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Wife's passive agressive parking did me in.

M

moose4444

Tricycle
My wife was never happy with me getting a bike.  My driveway slopes down to the garage.  I usually make a U turn in my driveway and back the bike into garage.  But my wife park her car in a way that makes it  very difficult to do it.  I asked her nicely to park her car in a way that will allow me to make a u turn on my driveway and and back it in. But NOPE.  I regularly had to move her car out of the way so I can back in.  Whenever I move her car,  I changed her seat position to the opposite end of where she sets it. Here is my own passive agressive back at ya.  One day, she park the car little bit further away from the garage.  It did not give me enough space I would normally like but I thought.....  Maybe, maybe  I can do it. I just have to make a tighter turn.  NOPE....  Down she goes. 

Question for you guys. Little bit off the subject but somewhat related.  I saw a U Tube video of a guy turnning his motorcyle around by just pushing it.  Bike was on its center stand and he had 1/4 steel plate under the stand.  It looked easy enough so I got a steel plate and tried it.  It does move but not as easily.  Also, I am not so sure it is good idea to put the center stand through such stress daily.  Any thoughts?
 
Brilliant!

Turn your wife's parking into a reason to buy yet another item for the motorcycle....  That is great!

My wife goes the other way....    I wanted the connie, she said sure, and then I had to build a deck of equal value onto the house.  I wanted a KLR, and she said sure, and I had to redo the stairs in the house at a very similar cost.  I asked for a Harley Davidson, and now she has a new kitchen.... 

I doubt I will ever learn, but I will run out of money!
 
Motorcycle dealers do it all the time but it is on a very smooth, shiny floor. If the concrete in your garage is smooth enough, it will work fine. As someone else suggested, a smooth steel plate will also work great- just keep the plate from rusting.

A ceramic tile would also work very well- maybe a 16" or 24" square tile. Just be careful putting your feet down on the tile as it will be as slippery for you as the center stand.

There are also centerstand turntables sold commercially. Varying reports on how they work but it does seem they work best on a smooth, clean floor.

Brian

moose4444 said:
My wife was never happy with me getting a bike.  My driveway slopes down to the garage.  I usually make a U turn in my driveway and back the bike into garage.  But my wife park her car in a way that makes it  very difficult to do it.  I asked her nicely to park her car in a way that will allow me to make a u turn on my driveway and and back it in. But NOPE.  I regularly had to move her car out of the way so I can back in.  Whenever I move her car,  I changed her seat position to the opposite end of where she sets it. Here is my own passive agressive back at ya.  One day, she park the car little bit further away from the garage.  It did not give me enough space I would normally like but I thought.....  Maybe, maybe  I can do it. I just have to make a tighter turn.  NOPE....  Down she goes. 

Question for you guys. Little bit off the subject but somewhat related.  I saw a U Tube video of a guy turnning his motorcyle around by just pushing it.  Bike was on its center stand and he had 1/4 steel plate under the stand.  It looked easy enough so I got a steel plate and tried it.  It does move but not as easily.  Also, I am not so sure it is good idea to put the center stand through such stress daily.  Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
 
Possible solution...

Take a fairly heavy porcelain tile in 12X12 or 17X17 maybe.  Lay upside down, put bike up on centerstand with stand on tile, rotate bike easily on most concrete until you break the tile.  I have been using porcelain and ceramic tiles for bike movement since tiling my floors in 04.  In seminary I had a steep driveway (caused my second unreported CDA) that leveled out in a narrow garage/carport type thingy.  Putting the C-10 on a tile (upside down) made it a snap to spin around in place and it's not so thick as to increase the beight you'e raising it.  But you have to keep a foot on it or behind it as you lift.  May not be a great solution, and it DOES make a few marks on the pavement and you will break a tile now and again.  Mine are about 1/4" thick and pretty strong.  Real thin ones don't usually last very long.  If you get on the bike to push it off and add your weight, it can break or it can break if you tip it on one foot raising it up.  Otherwise it's easy and cheap.

EDIT TO ADD:
I have several sizes UP TO 12X12 sitting around.  I use the 6X6's for parking pucks.  Sometimes they break too if you get on the bike and let the sidestand have your weight as well.  But I keep a couple around on my crushed asphalt driveway for parking.  Cars break them sometimes too when they run over them.  Stuff happens.  I have more leftovers.
 
I have a couple of the Harbor Freight dollies, and they work pretty well.  The trick is having a surface that is smooth, but not too smooth.  I have a painted epoxy floor, and I've had the dolly slide on me trying to put a bike up on it a couple of times.  Not a problem with a 400 pound bike, but something heavier might be an issue.  You need to have a walking start at it to get it on, hesitation doesn't help.  I haven't tried it with the Concours yet.  They aren't to big of a PITA though to use every day.
 
MizzouMike.  You have a very smart wife.  I better make sure not to leave the computer screen up with your reply on it.  My wife might get the idea.  I guess whenever you look at a new ride, you better double the price tag and reconsider.   

REV.  You mean the slippery finished side of the tile is on the floor?  That makes sense.  If tile spins with the bike, there should be no stress on center stand.  I will definately try that.  Thanks a ton.
 
From someone else's advice on here, I use a pickle-bucket lid. Works like a champ. You can get them free behind your favorite fast-food joint, or pay a dollar twenty-eight at Home Depot (Plus tax).

I also have a piece of 3/8 ply that I ride the rear tire up onto first, to make getting on the stand with the lid under it a little easier. (the lid is about 1/8" thick). You do need to get it aligned just right-the stand feet barely fit inside the rim.

The only difficulty with spinning the bike is getting weight down on the rear to lift the front tire. I suppose I could slip one of my tiny little 3-wheeled dollies under the front wheel, but it's not that bad - I simply put my weight down on the grab bar and PUSH the bike (not pull-hard to do and put your weight on the rear).

So long as the platform you use has a low friction, it shouldn't cause much strain on the center stand. The less friction with the floor, the less strain on the stand. I worry more about pushing it OFF the centerstand (forward), so am careful to move a little at a time and always maintain a little rearward pressure.


Shoot - now ya'all got me thinking about how I can modify the centerstand to provide rotation when needed...already got the basic layout in my head. Hmm...wish I had my shop up!!
 

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MizzouMike said:
Brilliant!

Turn your wife's parking into a reason to buy yet another item for the motorcycle....  That is great!

My wife goes the other way....    I wanted the connie, she said sure, and then I had to build a deck of equal value onto the house.  I wanted a KLR, and she said sure, and I had to redo the stairs in the house at a very similar cost.  I asked for a Harley Davidson, and now she has a new kitchen.... 

I doubt I will ever learn, but I will run out of money!
Click to expand...

you should have passed on the Harley!  :nananana: :rotflmao: :D
 
I am starting to think you are right!!!!

Sport Rider said:
MizzouMike said:
Brilliant!

Turn your wife's parking into a reason to buy yet another item for the motorcycle....  That is great!

My wife goes the other way....    I wanted the connie, she said sure, and then I had to build a deck of equal value onto the house.  I wanted a KLR, and she said sure, and I had to redo the stairs in the house at a very similar cost.  I asked for a Harley Davidson, and now she has a new kitchen.... 

I doubt I will ever learn, but I will run out of money!
Click to expand...

you should have passed on the Harley!  :nananana: :rotflmao: :D
Click to expand...
 
Well you've gotten a lot of good advice on turning the bike around in a small space, so I'll stick with being really glad that neither you nor Connie was hurt, and your incident does qualify you for the CDA Award except for one thing.

You need to be a full COG member.  Don't worry, we don't make you drop her again after you've joined in order to qualify!  Most folks join if they hang around a while and like what we do here, so just drop me a line after that happens and we'll add you to the roster.

Just to avoid confusion, here are the instructions: How to Convert from Forum Subscriber to Full COG Membership

And here's where to Renew
 
ConcoursKZ said:
I do it all the time on the center stand. I find it is very easy if you rotate the bike counter counter clockwise.
Click to expand...

Is that like clockwise only with twice the speed?
 
ChipDoc.  I sure did get lots of good advice.  I wish I heard it before I went to junk yard, walk through mud to find 1/4 plate, drag that plate out to car, carry home, clean the plate then clean the trunk..  I could have just gone to home depot 2 miles from my house to pick up a tile. 

No, I did not get hurt.  But my neighbor's eight year old boy got to hear lots of age-non-appropriate words.  His dad ran over pretty quickly to either shut me up or to help me.  He ended up helping me to right the bike.

Yes.. I intend to join and become a full member soon.  I also plan to drop Connie in near future.  Instead of replacing cracked plastics now, I intend to attend more motorcycle training and do lots more practice in empty parking lot without having that dollar sign in my head as I try to find the tipping point.  Once I feel confident I won't drop ( no matter where she parks ), then I will replace the fairings. 
 
Moose,
The changeover is done manually and can take a little time to show up. We are just volunteers here after all. Once the change is done you will have to sign out and then sign in again for it to show up correctly. Welcome to the craziness!
O yeah, if you want a CDA patch I am the one that has them!
Matt
 
Moose,
Once your changeover is processed you will be able to log in and access the cog online store. Patches and decals are in there.
Matt
 
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