Motorbike Stand

[Kram]

Im quite new to mig welding, I got a Sealey MightyMig 130XT a couple of years ago. Im using 0.8mm Super6 branded gassless wire.

Im now trying to make a motorbike stand, which should be capable of safely holding 140-200kg off the ground while the wheels are off. As Ive not used it for a while I got some practise on some 1" square tube, 1.5mm wall. Quite happy with my practise and considering it may be good enough to use -welds are very messy but penetration seems good. I tested several welds and the surrounding metal broke instead. I would like your advice on whether I should start again with thicker, or larger tube? or if 25mm sq tube is strong enough?

The other DIY attempts I found on the web are all bigger tube, around 40mm, but most do not reinforce the welds - which I think is important as the weight of bike will spread the legs apart.
http://www.superhawkforum.com/forums/general-discussion-30/home-made-abba-type-stand-17787/
http://www.benelliforum.com/forum/tornado-tre/9555-homemade-abba-stand-2.html
http://s130.photobucket.com/user/mantaopel/media/P1010355.jpg.html

This is my practise so far - tomorrow Im hoping to finish it which will include:
Reinforce welds with more tube across, 45 degree angle.
Feet, so it is stable.
Supporting tubes for each each side of the spindle, a second nut on end.

Also plan to use M12 rod. Ends of the rod will be ground down to 7mm/10mm to fit inside the bike swing arm bolt. I think 1" is overkill as long as its supported, and my drill only goes upto 13mm !

 

[Wedg1e]

A mate of mine has an ABBA stand, it's made from 40mm box but I don't think the wall was huge; 1.5mm, maybe 2mm.
I don't think the genuine ABBA stands put a fillet reinforcement in. Mate has a ZZR1400 which must be 200Kg+; he tends to use the hydraulic lift these days and although he's tried to combine them for wheel removal etc. the ABBA doesn't fit on the lift properly as the ZZR is a bit wide across the swingarm pivot.

 

[hippytyre]

I've got an Abba stand at work if you need any dimensions. Are you making the bottom section adjustable?

 

[Kram]

No, I dont have any suitable tube to go over and this is all made from scrap.

Do you think this will be strong enough? I will get pictures of the welds later and hopefully of it being used. Thanks.

 

[hippytyre]

Yeah I think that will be strong enough, it'll just be a little tricky to get it under the bike since it doesn't split in two

 

[Kram]

Only took a couple of attempts

First attempt. Its not going to sit stable becuase 90 degree angle of feet

cut the feet off.. also needed bracing as the legs spread apart.

Quite happy with how my welding improved but switching wire from SIF to Super6 gassless helped a lot!

SIF I coudnt make seem welds, it would either blow holes or splatter any any settings, but was ok for spotting/tacking. Also too much smoke, cant recommend it! I ran out of this and got a spool of Super6 0.8 gasless wire. Much less smoke so I can see where Im aiming. The slag is harder to clean off though.



My welder seems only useable on one power setting ?!? Ive got the choice of 1,2 and min or max. However it works,it is quite happy doing thicker metal. This is 3mm and 2.5mm joined together

 

[Windy Miller]

Hi Kram, I'm a little worried about you putting a bike on that stand of yours!

If it were mine, I'd put some bracing on those lower angled legs. I think the weight of the bike will try to twist the legs off the uprights. Maybe something that completes the triangle back to the bottom of the uprights?

Also, I'd like to see some bracing on the horizontal bits that connect to the bike. Another triangle back to the uprights would do it I think.

I have an Abba stand, and the material is MUCH heavier than yours. When I raise the bike off the ground, its bl00dy heavy, and I'd be very wary of anything lighter I think.

Sorry to **** on your chips, but I foresee someone getting hurt with your stand. It may be ok on a very light weight bike, but I'd like to see it made of something chunkier.

 

[brokenbiker]

I just have 2 cheap paddock stands for rear and a fairly cheap fork stand for the front. near effortless lifting of the bike and both wheels are off the floor in minutes.

 

[norlander]

For myself, I would treat the stand the stand you have built as a learning/test piece and make a heavier duty one from fresh meatier material.

Making some projects out of scrap is fine and part of the fun of diy metalworking, the other side of the coin is making something like your bike stand but overengineering it with better welding and materials compared to shop bought stuff

For projects like that I prefer to take the view know- it will work -not think it might work- if the stand does not work it could get expensive-and you could get hurt.

We live in a world where most things are built down to a price fair enough-it does the job (well mostly), as home metalworkers/welders we can fabricate items such as your bike stand to higher specs than shop bought-but thats just my personal view though.


Re your drill chuck maxing out at 13mm, you can get hole cutters to cut bigger holes and some larger drill bits have a stepped shank and the re are stepped reamers so in some circumstances its possible to achieve the aim with home kit.

Your stand will probably work.

 

[brokenbiker]

with regards to the drill chuck, i have turned the soft shanks of Morse taper drills down to a parallel 13mm shank to fit the standard chuck. I also know that john on here (doubleboost) has shown in some of his videos that he has turned them down to 15mm to fit a collet in the milling machine

 

[Robotstar5]

Or use blacksmiths drill bits - link

 

[brokenbiker]

they are what gave me the idea to turn mine down as i don't have an mt drill and my mill is r8

 

[hippytyre]

I think most of the weight is going to end up on those legs, might be worth bracing them. I have the technicians mounting kit with all the attachments, lemme know if you need cone sizes.

 

[norlander]

Or use blacksmiths drill bits - link

thats em! now I can show off and call mine by the proper name instead pf pretending I knew what the right name for mine was.
Thanks for that.

 

[waddycall]

I've been trying to get round to building a new stand for our hot water cylinder. It will carry a little more than your motorbike stand (250kg). I'm using 40 x 3 box with all load bearing joints under compression where possible. It may be overkill but I'll sleep better that way.

 

[Kram]

Works perfectly on cbr250 but its a very light bike.

 

[brokenbiker]

the only thing I can imagine happening is you get the rear wheel and the swing arm off and then someone looking for a tool at the front of the bike nudges the front wheel a bit, the bike moves back an inch or 2, the stand leans back and then someone has a bike sat on their lap. this is why I have always gone for paddock stands over this type, and if I need to get the swing arm off I put axle stands under the bike in the relevant places with the front wheel off the floor too

 

[Wedg1e]

I just put my bike on its centre stand
If the front wheel needs to come out, trolley jack and a block of wood under the sump.

 

[norlander]

good points from bb and Wedg1e -though Krams bike probably does not have a centre stand-quite a lot of bikes are like that now and quite a few have the exhaust routed underneath which causes problems with some bike lifts and blocks on the sump.

Dodges I use (depending on bike and circumstances) blocking front brake on with big elastic bands round lever or piece of pushbike innertube over lever.
I modified some car axle stands to go under the footrest hangers to support the bike if it came off the stand (s) (touch wood- not happened yet).

Points to note though-most euro style bike have footrests in positions which can work with the axle stand idea, american style bikes footrests are further forward and nowhere near the central point of balance-however their exhausts are not normally routed past the sump so you can use a bike lift.

And for any chaps new to bike fettlling it is of course its the footrest hangers or brackets you support if applicable to the bike /situation as most footrests fold back.

As I said, not all of bbs/Wedg1es/my will work in all situations but food for thought if tackling a bike job.

Kram- if you put a chain on that 250 it will go a lot faster .

See you are in W Sussex-so get yourself over the Hornet in Chi and CMW and get a decent bike (begins with D........)

 

[hippytyre]

Decent bikes that begin with D.... nope I'm stuck.