Motorcycle caddy / dolly

[Yoda]

Many know of my dilemma several months of the year. It’s 12 miles to the nearest pavement, and I am not an expert at riding in sand, mud, or even gravel. Not even an amateur.

One solution was to load up the bike on my trailer and haul it to the nearby town, unload and go riding. Too much work, with a risk of dropping the bike on the ramp.

So, I sat down and invented a dolly / caddy that I can safely load and unload by myself. I utilized an off the shelf Bulldog trailer tongue jack, and some heavy duty square steel tubing. A friend cut out the semicircular plates for the front wheel on his CAD plasma cutter.

Voila. A few days cutting, welding, painting and assembling, and it is finished. After only one trip out of the boondocks, it is working well. Concept has been proven. And, NO, I won’t make one for anyone else. But, you are free to copy my idea if you like. YMMV

 

[RedBird]

Looks good! I suppose you could add a pin going through the swinging bars and the stationary ones when the unit is in the up and ready for travel position as a belt and suspenders approach to keeping it from dropping while towing, just as a backup to the Bulldog jack. Anyway, I like it!

 

[Yoda]

Only two caveats:
1. Make absolutely certain the transmission is in neutral.
2. Use only high strength, quality tie downs. There is no backup if either one breaks.

 

[ST1100Y]

what's that doing to the transmission without oil pressure?

 

[DirtFlier]

My suggestion would have been to buy a small, used dirt bike (100-125 cc) and ride it the 12-miles twice a day until you felt comfy in the dirt.

 

[ARKNT]

Looks good. I might want to add a locking nut or cotter pin to the pivot bolt up front by the hitch.

Arknt

 

[Mellow]

Great idea! So, just park the truck near the entrance and reload when you're done riding... good job. As we get older bones don't heal as quickly as before so reducing the risk is a good idea.

 

[Charlie U]

Many know of my dilemma several months of the year. It’s 12 miles to the nearest pavement, and I am not an expert at riding in sand, mud, or even gravel. Not even an amateur.

One solution was to load up the bike on my trailer and haul it to the nearby town, unload and go riding. Too much work, with a risk of dropping the bike on the ramp.

So, I sat down and invented a dolly / caddy that I can safely load and unload by myself. I utilized an off the shelf Bulldog trailer tongue jack, and some heavy duty square steel tubing. A friend cut out the semicircular plates for the front wheel on his CAD plasma cutter.

Voila. A few days cutting, welding, painting and assembling, and it is finished. After only one trip out of the boondocks, it is working well. Concept has been proven. And, NO, I won’t make one for anyone else. But, you are free to copy my idea if you like. YMMV

Great idea. But im surprised because that V-Storm should take you anywhere.

 

[Yoda]

My suggestion would have been to buy a small, used dirt bike (100-125 cc) and ride it the 12-miles twice a day until you felt comfy in the dirt.

I just sold my CRF300L recently and bought the V-Strom. Prior to that I had CB500X. I have no problem with hard pack dirt and gravel. However, this time of year we also have large patches of very fine silt, up to 6 inches deep (or more). It’s worse than snow or ice in my opinion. Really got tired of picking up heavily loaded bikes solo.
As a side note, I do have experience riding off road - just last fall, I rode my CRF300L over 50 miles of 4wd Jeep roads to the tops of Cinnamon Pass and Engineer Pass in Southwestern Colorado. Very rough, rocky, hard pack with lots of switchbacks.
But, thankfully no silt.

 

[junglejim]

Many know of my dilemma several months of the year. It’s 12 miles to the nearest pavement, and I am not an expert at riding in sand, mud, or even gravel. Not even an amateur.

Try riding this. You’ll learn off-road skills.


Easy to pick up if you drop it
Same handling skills as a motorized version.
Great mpg.
And fun too.
But after 12 miles out and back on a nasty road you probably won’t want any more riding that day.

 

[RedLdr1]

2. Use only high strength, quality tie downs. There is no backup if either one breaks.

I like what you created. As a backup how about adding a strap that holds the front wheel in the "basket". Easy to do, I see two easy place to mount one, and it adds a second level of security.

 

[Yoda]

I like what you created. As a backup how about adding a strap that holds the front wheel in the "basket". Easy to do, I see two easy place to mount one, and it adds a second level of security.

It’s a bit hard to see, but there is a third red strap cinching the wheel to the basket.

 

[mikesim]

Ingenious Rich!

Mike