building a ramp for a shipping container?

[nobbie48]

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A yard of gravel solves your issues and isn't slippery.

The problem is the door hardware. It looks to me that the vertical bars need several inches of clearance to swing out.

For twice a year, kicking around some gravel isn't a big deal, maybe even use thin sandbags. For everyday riding I'd want something quick and easy. Never take the fun out of a ride by needing a mechano set to get the bike in and out.

If a shallow four-foot ditch would allow the doors to swing free, a removable four-foot ramp, six to eight feet wide would close the gap.

Would a pair of 40X48 skids do the job if the tops were filled?

 

[sburns]

I think you need to post a pic from the side showing the slope or ground leading up to the container.

I think a combination of things can work some dirt or gravel as @GreyGhost mentioned and a long ramp.

Or evel kinievel the bike out of the container!

 

[Dirty Frank]

@Dirty Frank - What are "stick and fittings"?

The stick would be a piece of unistrut and the fittings are the unistrut accessories that fit together like a grownup erector set to help fabricate projects without any welding or specialized machining.
If you have time check out the online unistrut catalog their products can really simplify difficult builds and projects.

 

[PrivatePilot]

A yard of gravel solves your issues and isn't slippery.

I'd use fine crushed limestone, but yeah, KISS. Once packed into place limestone really holds it's form and is quite hard especially once it's settled and packed. Worse case, level it carefully and throw some cheap 4x4 pavers from Home Depot on top of the limestone and boom, concrete ramp.

But unless you're mashing your brakes or spinning your rear wheel while entering and exiting I'd think the limestone alone would do the job.

Rent one of the open bed uhaul trailers, hit your local landscape supply place and you could easily get enough in there without overloading it too badly, and even if it is overloaded, well, it's a uhaul trailer, those things could survive hauling the Queen Mary.

 

[timtune]

The problem is the door hardware. It looks to me that the vertical bars need several inches of clearance to swing out.

For twice a year, kicking around some gravel isn't a big deal, maybe even use thin sandbags. For everyday riding I'd want something quick and easy. Never take the fun out of a ride by needing a mechano set to get the bike in and out.

If a shallow four-foot ditch would allow the doors to swing free, a removable four-foot ramp, six to eight feet wide would close the gap.

Would a pair of 40X48 skids do the job if the tops were filled?

If you owned a KLR it would be parked by now.

 

[NuggyBuggy]

A yard of gravel solves your issues and isn't slippery.

My wife isn't letting me put gravel there. As it is, it borders one of her gardens (you can't tell because nothing's in bloom). The spot looks like crap in the picture but there's a lot of debris there and the grass hasn't come back yet.

I could put the container where our garage was ( it burned to the ground), but that was on the top of a rise and that would be putting it up in a much more visible spot. It's not a bad looking container as far as they go, but we still don't want to make it a centre piece. And, where it is right now it sort of blocks out our neighbours a bit.

We have a gravelled driveway with plenty of room that it could go on too. No way that's happening either. She is already unhappy about our utility trailer there. Actually, she's unhappy with my Multistrada parked in front of her window. Some of you may have spouses like mine.

 

[NuggyBuggy]

View attachment 73581

My iron 1200 would bottom out and get stuck, so I totally get the ground clearance issue... But honestly I think even my Vespa would clear that just fine.

Did you check out the wood ramp I made?

I did. It was a nice video. I'm not sure I see the purpose of your adding the wings to the sides of the ramp though. It makes it wider, but your bike still isn't getting past the rails of the original ramp. Is it just to give someone more room to walk it up if they wanted?

I tried riding my bike over the lip. It wasn't going over. I think it measures about 10-11" from ground to deck. Ground clearance isn't my problem, but the rear wheel would lose all traction as soon as the front hit the ledge. Maybe with more speed, but I chickened out. I'm not tall enough to be able to lift the front wheel over. Maybe if I wheelied in.

It looks like the container opens to a slope, which is just plain lawn, or natural surface. No wonder you find the ramp slippery.

Very astute! That's exactly right. The lawn slopes down towards the camera. Even once on ground, you're still walking a bike backwards down a grassy slope.

But I don't think the ground slope is what made my "ramp" slippery... it was the surface of my dock boards I think, plus the fact that it was so narrow. I had to walk it up the ramp because I'm short. My bike is pretty tall so I have to walk with the bike up the ramp, and that's pretty tight. I think it would have been better if my boards were perpendicular to the direction of travel.

But yeah, that wood is deceivingly slippery. People would wipe out on it in the summer in Crocs if the dock was a little damp.

 

[NuggyBuggy]

Getting the bike in isn't nearly as challenging as getting it out, so I considered maybe turning the bike around in the container and then riding it out. But I measured out dimensions and the interior of the container is only 5" wider than the bike. I don't have the energy to make a 50-point turn. Something like a Bursig stand could work but then I'd sacrifice so much storage space just to provide for the turn.

@sburns I should have taken a picture of the side aspect of the container - you're right. The picture doesn't show the slope. It's not that bad, but it just adds to the problem.

 

[GreyGhost]

Getting the bike in isn't nearly as challenging as getting it out, so I considered maybe turning the bike around in the container and then riding it out. But I measured out dimensions and the interior of the container is only 5" wider than the bike. I don't have the energy to make a 50-point turn. Something like a Bursig stand could work but then I'd sacrifice so much storage space just to provide for the turn.

@sburns I should have taken a picture of the side aspect of the container - you're right. The picture doesn't show the slope. It's not that bad, but it just adds to the problem.

If you trust the floor, tip the bike onto the side stand and spin it around the foot. That doesn't solve your elevation issue but riding the bike forwards is a lot easier than backing it down.

 

[Relax]

If you trust the floor, tip the bike onto the side stand and spin it around the foot. That doesn't solve your elevation issue but riding the bike forwards is a lot easier than backing it down.

Not just the floor, but your engine cases for those that have the kick stand mounted to it like Ducati and KTM.

 

[adri]

I did. It was a nice video. I'm not sure I see the purpose of your adding the wings to the sides of the ramp though. It makes it wider, but your bike still isn't getting past the rails of the original ramp. Is it just to give someone more room to walk it up if they wanted?

I tried riding my bike over the lip. It wasn't going over. I think it measures about 10-11" from ground to deck. Ground clearance isn't my problem, but the rear wheel would lose all traction as soon as the front hit the ledge. Maybe with more speed, but I chickened out. I'm not tall enough to be able to lift the front wheel over. Maybe if I wheelied in.


Very astute! That's exactly right. The lawn slopes down towards the camera. Even once on ground, you're still walking a bike backwards down a grassy slope.

But I don't think the ground slope is what made my "ramp" slippery... it was the surface of my dock boards I think, plus the fact that it was so narrow. I had to walk it up the ramp because I'm short. My bike is pretty tall so I have to walk with the bike up the ramp, and that's pretty tight. I think it would have been better if my boards were perpendicular to the direction of travel.

But yeah, that wood is deceivingly slippery. People would wipe out on it in the summer in Crocs if the dock was a little damp.

Ok understood but look at the orientation of the wood boards in my ramp, then look at the orientation of the wood boards in yours.


Are you using your ramp so the wood boards for parallel with the bike or perpendicular to it?

Ok mine, everything goes perpendicular to the bike. Lines and holes are there on both the wood ramp I made and the cargo truck ramp both going perpendicular to the bike.

Based on your description I'm wondering if you're using your ramp the long way and your boards are running parallel to the bike. If so, that's why you have no grip and it feels slidy. You're giving it a long smooth surface, instead of a bunch of on and off surfaces for it to keep getting traction, and stop sliding, on.





If you're going the long way down your ramp, you've essentially made a fun slide, more than you've made a cargo ramp.

Try the short way across your ramp. It should feel much better.

If the short way still feels slippery, sometimes you honestly just need to let it and don't fight it because if you're going the short way across your ramp your rear tire will hit ground before the bike can get too sideways.

The reason I added the side extensions on my long ramp is because I'm coming down (or up) 6 ft in the air...on a 19 ft long ramp, it takes a few seconds to ride up or down, so with the side extensions if my dog or a tenant decided to run in the way, I can stop mid ramp and put both feet down.

 

[mimico_polak]

Lots of good tips here, especially for the vertically challenged like myself!

I'm fairly comfortable now getting the bike up under it's own power onto the trailer (about 24") but I'm now trying to figure out safest / easiest way to get it into the back of the Maverick.

I've got a tri-fold ramp so thinking of putting in plywood on the sides for walking space, and keeping the middle open as it is.

 

[Relax]

Lots of good tips here, especially for the vertically challenged like myself!

I'm fairly comfortable now getting the bike up under it's own power onto the trailer (about 24") but I'm now trying to figure out safest / easiest way to get it into the back of the Maverick.

I've got a tri-fold ramp so thinking of putting in plywood on the sides for walking space, and keeping the middle open as it is.

I don't know how tall the tailgate is on your Maverick, but when I was loading bikes into my Odyssey, I'd drive straight off my driveway into the middle of the street so the hatch was overhanging the end of my driveway. That gave me the most shallow ramp angle from the driveway. That said, I've never used the bike's power to go up a ramp, so it probably won't make as much difference if you do.

 

[timtune]

That said, I've never used the bike's power to go up a ramp,

Once you get the hang of it, it sure beats pushing.

 

[mimico_polak]

I don't know how tall the tailgate is on your Maverick, but when I was loading bikes into my Odyssey, I'd drive straight off my driveway into the middle of the street so the hatch was overhanging the end of my driveway. That gave me the most shallow ramp angle from the driveway. That said, I've never used the bike's power to go up a ramp, so it probably won't make as much difference if you do.

I've had one bike tip on me before while going up the ramp, the 500X as it's considerably taller than my previous bikes.

But with the Scrambler, clutch it in under power is easy on the trailer. But the truck is more of a concern simply due to the additional height.

Will have to figure it out eventually, but finding a slope is the easiest option by far!

 

[GreyGhost]

I've had one bike tip on me before while going up the ramp, the 500X as it's considerably taller than my previous bikes.

But with the Scrambler, clutch it in under power is easy on the trailer. But the truck is more of a concern simply due to the additional height.

Will have to figure it out eventually, but finding a slope is the easiest option by far!

If you back into a ditch you can end up with a ramp down into the bed. Truck may struggle to climb out again in a ditch that big though.

 

[NuggyBuggy]

I don't know how tall the tailgate is on your Maverick, but when I was loading bikes into my Odyssey, I'd drive straight off my driveway into the middle of the street so the hatch was overhanging the end of my driveway. That gave me the most shallow ramp angle from the driveway.

I sold my last bike to a guy in a parking lot. He brought a pickup truck but forgot a ramp. We found a hill on one side of the parking lot and he backed the truck up to the hill and we just rolled her in.

Based on your description I'm wondering if you're using your ramp the long way and your boards are running parallel to the bike. If so, that's why you have no grip and it feels slidy. You're giving it a long smooth surface, instead of a bunch of on and off surfaces for it to keep getting traction, and stop sliding, on.

You're right about the board orientation. Earlier I speculate that the orientation may have been part of my problem. Last night I started thinking about creating mini-steps (say an inch or two high) in my ramp in the opposite direction, so that there would be little steps to slow and stabilize the bike as it rolled down. Now I am of the opinion that could cause more problems than they solve, especially as they introduce a tripping hazard.

Not just the floor, but your engine cases for those that have the kick stand mounted to it like Ducati and KTM.

View attachment 73589

The side stands on the Ducatis are well known to pose this kind of issue.

I have a centre stand, but am not sure whether it's mounted to the frame or the engine casing. Even if the centre stand was frame mounted, the bike would need to be perfectly positioned - can't reposition it forward without it rolling off.

I've always wanted a Bursig for so many reasons, but it would require an almost 7' circle of free space to be able to turn it around, drastically cutting into storage. Dynamoto (I think?) has front- and rear-stands that let you roll the bike around easily, but almost certainly wouldn't work with my limited clearance.

If it weren't for my need to absolutely maximize storage space - a tunnel (dual-door) container would be the perfect solution - drive in, drive out.

I'd just need two threads to build two ramps !

 

[NuggyBuggy]

I've had one bike tip on me before while going up the ramp, the 500X as it's considerably taller than my previous bikes.

I dropped my Multi the first day I had it. It was a 7-h drive from QC to bring the bike home. Once I got it there, I just wanted to be done and get the trailer back to U-haul so I rushed getting it of.

I should have stopped and asked for help next door when I started backing it up and immediately realized those trailers are pretty slippery. But no, I'm stubborn.

Once it rolled it backwards a certain distance , the trailer tipped a little upwards at the front. Bike rolled back a bit, tipped away from me, and there was no way to save it. And that is how I christened my bike. She didn't have so much as a single scratch on her when I got her.

Now of course it's all moot as I've dropped it a few times, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Ash]

My wife isn't letting me put gravel there. As it is, it borders one of her gardens (you can't tell because nothing's in bloom). The spot looks like crap in the picture but there's a lot of debris there and the grass hasn't come back yet.

I could put the container where our garage was ( it burned to the ground), but that was on the top of a rise and that would be putting it up in a much more visible spot. It's not a bad looking container as far as they go, but we still don't want to make it a centre piece. And, where it is right now it sort of blocks out our neighbours a bit.

We have a gravelled driveway with plenty of room that it could go on too. No way that's happening either. She is already unhappy about our utility trailer there. Actually, she's unhappy with my Multistrada parked in front of her window. Some of you may have spouses like mine.

Semi-joke suggestion: attach an 8x8 plywood ramp to the exterior of the container, hinged at the bottom like a castle drawbridge. Dress up the underside of the ramp to look like a fence or shed to hide the aesthetics of the container when the drawbridge is raised.

Semi-serious suggestion: just screw some expanded metal sheet to your existing ramp for traction. Even a couple of layers of chicken wire mesh and a box of staples would help.

 

[nobbie48]

If you owned a KLR it would be parked by now.

Goldwings see walls. KLRs see challenges

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