Garage Turntables

I knew someone who's driveway sloped steeply down to his garage so he built a wooden turntable that he could ride the bike onto and spin it round.

He shortly afterwards fitted securing bolts to stop it spinning as he'd come home late one night, rode into the garage and onto the turntable and grabbed a handful of front brake.

The turntable span round with the bikes momentum and deposited him and said bike into the sidewall of the garage. It was a little bit messy and he had to fork out a few quid to repair the bike.

Best to make sure it don't spin when you don't want it to

 

What are the bikes? Can you get them each on one of these?

https://www.1jac.com/1jac-bike-lift

Well, actually, I'll answer my own question .... you almost certainly CAN get them on these - assuming 1Jac lists fitting kits and adapters. It's strong, compact and, apart from providing the ability to turn the bike in its own length, it will be a boon to servicing, maintenance and cleaning.

The 1Jac is a truly superb piece of kit; invented, designed and still made in this country. Their customer service is superb and second to none. They're not the cheapest but they are the original and (IMHO) the best. And, yes, I DID try the cheaper copy and returned it at my expense because it was, well ..... cheap!

Do I sound like a salesman for the company? Hope not - I have absolutely NO relationship to them whatsoever, other than as a very satisfied customer.

 

Hi, I have a dolly that i use on my ST1050 which I got from a company in Italy but it is only suitable for bikes with a centre stand which you don’t say. If you do these are ideal as you can turn them quite tightly. For your info and anyone else looking for one of these be aware that some of the ones with small wheels don’t give enough clearance to extend the centre stand hence I got mine from an Italian company. It depends on the size of your back wheel and height of centre stand.

 

the side stand support looks reversible

 

I'm struggling to see how a turntable would help in that space/situation. To get a single turntable to work would, I presume, mean moving one bike out of the way first?

If you're thinking about something like this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/EasyTurn-Motorbike-Motorcycle-Centre-Turntable/dp/B07KRBVGG8

then you'll need centre stands on the bikes.

If you're thinking of something like this

https://www.motea.com/en/motorbike-...MI8uzPiISn8gIVV-vtCh1AmQbQEAQYESABEgIhCfD_BwE

then you'll probably need slightly more room as it will be the full length of the bike in wheel-ahead stance, plus a few inches for the dolly base.

The 1Jac will, literally, turn the bike in its own length (possibly slightly less as you can spin it with the front wheel in the steering locked position) as the four double wheeled castors can each turn 360 degrees on their individual axes as you can see here



The Abba Skylift is a rather different arrangement altogether and is, I think, designed more for maintenance work than manoeuvrability.

I do wish you luck with resolving the situation - I'd HATE to think of a situation that would risk a single mark on the peerless beauty of that F4!!

 

Pleasure, Sir. A few questions there so I'll try to take them in order.....

Yep I have two for the Street Triples. They were originally intended to allow me and 'er indoors (hers is the white one) to ride into the garage; jack them up, spin them round ready to ride out - much the same as your current situation though with very slightly more room. The cunning plan ALMOST worked, Mr. Blackadder, sir. The wife is STILL not confident enough to lift the bike onto the 1JAC or shuffle it around - even on the stand - so I end up doing it all anyway. <SIGH> No big deal - she's worth it. And I DO mean the wife, not (just) the bike! You're right - the 1Jac isn't cheap but, take it from me, before I bought mine I tried saving money by buying a well known German brand's version (it's a direct copy - there's a L O N G backstory to the 1Jac's loss of "patent rights" ... but that's for another time) which is, in fact, made in China, and I can honestly say I was happy to take a substantial hit on the cost of return and pay the extra for the 1Jacs! They ARE that much better.

Can you attach them to either side of the bike? Hmmmmm.... that will depend on the nature of the frame and the mounting lugs on the bike - the only people that can answer that are 1Jac - luckily they are super helpful and both technical and after sales support is top notch. I suggest you phone or email them and ask - they will be very willing to work with you to make sure you get what you need. I do have to say that I'd have HUGE difficulty operating the stand on the RHS of the bike - it's almost a natural instinct (for me) to go to the LHS of the bike and I always feel very apprehensive when I have to manouevre a machine from the RHS. However, I'm pretty sure that I remember having to take one or other bolt out and turn it around to fit one of the lugs so I'd gues it might just be possible. I'd guess the logic might suggest that, if the fittings are both on the left that you'll just have to spin one of them around to keep the stands 'facing in' for the storage position - if that makes sense? Unfortunately, changing the adapters isn't a quick job at all so, sadly, a single lift is unlikely to suffice in your situation but, again, it's something you could ask them.

I've had my 1Jacs for a few years now and, I have to tell you, it is STILL a bit nerve wracking for me lifting the bikes onto them. Putting that F4 onto one for the first time would probably have me wearing a nappy to catch the results! Just photogaphs of those things - F4's that is - cream my jeans, so to speak, so handling ("fondling" is probably a more appropriate term!) one onto a stand, any stand, would be terrifying! However, therein lies a point - you cannot have bought one of those and have been thinking about how to save money on a stand for it? That would defy all logic, though I guess to some extent the cost and value of F4's might defy some logic or reasoning.

Seriously, though - you have what is, arguably, the world's finest looking road bike and you'd contemplate putting it on a dolly? NAH, doesn't compute. For me, at least.

It's a pity you're a distance away, I'd be happy to let you play with my 1Jacs (OOOH ERRR .... BLIMEY, MOTHER!!) to try before you buy.

I think I dealt with a guy named Chris Liles at 1Jac - very well worth a phone call.

 

Sounds like a very sensible approach.

And, yes, I know EXACTLY what you mean about wife and mistress. In this context, at least. I love all and each of my Triumphs to bits. I could (possibly) afford an F4 but, OH MY ... would I want to risk my 56 year long passion ... obsession ... with Triumphs? No, I don't think so.

p.s. I did get a discount from 1Jac - not a huge amount (10% I think) but better than the proverbial kick in the gonads with a steel capped safety boot. Always worth asking!

 

I have somewhat the same problem with five bikes in a small area, I use the center stand to spin one of them around when needed. I've seen the side stand used in the same way. Doesn't require much space to spin one around, and it doesn't need much strength when spinning them on concrete.

 

I personally wouldn't recommend the use of the centre or side stands to move a 'bike around. Yep, it CAN be done but it's not - IMHO - a very good thing to do. I've actually seen the results of how much leverage the side stand can transfer into lower frame rails on cradle frame bikes where it's resulted in twisted or even broken lower rails. I've also seen sidestand lugs broken or the stand tangs distorted so the bike begins to sit lower and lower when parked on the sidestand.

Each to their own, of course, but I'm pretty sure that Oldskool wouldn't dream of risking anything like that with the F4!!

 

Hmmmm...... that's very unfortunate given that you had to postpone a purchasing decision for unavoidable reasons.

Looks like you're going to have to either watch and wait until they return to production or seek an alternative. Are you in any owners' clubs for either machine? Might be worth seeing if you could ask if any other owners are using or have used them?

 

These might be worth looking into...

https://www.dynamotousa.com