Making things easier to hoist (the ST1100)

[Erdoc48]

I’ve had my STs for quite some time- I use a 170/60/17 tire on the back (and on the 2000, I’m using a rolling dolly in the garage to place the bike against the wall when it’s time for storage, like after a ride)- the shorter aspect ratio tire and the dolly make it tougher to get the bike on the center stand (way more effort on the dolly- I can normally get away with the center on the ground using my MC boots). What I’ve noted over time is that it’s pretty heavy getting it on the center stand, and way worse, getting it onto the dolly (which elevates the whole bike by another 3/4” or so). I’ve done a lot of reading (and on these forums as well) so I decided to make a small ramp out of a wooden quarter round shelf. Shelf was at Lowes and so were the rubber ‘feet’ (actually flat grommets) that I glued to the bottom of the shelf. I then used a Dremel to make a ramp out of the trailing edge of the shelf. Place the trailing edge at the front of the back wheel, roll up onto it, side stand down, then use very little effort to get it on the center stand. I know a lot of this would be considered basic, but it was a 10/10 improvement in my case (and putting the Silverwing up required almost no effort as it’s a lighter bike with the OEM sized back tire). Easy and cheap all the way!!!!!







The ‘ramp’ isn’t all that pretty, but doesn’t need to be. I can dremel it more if needed, but it seems to work very well for my needs. Since back tire sizes are limited for the ST1100 mostly in 170/60/17 sizes (not sure if the OEM size for the ST1300 is the same or not), it may help some of us ‘gradual’ old timers with getting the bike lifted.