Real Length of my motorcycle? (Town/Shed Ordnance Mayhem)

[Brackstone]

Hey All,

(If you want to get to the question and skip the boring story just scroll down)

So a while ago I posted about wanting to build a shed. I've dissented from my original opinion and decided to purchase one because I found a guy that makes very good quality sheds for a reasonable price.

Now I've learned from my town that despite the fact that I have a Quarter Acre of land I can only have an 8x10 shed. I can get TWO 8x10 sheds but I can't just have one 10x14 shed. I believe turning my motorcycle around in this shed will lead to some sort of new letter of the alphabet being created to describe the turn (because it's certainly NOT a K-Turn) I will have to make to make it so I don't have to back my motorcycle out of my shed.

Due to other circumstances I can't just pull in one side and go out the other. So I've had to resort to procuring a "Lazy Susan" of sorts for my motorcycle. This will enable me to rotate it after parking it so I won't have to perform the turn that cannot be described and probably a lot of profanity.

The customer service for this product is very responsive and polite. But I'd rather have a set of outside eyes look at the math.

The Question!

The Channel that you park your bike on is 7 feet long. I'd need to be able to park my bike on this and spin 180 degrees inside of my shed. According to my measurements I believe I'd make it. However I'm not exactly a math whiz (I had to look up diameter and circumference on Wikipedia to refresh myself) so if anyone else wants to take a stab at it please be my guest.

According to:
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photos/2 ... er1100.htm

The Wheelbase is 57.1 inches (4.75 feet) and my tires are 120/75/17 (24" Diameter) and 180/55/17 (25" Diameter) so I believe that puts another foot on either end of the bike which should put me around 6.8 feet.

At 6.8 feet I believe I should have more than enough clearance to spin my bike around on this platform. Does anyone disagree?

To anyone who can help thank you! I don't want to shell out money if this won't help.

[jstark47]

I have two (probably) stupid questions, and one concern.

Question 1- What's wrong with backing the motorcycle out of the shed? I have a shed, store 4 motorcycles there in winter, and they all get backed out.

Question 2- Can you just take a tape measure and measure your bike longwise?

Concern- is this contraption flush to the floor? Having to push the bike up a bump, or ride the bike up in a confined space, probably would concern me more than backing the bike out. YMMV.

[HYPERR]

Ducati as most manufacturer do, lists the overall length of the bike in the "Technical Data" section of the owner's manual.

[Wrider]

Boy oh boy have I got the solution for you!!!
Motorcycle wheel dolly
Put that under your rear wheel and it makes things a WHOLE lot easier when it comes to turning a motorcycle around in tight spaces.

Now as for the actual length of your bike...
81.3 Inches long.
Ducati lists the wheelbase as 57.1 inches, that's from centerline to centerline of the wheels. It has 17 inch wheels with 120/70 front and 180/55 rear tires on it. After being a math geek and doing calculations and conversions it comes out to a total of 81.3 inches from the tip of the front tire to the tip of the rear tire. That also comes to 6.775 feet long, or 6 foot 9.3 inches.

You're welcome...
Signed
Your local geek

In case you're curious...
The first number in a tire represents the number of millimeters wide it is, the second number is how tall it is represented as a fraction of how wide it is. So 180 * .55 = 99 mm tall for the rear tire, and 120 * .70 = 84 mm tall for the front. 99 + 84 = 183 mm / 25.4 mm/inch = 7.02 inches
1/2 of a 17 inch wheel, multiplied by 2 = 17 inches, plus 7.02 = 24.2 inches PAST the wheelbase centerline to centerline. 24.2 + 57.1 = 81.3 inches from tip to tip!

[Brackstone]

I have two (probably) stupid questions, and one concern.

Question 1- What's wrong with backing the motorcycle out of the shed? I have a shed, store 4 motorcycles there in winter, and they all get backed out.

Question 2- Can you just take a tape measure and measure your bike longwise?

Concern- is this contraption flush to the floor? Having to push the bike up a bump, or ride the bike up in a confined space, probably would concern me more than backing the bike out. YMMV.

No Stupid Questions but you may think I have stupid answers!

Why no backing out:
1. I personally do not like backing down a ramp. The shed I am getting is about 8 inches off the ground. I hate going downhill backwards it always feels very awkward to me.
2. The ground around my shed, and my driveway, is going to consist entirely of gravel which is not the most ideal surface.
3. The area I'm placing my shed in is very small due to some fun tree and property line arrangements. So odds are the ramp will have to be very small and not have a lot of room for error.

Measuring:
My Tape Measure is pretty weak sauce. After about 4 feet the tape just collapses it just folds over bending to the will of gravity, so trying to measure the wheels correctly has just been a PITA. Considering how close I'd be cutting this I want my measurements to be very precise.

Flush:
It's not 100% flush but it's only like an inch or two up. There is a very small ramp at the front which makes it 7'8" (the channel is only 7').

[Brackstone]

Boy oh boy have I got the solution for you!!!
Motorcycle wheel dolly
Put that under your rear wheel and it makes things a WHOLE lot easier when it comes to turning a motorcycle around in tight spaces.

Now as for the actual length of your bike...
81.3 Inches long.
Ducati lists the wheelbase as 57.1 inches, that's from centerline to centerline of the wheels. It has 17 inch wheels with 120/70 front and 180/55 rear tires on it. After being a math geek and doing calculations and conversions it comes out to a total of 81.3 inches from the tip of the front tire to the tip of the rear tire. That also comes to 6.775 feet long, or 6 foot 9.3 inches.

You're welcome...
Signed
Your local geek

In case you're curious...
The first number in a tire represents the number of millimeters wide it is, the second number is how tall it is represented as a fraction of how wide it is. So 180 * .55 = 99 mm tall for the rear tire, and 120 * .70 = 84 mm tall for the front. 99 + 84 = 183 mm / 25.4 mm/inch = 7.02 inches
1/2 of a 17 inch wheel, multiplied by 2 = 17 inches, plus 7.02 = 24.2 inches PAST the wheelbase centerline to centerline. 24.2 + 57.1 = 81.3 inches from tip to tip!

Wrider, thanks for all the Math Help it's good to know I came pretty close but I was still off.

I like that dolly, how do you get your bike onto it? Do you just push it on to the dolly? Or Lift up the rear and slide it under?

[HYPERR]

The Wheelbase is 57.1 inches (4.75 feet) and my tires are 120/75/17 (24" Diameter) and 180/55/17 (25" Diameter) so I believe that puts another foot on either end of the bike which should put me around 6.8 feet.

At 6.8 feet I believe I should have more than enough clearance to spin my bike around on this platform. Does anyone disagree?

You are not factoring in the overhang of the tailight or the rear fender. Some bikes have a ton of overhang in the rear adding several inches of length past the rear tire; the Monster 1100 not so much. Ducati lists the overall length of the Monster 1100 as 2121 mm or 83.5in.

[Wrider]

Wrider, thanks for all the Math Help it's good to know I came pretty close but I was still off.

I like that dolly, how do you get your bike onto it? Do you just push it on to the dolly? Or Lift up the rear and slide it under?

All you have to do is hold it still and wheel the bike up onto it. I've used one and they're pretty simple and do help a lot. Helps if you put the bike into gear while on it so that the dolly doesn't start rolling out from under the bike of it's own accord.

FWIW I sourced the parts to make my own at one point and I think including shipping it was about 30 bucks plus the time and effort of course.

[HYPERR]

Hey Wrider, what is your opinion on spinning the bike on the kickstand? It seems to me that it would put a lot of stress on a small area. I remember Motorcyclist magazine recommending it back when it was in vogue in California and the editor asserted that if done properly it is completely safe to do.

[Wrider]

Honestly I've seen it done hundreds of times and even done it a few myself when I know the owner does it, and when done properly doesn't seem to do any damage initially.

After a lot of times doing it though I've noticed that it tends to wear the bolt that connects the kickstand and the frame quite a bit, makes the action a lot rougher. Not to mention all it takes is a simple slip to tip the bike over.

Overall, my opinion is that it's ok to do it occasionally if you need to, but don't make a habit of it, 400+ lbs is a LOT of weight for such a small piece of metal, and the twisting action doesn't help any.