required no £500 specialist bulky bike lift, does the job for me, ok for most jobs except front wheel work.

 

[Davey B]

I've used some heath robinson ground based stuff but now just use a couple of ratchet straps, a la Ianak.... 1 front, 1 rear up round the roof joists (as the bike is balancing most of its weight on the stand, all they're doing is stabilising it, not that much weight being put thru them. They wrok well

 

[stratblue]

Put some rings into a scaffold plank or something and tie it down to that maybe?

 

[Pukmeister]

On centrestand I remove the front wheel, refit the bare front wheel spindle with an axle stand under it, then remove the rear wheel.

Trolley jack/softwood under the FD casing to provide light pressure just to keep it from see-sawing on the centrestand.

 

[jacq]

Put some rings into a scaffold plank or something and tie it down to that maybe?

Interestingly enough while looking for solutions I found the video below.
The author built a wooden construction with some screw-in anchors to support a basic scissor lift. He does not use a centre stand, but maybe something similar could be used.
The weight of the bike would keep it on the ground. Otherwise, the plank itself would need to be somehow fixed to the floor.

 

[Pukmeister]

I forgot to add, put a ratchet strap between centrestand and front wheel spindle, keeps it under tension and stops the risk of it popping off the centrestand with no wheels fitted.

 

[stratblue]

Put some rings into a scaffold plank or something and tie it down to that maybe?

Add some castors and you can move it around.

 

[SBD]

You’d want something under the ends of the transverse planks, otherwise it’ll rock on (one of the) the two longitudinal ones. Might not fall over, but will require a change of skiddies.

 

[theoneandonly]

https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/113438-m8-eye-bolt-sold-in-1-s

drill hole , insert and fix
use , remove afterwards.
reusable and cheap.

 

[jacq]

https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/113438-m8-eye-bolt-sold-in-1-s

drill hole , insert and fix
use , remove afterwards.
reusable and cheap.

This is an interesting idea. Thx.

 

[Lord Snooty]

After you remove the front wheel replace the axle spindle and put an axle stand or a trolley jack underneath it; this will prevent the bike rocking forwards and coming off the main stand when you remove the rear wheel. You could also pop something underneath the rear shaft drive to stop any rearward movement.

 

[Steve398]

I forgot to add, put a ratchet strap between centrestand and front wheel spindle, keeps it under tension and stops the risk of it popping off the centrestand with no wheels fitted.

Good advice… I managed to pick up a wheel-less ZX10 on my own by a combination of panic/adrenaline when I omitted this step.

 

[steadysteve]

Bear in mind a trolley jack may settle over time. I left my wheel-less RT for 24 hours supported by a trolley jack under the engine while the wheels were away at the tyre fitters. The next day when I came to refit the wheels the bike was on the point of toppling forward because the jack and dropped slightly.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Bear in mind a trolley jack may settle over time. I left my wheel-less RT for 24 hours supported by a trolley jack under the engine while the wheels were away at the tyre fitters. The next day when I came to refit the wheels the bike was on the point of toppling forward because the jack and dropped slightly.

Good point, well made

 

[dashfixer]

I put the front axle back in the forks and use this screw jack to support it. The jack is about 65 years old but you have fine adjustment and it never sags.

 

[theoneandonly]

so...what have you done ?

 

[jacq]

I finally installed my solution yesterday:

- drilled holes in the concrete floor (12mm)
- installed Rawlplug R-RBL Rawlbolt Shield Anchor Eye Bolt M6
- added heavy duty carabineer clips

That way I can attach straps with ratchets to a carabineer




When not used I will remove the Eye bolt and replace it with a pan-head M6 screw

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