Motorbike dolly: bigger casters?

[er-minio]

Having sorted the door and having now access to the garage (without having to roll on the floor under a partially opened broken up and over metal door ) I'm back in trying to sort out the space.

I have an extra bike in this lock-up (as I'm sharing the place with its owner). It is an old Norton Commando 650. It needs some (lots) of love, and will be looked after in the future, but at the moment it is a (very heavy) lump of metal that occupies space and it's a bit difficult to move around, and keeps pissing oil... but I guess that is standard on an English bike.

A friend of mine gave me a motorbike dolly some time ago.
Looks similar to this:



I put my GS on top of it but, as the floor is cement, it is VERY hard to move it around.

My question is: are there dollies engineered in order to have larger casters so to be movable on non-polished floors?
My plan would be to place the Norton on it and move her as close as possible to the wall. Bike is never moved (for now), but I have to keep it accessible as it's not mine and I want the owner to be able to move it out whenever they want, in case I'm away.

 

[NeilDD]

Just buy some new casters for that one.
Larger nylon wheels will make it easier to move, but harder to get onto the centre stand

 

[er-minio]

Yes, that would be a decent option actually.

 

[er-minio]

I'll start looking for better rollers.

 

[oblertone]

Amazon have loads of castors; I've put a few machines on 3" ones for not much money.

 

[grantmac]

View attachment 495237

I'll start looking for better rollers.

I would definitely get a new set of casters. I have couple of these from Louis which are really great for smaller bikes on a smooth floor.. I use them with our scooters.
I did use one with my GS and the casters eventually simply weakened and fell apart shedding their ball bearings making them impossible to move at all. Good thing is you can simply change out the casters with something bigger and stronger so thats all you need to do

 

[L2RKE]

But... If you put bigger castor on it the lift/ lock won't work will it ?

 

[littleade]

View attachment 495237

I'll start looking for better rollers.

Looks like your floor might be the problem. The dollies really need a clean, hard, flat and even surface to work properly because there's not much clearance between the floor and the underneath of the deck because of the effect extra height of the deck from the floor has on how easy/hard it is the heave the bike onto the centre stand. My dolly sometimes snags on my garage floor with my1250RS onboard if a chipping from our aging tarmac drive gets caught underneath.

 

[er-minio]

I’ll try to use casters of similar height. The floor doesn’t touch the belly of the dolly, but still prevents those wheels from rolling. Larger ones might work.

Main issue I have is that it is near impossible to lift the Norton on the centre stand (or I lack “technique”) on the normal floor… on the dolly it is not even a question.
I tried yesterday evening.

 

[DrFarkoff]

I’ll try to use casters of similar height. The floor doesn’t touch the belly of the dolly, but still prevents those wheels from rolling. Larger ones might work.

Main issue I have is that it is near impossible to lift the Norton on the centre stand (or I lack “technique”) on the normal floor… on the dolly it is not even a question.
I tried yesterday evening.

I have one of those lifting plates, (threaded screw No Hydraulics!) So I can get the old GS as close to a particular space as possible and not have to bump it up on the centre stand

Just use as is to prop the bike up or weld it to the Dolly ?? And add a couple of tie down points to the dolly as per the Hydraulic one Small bore exhaust U bolts and some extra buts could do if you have no welder or don;t want to burn paint




The lift below worked well too when I had it perhaps a good brush of the floor might assist and a strip of metal to run it in and out on ?

Oh and if you are leaving it extended for a long time ? Spray the hydraulic piston with cavity wax or something to protect it

 

[Mr Bean]

I replaced the wheels on my skylift with (I think) 100mm braked ones from Amazon.

My garage floor is not perfectly smooth.

Not the same machine but similar principle

Just checked, £25.00 for 4, today.

 

[grantmac]

But... If you put bigger castor on it the lift/ lock won't work will it ?

Yes valid point but my experience is not to lock the dolly when doing the lift…my garage is like a billiard table and has a painted floor with a special rubber like paint and i find when lifting the bike onto the dolly on the centre stand actually having that bit of movement helps the raising process. Getting it off the dolly does require the locking bar mechanism. I am sure you can buy casters that lock individually so no need for the locking bar

Looks like your floor might be the problem. The dollies really need a clean, hard, flat and even surface to work properly because there's not much clearance between the floor and the underneath of the deck because of the effect extra height of the deck from the floor has on how easy/hard it is the heave the bike onto the centre stand. My dolly sometimes snags on my garage floor with my1250RS onboard if a chipping from our aging tarmac drive gets caught underneath.

That is indeed one of the biggest issues…..the clearance between dolly bed and the ground…lLifting a GSA onto same can be difficult. I find with my 1300 Adventure with the auto raising feature when pitting the bike onto the centre stand helps hugely making it much easier

 

[er-minio]

So I can get the old GS as close to a particular space as possible and not have to bump it up on the centre stand

Yep, I have on of these to work on the DRZ (foot operated).
Even though the DRZ rests propped against a wall.

I can put the GSA on the dolly easily. It's just near impossible to roll it around.

Having moved the GS back into the garage yesterday I think this needs rethinking (Norton "uses" a lot of space and parking the GS is a nightmare) as maybe the dolly is not the solution.

I will try better casters still, they do not cost that much and it's worth a try.

Mr Bean: do you have an Amazon link to the wheels you bought?

 

[DevonAl]

Try and find some used rubber sheet, 5-6mm, gym mats etc, smooths out an irregular floor pretty well.

 

[er-minio]

Wouldn't "soft" matting make things worse?

I briefly considered interlocking tiles initially. But then we had to move in quickly.
A bench has been built on the end wall, and there in a ground anchor on the floor for the HP2. Even though... I guess one can cut around it...

 

[Mr Bean]

Mr Bean: do you have an Amazon link to the wheels you bought?

In Florence at the moment, will try and get it later

 

[er-minio]

Thanks a lot. Absolutely not in a rush. Even in a few weeks we're good
Enjoy Florence.

 

[Gee-]

Or an alternative buy yourself some 3/4" ply board 8' x 4'ft sheets, perhaps get off cuts or secondhand cheaper, no need to nail them down just cut them out to fit the garage space, screw boards together with some thin metal plates, chiselled out to make a finished smooth fit.

Any dolly wheel will roll on them, then you wont get covered in floor dust as you look under your lifted bike.

Catchment basin under oil dripping bike, or drain it's old oil out of sump! Until ready to work on it in future.
Psst. remember to leave a note, saying, "oil drained" placed on the speedo glass.

 

[Mr Bean]

Thanks a lot. Absolutely not in a rush. Even in a few weeks we're good
Enjoy Florence.

Florence is good, be even better if the drizzle stopped...

Amazon.co.uk

There are some for less on their Amazon site

 

[er-minio]

Thank you, much appreciated.