Monday, January 14, 2019

DIY motorcycle ramp

A few months ago I somehow had a suspicion that there might be a puncture at the back tyre of the Vulcan S. I initially thought the loss of tyre pressure was due to the bike not moving for some time but after checking the tyre the next day after filling it up, the pressure would be less. I think this was because every time I have to park the bike, I need to ride the bike up to the tiled portion from the garden. The back wheel sometimes need fight for grip (the area is muddy after rain and it feels like I am taking the bikes off road) to go up the side garden and the edge of the tiled area might be putting some unwanted pressure on the tyre.

  
The distance between the ground and the tiled area and the height is about 7cm.

Path to the back garden a.k.a. bike parking area

I took the Vulcan to the shop and have the staff have a look at it. Soon they figured that the air might have escaped from the existing plug and confirmed it. They replaced it with a bigger plug and told me to keep an eye on it. So far there is no loss in pressure since the replacement plug. I then thought of doing a ramp both to avoid adding pressure to the tyres and also not doing any off road stunts on the bike in a small area.

Items required:
  1. Scissors
  2. Postal string
  3. PVC of different thickness (I have these lying around the house so might as well put them to good use)
Items needed for the ramp
    All I did was just arrange the rods from the biggest diameter to the smallest diameter, tie them together like making a raft. Make sure it is tight and the PVC are not moving around too much. We don't want the PVC to be running all over the place when the bikes are on it.

         
    Both ends of the PVCs are securely tied. The PVCs are not of the same length but it serves my purpose

    End result of the ramp. So far it looks alright but have not tested it yet to see if they can hold the weight of the Vulcan

    The good thing about this design is that it can be kept in a corner and not take up space

    If the PVC is unable to hold the weight of the Vulcan, I will need to 'upgrade' the ramp by using bamboos instead. I know this is a better option but the issue is that I don't have any thick ones lying around in the garden. If I do use bamboos I would need more to reach the height then make it slope down to the garden but for now let's wait and see how the PVC fairs.

    *Update 6/2/19: Finally tested the ramp on both the Demak and the Vulcan. Result: Success. The ramp is able to hold the weight of the Vulcan and it is now so much easier to  push the Vulcan up with the ramp. I manage to find some bamboos which are big enough to fit into the PVC pipes to better withstand the weight of the bike.

    Remember to ride safe, be vigilant and keep the rubber side down

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