Motorcycle Dolly | GTAMotorcycle.com

Motorcycle Dolly

KLR Junkie

KLR Junkie

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Hey all,

I'm looking at getting a couple of motorcycle dollies to make it easier to move the bikes around in the shop over the winter. The ones designed for bikes (long central rail with side-stand support rail sticking out the side) are pretty pricey at over $150.

On the other hand, a snowmobile dolly set like this one at Canadian Tire can be had for <$50.
1702313193409.jpeg

Can anyone think of any reason this wouldn't work for a bike? Maybe a little more difficult to install and get the bike up on the casters, but my bikes are fairly light. And I'd just secure the kickstand to the flat platform with a couple of zip ties to keep it from slipping off. Both of my bikes are under 450lbs, so weight shouldn't be an issue for the casters.
 
The nearly catastrophic level of PITA of getting the bike on and off of them would be the headline downside. Also I could see those rubber pads making the bike a hair unstable/wiggly on the dollies.

Eagerly awaiting the results of your experiment
 
Those particular ones are quite a bit too tall. I have used a pair of the 12" version of these for a number of years, which are lower profile: https://www.princessauto.com/en/tri-dollies/product/PA1000001553?skuId=8073330

The process is somewhat sketchy and you need to be confident in your technique. Put the bike in gear so the rear wheel doesn't rotate. Stand beside the bike on the kickstand side, reach over to the far side and pull the bike towards you, levering it up on the kickstand so the rear wheel is in the air. Kick the first dolly under the rear wheel and lower the bike down onto it. Then, stand the bike up and kick the second dolly under the kickstand. The whole rear of the bike can slide sideways away from you while you're standing the bike up.

Note that this setup really only works if your kickstand protrudes significantly outwards and forwards. A steeper, more vertical kickstand will fold up when you push the bike forwards unless you can find a way to lock it open. And even with the bike in gear, the rear wheel will also sometimes rotate a bit, although that's not nearly as bad as having the kickstand fold up on you.

Also note that even if you could get the front wheel onto a dolly, it will immediately rotate out of position when you push the bike. I suppose you could strap the front wheel so that it doesn't rotate, but it's not really necessary. Just having the rear of the bike mobile makes it easy enough to maneuver into tight spaces.

I also have a couple of this style of dolly (not this exact one, but similar): Kimpex Motorcycle Dolly - 250580 They're harder to store when you're not using them, but they're a much better choice for most people since you just roll the bike onto them. You do still need to be careful when pushing the bike forwards, as the kickstand can still fold up unless you can find a way to lock it open.
 
Why not try buying a used one off Kijiji as a first step? I'm sure they're out there (seen them) but for some reason Kijiji.ca is currently down.
 
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Here you go @KLR Junkie

www.kijiji.ca

Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds

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www.kijiji.ca

Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds

Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.
www.kijiji.ca www.kijiji.ca

Depending on where you are, it could work. Offer $20-40 less for the unit, and good to roll! Pun intended.

Another one:
www.kijiji.ca

Motorcycle dolly | Other | Oshawa / Durham Region | Kijiji

Hi all, Up for sale is a new condition 1250 lb. motorcycle dolly. This is great for motorcycle storage as the bike can be easily moved around once on the dolly. The dolly can be adjusted to fit any size bike. These are selling at princess auto for $200+… Asking $150 obo. Thanks for looking!
www.kijiji.ca www.kijiji.ca

www.kijiji.ca

Motorcycle dolly wheel chock mover | Other | Ottawa | Kijiji

For quick sale 175 firm
www.kijiji.ca www.kijiji.ca
 
An alternate solution is to avoid the kickstand entirely and store the bike upright on a simple wide dolly. For my trackbike which has no kickstand, I use one of these combined with two car jackstands: https://www.princessauto.com/en/900-lb-hardwood-platform-moving-dolly/product/PA0008533879

The dolly sits under the middle of the bike with the jackstands positioned under the fixed, non-folding footpegs. If you have regular folding footpegs you can flip them upside down so that they no longer fold upwards. Or you could rig up some wooden blocking if you have suitable exposed portions of the frame under the bike. I use a conventional rear trackstand to raise and lower the rear of the bike onto the jackstands, but you could potentially find a way to lever the bike up onto the dolly+jackstands/blocks without one.

If you have a centerstand you could use this type of thing, but they're the same price as the kickstand dollies: BikeTek Deluxe Centre Stand Bike Mover The Visor Shop.com

A conventional cheap moving dolly will be too tall to use with a centerstand.
 
As others have said, they are really tall and not a huge base. Seems dodgy.

If you want to reinvent the wheel, vehicle dollies sit much lower and have a large and more stable footprint. Not a whole lot cheaper than the proper solution though.

images
 
If you really want to save cash, just build it out of plywood, some 2x2s, and some casters.

It’ll be cheaper for sure.
 
Looks simple enough…


Although I’d prefer it to lean onto the kick stand. Something about only leaving the wheel in the chock sits wrong with me.
 
KLR Junkie said:
Hey all,

I'm looking at getting a couple of motorcycle dollies to make it easier to move the bikes around in the shop over the winter. The ones designed for bikes (long central rail with side-stand support rail sticking out the side) are pretty pricey at over $150.

On the other hand, a snowmobile dolly set like this one at Canadian Tire can be had for <$50.
View attachment 64809

Can anyone think of any reason this wouldn't work for a bike? Maybe a little more difficult to install and get the bike up on the casters, but my bikes are fairly light. And I'd just secure the kickstand to the flat platform with a couple of zip ties to keep it from slipping off. Both of my bikes are under 450lbs, so weight shouldn't be an issue for the casters.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking of a horse on roller skates, or a solution looking for a problem.

It wouldn't take much of a stone or unevenness in the surface to interfere with the caster resulting in the side stand folding up or the front wheel rolling off the platform.
 
xrljoel said:
I'm thinking of a horse on roller skates, or a solution looking for a problem.

It wouldn't take much of a stone or unevenness in the surface to interfere with the caster resulting in the side stand folding up or the front wheel rolling off the platform.
Click to expand...
Bingo! Cheap anything on wheels means cheap dolly assemblies that don't roll well. They hunt, wander and stall at their own whim. Good dollies are cheaper than motorcycle plastics and levers.
 
I bought 2 snowmobile dolly sets at Princess Auto last night.

The Honda CRF300L went onto the dollies no problem. The knobby tires help with keeping the dollies in position during setup. I just zip tied the dollies to the tires, then tilted the bike up onto the side stand and the weight of the dollies rotated them down into position under the wheels. A zip tie around the brake lever keeps the front wheel from rolling off and putting it in gear keeps the rear stable. Works a treat and solid as a rock. I think I might add a little rope from the front wheel to the kick stand just to prevent it from folding if it gets kicked.
20231212_084721_resized.jpg20231212_085407_resized.jpg
The KLR650 was a bit trickier, mostly due to the smoother street oriented tires not wanting to stay on the dolly during setup. I'm still pondering a better way of keeping the dollies under the wheels while getting everything in place. I may just attach the 2 wheel dollies together using a long board to keep them in the correct spot.

And yes, I am aware that at that point I would have created what is essentially a standard motorcycle dolly, only worse. However, $50 and a bit of trial and error compared to $150+++ for a pre-built dolly.... I mean, I am a KLR owner after all.
 
Ha! Got it! I had a thought and ran out to the shop to try it. I just used the car floor jack to lift the KLR front tire off the ground enough to secure the dolly in place, then used the attach-tilt the bike-rotate technique for the rear wheel dolly. A bit of a heave to get the kick stand onto its dolly, but everything is up and secure. I threw a strap onto the rear dolly that runs up under the shock, just to keep the dolly from sliding backwards.

I just ran it around the shop fairly aggressively and it felt solid going over the expansion joints and a couple of discarded zip ties.

A bit of a faff, but I only have to do it once a year. Now I can easily shove my bikes out of the way without having to lift/drag them sideways or do the 30 back and forth wiggle turns I used to have to do. As a bonus, I don't have 2 annoyingly large motorcycle dollies to store during the summer.

20231212_134720_resized.jpg
 
You should be able to use it without the front dolly, as long as the bike doesn't stand up too vertically on the kickstand dolly. I just push the bike forward until the front wheel is where I want it (eg: into the corner of the garage), then swing the rear of the bike parallel with the wall.
 
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