When I first got my Concours and not having a garage to park it in, I resorted to keeping it covered during the winter, near the house to keep it out of the rain and snow somewhat. I always struggled with getting it turned around in the narrow driveway each time I headed out, fighting parked cars and loose gravel and such. Then I bought one of those pre-fabricated wooden mini barns 12’ wide, 16’ long, 12 ‘ high. This protected my bike but I still had to back it out and maneuver the beast in the driveway to get it turned around. It also limited floor space for other things while parked in the barn. It was hard to work on much of anything else with the big silver beast sitting in the middle of the floor. Parking in at an angle helped somewhat but was never entirely satisfactory. I designed and built a ramped turntable to drive up on, set the bike up on the center stand, rotate the whole mess and get ready to drive it out the door on next trip. It also makes it handy for maintenance work as it raises the bike and additional 4 or 5 inches off the floor.
I built the turntable out of leftover wood I had available at the time. I recommend building the top surfaces with plywood. I started with doubled up 1/2" chipboard (OSB) but it's too flexible and not as sturdy as plywood. I had to do a lot of piecemeal reinforcing underneath to stiffen the OSB center section satisfactorily. I will use plywood and 2x4's laid flat on a rebuild of the carousel. It all started out as an experiment to see what I could come up with. That way, if I had to trash the thing for not working I wasn't going to be out a lot of wood. It took several tries before I got something workable. I plan to rebuild or make a complete new one and use plywood for the top surfaces and support the center section with 2X4's on their side underneath for proper support.
The main section is six feet long and two feet wide. There is a 1 by 2 foot folding end section and a one foot by two foot hinged ramp at each end. The original (Ver 1.0) side pods (see photo top, left) were a foot wide and four feet long but I extended them to six feet long for better stability while getting on and off the structure. (Note** Added extentions to the side pods late Sep 98, Version 2.0 photo updates as noted. Drawing shows extended pods.)
The drawing below shows the best arrangement with six foot side pods. This makes it easier to get on the platform. I lost footing once on the short side pod and scared hell out of myself. Luckily I was able to reach the extra couple inches to the floor and save it. I had to back down and try again. Someone with a short inseam may have dumped the bike!! The end ramps and side pods are hinged to the center section and fold up for turning around or storage.
The end and side pods are 2 pieces of ½ inch plywood (or 5/8") screwed onto a 2X4 frame. The center is two sheets (24"x72") screwed together backed by 2X4's on their side for stiffness. The unit rotates on a 1000-pound capacity lazy Susan I got at the local building center for around seven bucks. The corners of the center section have heavy-duty casters in them (4) to support the corners while rotating. I placed the lazy Susan off center, more towards the rear, centered slightly in front of center stand so most of the weight concentrates there and the corner casters don't have to bear much of the load. The Lazy Susan and/or the caster wheels should be shimmed to keep the whole unit level. The rear pod (on ramp) also has two corner casters. It only folds for storage (no bike aboard). With the bike on board, the rear wheel is directly over the rear end pod. The front end pod has no casters because it folds up along with the ramp while moving.
The hinged on and off ramps are attached to the end sections. The front off ramp fold ups with the front end pod and is held in place with a knotted rope/slot arrangement during movement. The rear ramp is held off the floor by cargo tie downs (rubber bungees) while moving the ramp. When the bike is put up on the center stand it traverses to the rear a few inches and the rear tire is just over the end pod. This end pod has two casters in the outer corners so it rolls along during movement. The on ramp (rear) is pivoted up and is held against the rear tire by the bungees and stays there till you force it back to the floor. The angle on the bungees causes the ramp to snap into one position or the other, up or down.
The whole turn table works out to just over 8 feet long, a few inches more than the Concours, so basically it can be pivoted in a little more than its full length. I painted a small circle on the center section carpet with permanent magic marker to locate the side stand when parking. This mark is about two inches from the edge. Note** Thats why the side pod 2x4 frame extends an extra half inch out to provide support for the center plywood section. As long as I get the side stand foot on that mark I always get the bike on the center stand position correctly to allow everything to fold up for movement.
The side pod 2X4 frames jut out about 1/2" on the inside edge to fit under the center section top for added support. The side pod plywood tops fit flush to the plywood top of the center section. The drawing shows this more clearly.
I use 1/4 inch poly ropes mounted in the main section with knots at the right location to mate with slots cut into the bottom of the folding pieces to hold them off the floor while moving the platform. I selected hinges with removable pins to enable me to take off either or both of the ends. This allows easy removal of the bike's wheels for maintenance. They end up several inches off the floor. The wooden surface was too slippery for my liking and the center stand began chewing it up right away. I got some indoor/outdoor rug with foam backing and glued it to the various sections. I also use a 12x12-inch rubber backed carpet tile directly under the center stand. This keeps it from chewing up the rug in one area. I'm thinking of placing a sheet of thin steel under this area when I rebuild it.
I added several sets (4) of refrigerator type rollers under the Lazy Susan support. These multi-wheeled rollers allow me to push the whole support, bike and all sideways up against the wall to clear the floor space for other activities like carpentry, snow blowing, etc. I had to adjust the shims to compensate for these rollers. I recommend you screw in eyebolts for tie downs to stabilize things when moving it around .
Sep 11, 2001 update - I've changed the ramp a bit. I eliminated the "end pod" on the exit end of the ramp and put the end ramp in its place. Along with the extensions to the side pods this has made use of the ramp easier. It shortens it up a bit for easier rotating. I'm also thinking of pulling the "on" end pod and putting the ramp in its place. Might be a bit tricky getting the bike centered up unless I devise some flip down supports to level the on ramp once the bike is on the carousel. I've taken some new photos with my new digital camera which are on the following page. CLICK HERE...
This drawing looks ratty as viewed here because of the scale. Click on it to open it and it looks a little better. (Or if you have Adobe Reader, open the.PDF Version, it prints much better.) To use the .GIF, save the file as an image (.gif) file. Then open any program that can handle/print image files. I used Word. You should get an idea of the project from the pictures and drawings. ***NOTE*** Any construction and/or use of this device is the responsibility of those who attempt to build or use it. I accept no liability in this regard! If you fall off, chalk it up to experience.