Somebody put a lot of time on this and did a right fine job, everything is very clear and cuts my design time a WHOLE bunch, Thank You so much, this really helps.
Ted
hi Bob,
The more I look at this the more I like it but I'm going to change it, I'm going to put hinges in all fore corners, put a short piece of 2x4 in 2 corners so when the lid is down I can put 2 pins through the top to lock in place, this way it will fold almost flat for storage.
I have a question, how much room does the BM have under it, I'm thinking that my Shadow, which has 5" might bottom out when loading at the transition point.
Ted
My Beemer is low..probably 6" clearance..you should have no problem with it hanging up.
Looking the drawing over I think if you made a arched ramp insted of a strait one it would eliminate the hanging up problem
Hi Ron,
Making a curved ramp is not what I want to do, I will if I have to but only if there's no other way. reason being is that I want to keep everything as flat as possible to make storing it easy. I going to snap some lines and do some figuring to make sure the pan area clears before the saw dust flies, I'll figure something out but first I have to figure out what I have to figure out 🙂
Ted
Then just make the ramp longer and reduce the angel that way. Wher ther is a will there is a way
FAKE THE ARCH... JUST HAVE A 2X12 ABOUT A FOOT AND A HALF TO TWO FEET LONG AVAILABLE TO PUT ON YOUR RAMP AS AN "ARCH". BEEN DOING THAT FOR YEARS LOADING LOW RIDING CHOPPERS INTO THE BACK OF THE PICK UP TRUCK. IF YOU DON'T NAIL IT DOWN IT CAN BE ADJUSTED FORE AND AFT AS NEEDED FOR DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS. I CUT THE TWO ENDS AT A 45* ANGLE AND BOLTED IT IN PLACE, COVERED IT IN ANTI-SKID. USING TWO IDENTICAL 10' RAMPS I CAN LOAD ANY BIKE (SO FAR) AS WELL AS MY RIDING MOWER INTO AN F-150. SHOULD BE EASIER ON A LOWER PLATFORM.
JUST A THOUGHT / SUGGESTION, YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY, SEE STORE FOR DETAILS, ETC. ...
Originally written by Bob Madigan on 3/4/2007 7:59 AM
FAKE THE ARCH... JUST HAVE A 2X12 ABOUT A FOOT AND A HALF TO TWO FEET LONG AVAILABLE TO PUT ON YOUR RAMP AS AN "ARCH". BEEN DOING THAT FOR YEARS LOADING LOW RIDING CHOPPERS INTO THE BACK OF THE PICK UP TRUCK. IF YOU DON'T NAIL IT DOWN IT CAN BE ADJUSTED FORE AND AFT AS NEEDED FOR DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS. I CUT THE TWO ENDS AT A 45* ANGLE AND BOLTED IT IN PLACE, COVERED IT IN ANTI-SKID. USING TWO IDENTICAL 10' RAMPS I CAN LOAD ANY BIKE (SO FAR) AS WELL AS MY RIDING MOWER INTO AN F-150. SHOULD BE EASIER ON A LOWER PLATFORM.
JUST A THOUGHT / SUGGESTION, YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY, SEE STORE FOR DETAILS, ETC. ...
Bob has the plan that to me is the easiest solution. We have done that many times.Kinda like laying a ramp on a ramp.
An option is to have a seperate set of ramps like those cheap metal things you run a car up on to change the oil. Set the ends of the regular ramps on them and you can run the bike right on up.
No sense getting any major brain cramps over thsi stuff 🙂
Bob, Claude, Thanks for your input on this project, I was talking with my neighbor who is a retired group leader from the Boeing engineering dept. and he told me to bring my dimensions (wheel base, height from ground when on the bike) and he would run it through his CAD system which will give me a inch by inch of forward movement height to the lowest point, how sweet is that :-), this will tell me how long or short the ramp can be, if I get something I can publish in reference to this project to the list I will.
Ted
A Boeing engineer to figure out some ramps? Sounds cool but what is this world coming to...lol. Just kidding. Should be interesting 🙂
Sure is a lot fancier than snapping a few lines on the garage floor and doing some 'precision' caluculations with friends while eating a pizza...
Anyhow, be sure to leave some slack so to speak. Seen quite a few high level engineering projects that either had to go through an 'alternative design process' or move into the 'beta' stage as a 'planned post design operation' when in fact both terms really meant they screwed it up the first time around.
Sorry couldn't resist I am sure it will work out fine. Keep us posted .
High Level Precision engineering methology as related to ramp design for specific vehicles.
Plan #1:
I)
Meascure ground clearance of vehicle with vehicle at lowest point whicle taking into sonsideration any effect suspension travel may impose on dimensions found.
II)
Measure wheel base of specific vehicle
III)
Obtain a sound piece of material which can have two holes drilled in it precisesly to represent the wheel base from step #II.(A 2X4 WILL WORK)
IV)
Cut to discs from a piece of heavy cardboard, plywood or similar rigid material in a diameter using the ground clearance figure obtained in step # I AS A RADIUE.
v)
Attach discs onto material from step # III with drywall screws or other suitable fasteners with the center of the discs common to the wheelbase length established.
VI)
Snap a straight chalk line onto garage floor. This line can also be drawn with a straightedge.
VII) Snap or draw another line parallel to the first one with the distance between these two lines being how high the table will be from the floor.
VIII)
Designate on first line where edge of table will be with a mark across line.
IX)
Lay member with discs attached on upper line so one disc is on line and other os out past edge of table end mark. Note: Disc on table lin ewill represent front wheel of bike. The ther disc will represent rear wheel of bike.
X)
Slide disc on upper line across line while raising and lowering rear disc as if it was on a ramp. With some experimentation a ramp angle and length will beging to come into focus. Be warned that the more observers you have to determine this the more pizza it will take.
XI)
Once the pizza is gone it shoudl be evident that a ramp angle and lenght has been established. Draw a line from the upper table line to an extended lower line to detwrmning basic ramp lenght required.
Plan #2:
Make an appointment to visit the CAD guy and get a pizza on the way.
NOTE:
Plan #2 will probably be the most accurate and you will not have to take any pizza boxes out with the garbage.
In reference to plan 2. I'll be at his place, he can deal with the pizza boxs 🙂
Ted
LOL...Keep us posted Ted 🙂
Well it looks like it's back to the "High Level Precision Engineering" method, Neighbor can't find his Cad Program, thinks he might have loaned it out,,,but to who,,,that's the question,,,,O well, the beat goes on.
Ted
