Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hi,

I am currently thinking about getting a motorcycle (learning to handle
one, take MSF and everything before that, of course). I just realized
I have one main problem owning a motorcycle right now:

The house where we live is slightly below street level, so in order to
store the bike somewhere under a roof and off the street, I would have
to transport it down the stairs and up again when leaving. There's ample
space around our house, just the way there is the problem.

Now, having been an avid bicyclist all my life, for some weird reason I
subconciously always assumed that motorcycles were not that heavy (hey,
compared to a car they are)... because bicycles are so light, right? A look
at the specifications told me otherwise. My current intended beginner
bike would be a new Ninja 250, which according to specs weighs around
300lb dry, so with a full tank it should be around 350lb total.

My question is: is it even remotely realistic to move something like this
up and down a set of about 10 stairs on a regular basis? The stairs
themselves are very solid and could take it easily. I find it pretty hard
to make a guess as to whether a fit but not bodybuilder-level strong
person could possibly pull something like that off.

The alternative would be to keep it upstairs where our cars are, but
there's really nothing there to lock it to, plus even with a cover I would
hate to have it standing in the rain. On the positive side, we may be
moving later this summer, so the situation may not be long-lived anyway.

Has anybody had experience with something like that and can give
me an estimate how feasible or infeasible something like that would be?

Thanks!

Yeah, um... No. Maybe if you had a crane or an elevator


Thats about it, there is no way at all your getting your bike up 10 stairs. My bike weighs 340 heavy and I couldn't even dream of taking it up two or three. I could do one.

Oh yeah, I live in an apartment. Mines outside all year long. I put a cover on mine, my cover is completely water resistant. As for locking, if you lock your steering wheel and put a youlock on rear tire, you should be good.

I posted pictures somewhere in a topic just on storing it in apartments. I might go search for it.


here I found the topic. Just scroll down.

viewtopic.php?t=20253&highlight=apartment



You might be able to put a big wood board on it... but still, unless your mucho strong you still wont be able to take your bike out and in in a regular basis. Oh yeah by the way, I actually doubt I could carry my bike one stair because i cant even lift the front wheel while having control of the bike.

One word....



RAMP

Yeah unless your stairs are really really shallow, It's not gunna happen. If you did go down the stairs and touched the front brake, you would endo and die in a neck twisting, spine tangling, gut wrenching mess

I actually tried taking my dirtbike up my stairs in my house right before we got our carpets replaced, just to see if I could do it, NOPE!

simple: buy a dual sport bike with high ground clearance like a Suzuki DRZ400S, it will go up and down those stairs no problem and if you do drop it its light enough to pick up yourself, plus dropping it won't hurt it, plus it has the far travel dirt bike suspension that could handle you riding up and down the stairs at a good speed. I used to own the same bike, I climbed vertical hill climbs and over bolder rocks, and the suspension on that bike can handle a 30 foot jump. Suzuki DRZ400S

XR650R! Just be like "stairs? what stairs? Hill climbin' time!"

Dohun wrote:Yeah, Oh yeah, I live in an apartment. Mines outside all year long. I put a cover on mine, my cover is completely water resistant. As for locking, if you lock your steering wheel and put a youlock on rear tire, you should be good.

I've been looking into this possibility, and have firmly ruled it out.

It can be done...ive seen a guy charge up a short flight of stairs on a klr650 dual sport, but I wouldnt advise trying it on a street bike like a ninja.

Fast Eddy B wrote:

Dohun wrote:lock your steering wheel

I've been looking into this possibility, and have firmly ruled it out.

Good eye.....

I agree with the ramp suggestion. Make sure it's wide enough that you can easily put both feet down if you're going to be riding up and down it. Or a shallow enough grade that you can easily walk it... very unlikely though.

I think the best bet is to just leave it up stairs with a cover on it.