Help me get my scooter up on this ramp?

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herekittykitty

herekittykitty

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Oct 26, 2013
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Location
Birch Bay, WA
It's the lightest-weight thing I could find (the scooter - 125 lb curb weight), but still I drop it almost every time I load or unload it.

Being 3-dimensionally-challenged doesn't help.  ;) I can't tell what I'm doing wrong or what would help.

I nixed the idea of one of those carriers that tip, since I still have to get the carrier level again (alone) after it's loaded.

The ramp angle makes a difference, so I make sure my bumper is as low to the ground as I can get it (in other words, the coach isn't leveled).

Should I look for a non-matching ramp that's longer than the one that came with the carrier??
An electric winch? Can't be manual because I need both hands to steady the scooter. In any event, I've never used one.
 

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Hello.

I would hope a little practice with help from another RVer might help. 

If you are having trouble keeping it on the short ramp, how will a longer ramp help? 

A longer ramp should be easily fabricated at any sheet metal or welding shop.

Is the ladder mounted securely enough to handle supporting the bike?

I see no place to mount a winch to pull the bike up, or a good, low point on the bike to hook a cable.  Maybe a pole welded to the carrier to mount the winch, with support braces?  This gets the winch high enough to get a straight pull point on the bike.
 
grashley said:
If you are having trouble keeping it on the short ramp, how will a longer ramp help?
Click to expand...

The angle seems to matter - the less of an angle I have, the easier it is. So my reasoning was longer ramp = less angle.

The problem seems to be that the low part on the scooter gets caught on the top of the ramp/edge of the carrier. Had this problem with my last scooter, too.
 
I had exactly the same scooter and exactly the same carrier. I found out real quick that the ramp that comes with it is worthless. Totally worthless. Too steep of an incline makes it difficult to get a scooter up it. You need a gentler incline.

What I did was I went to Home Depot and bought a 6 foot 2 by 8 piece of wood and two 6 foot 2 by 4s and bolted them into a U shape l___l and drilled a hole in one end so I could attach it to the ramp. Since you look like a very small woman to me I would think you would need to use 8 foot long wood instead. You can hire a mobile carpenter from Craigslist to assemble it for you.

You will need to figure out some place to carry it. I am fortunate that my rear storage bins are pass through so I had no problem. Once you get it built you should be able to figure out a place to put it. The interesting thing is I bought carrier on Amazon for $69 and sold it two years later for a profit.
 
Take the ramp to a sheetmetal/welding shop and ask how much to make it longer or make a longer one.

If they can put a curve or bend in it, that will help at the top. Ramps for loading ATVs in pickups have the curve so they don't bottom out on the tailgate.
 
all you need is a nice longer flat aluminum ramp.

the average Honda or Yamaha shop will have brand new 6-8' ramps for about 40-$80. the really cool ramps are nice light 10" wide, 7' long arched and it folds in half (about $100).

there are good used ones all over on Craigslist cheap,  every dirt bike owner with a pickup truck had one.

note (imo)... Try not to get a ramp shaped like a channel up, this typically prevents you from turning the wheel and correcting a miss-balance when loading/unloading, usually the ramp tips over and you almost drop the bike.

it also helps to put a receiver clamp on the hitch. this will prevent the whole carrier unit from tilting around so much when you are loading/unloading and bouncing around when you are driving.
 
Such great ideas! Thanks.

FWIW, I started out with an aluminum set - carrier and ramp. Worthless. I bent those all to hell in a couple of months, which is why I went to steel  ;D.

Can someone post a picture of what that ATV "curved" ramp looks like?

Don't have room to store something like what you suggest, SeilerBird (and also it sounds like I'd have trouble handling that as well) but could probably have it made in 2 pieces that I attach together when needed. Can you post a photo of what you made?
 
I found these curved budget ramps, I guess this is what y'all were talking about. Problem is they're all 12" wide and my carrier's only 7.  :(

Or is that a problem?

Wrote to Budget Ramps to ask whether any of them were do-able with the carrier I also bought from them.

http://www.discountramps.com/7-foot-motorcycle-ramp-kit/p/AF-RK-7/
http://www.discountramps.com/single-motorcycle-ramp/p/AF-9012-HD/
http://www.discountramps.com/aluminum-motorcycle-ramp/p/A-AMR/
http://www.discountramps.com/bike-ramp/p/AFL-9012/
http://www.discountramps.com/motocross-ramp/p/AFP-9012/
http://www.discountramps.com/revarc-motocross-ramp/p/REVARCMX/
 
For the cost of any of those ramps you could probably get a metal fabrication shop to either bend the ramp you have to clear the bottom of the scooter, or get it extended with a bend/arch.

Forming a longer ramp like the one you have would be a simple job for a shop. The mechanics there might even come up with something better.

Can't hurt to get a quote.
 
We go to a local fair every year with our RV and the lady parked next to us has a mobility scooter. She has a electric lift. Just drives on it, ties down the scooter then pushes a button to raise the lift. I would think there would be something like that for your scooter.
 
Any local fabricator can make exactly what you want, with as little lip as you want.  May make it foldable or two piece.

The electric lift may be a great solution, too!
 
Have to admit here that I have not the first clue what to do when you guys say ..."any metal fabricator"...

Don't know what these shops are, where to find them, what they are called, how they work, how much something should cost...?

Have never had anything metal made to my specs in my life.  :-[
 
Do a search locale to you using "machine shop", "fab shop" or "welder". Those are the basics and starting points.
If you were locale I'd be more than happy to do the modifications at my shop, but I have the feeling that you are not just around the corner.
Also you could purchase another of the short ramps that came with your carrier and have a "shop" connect it to the original ramp to double the length.
Another thing you may want to look at is the protrusion that could be a real chin smacker. It is the piece that sticks out towards the rear the furthest. It looks like that could cause you to use an unsafe body position wilst loading. Your arms may be extended to the point where you wouldn't have much strength trying to avoid smacking your legs.

Good luck.

Corky
 
herekittykitty said:
Have to admit here that I have not the first clue what to do when you guys say ..."any metal fabricator"...

Don't know what these shops are, where to find them, what they are called, how they work, how much something should cost...?

Have never had anything metal made to my specs in my life.  :-[
Click to expand...

If you care to, I could do some searching for a shop close to you and touch base with them, I speak their language ;D
 
grashley said:
Best offer of the thread!!
Click to expand...

Agreed!

And I already smack my legs... when the back end of the scooter falls off the carrier onto me and the ground.  :-\ My legs are NEVER bruise-free.

It would need to be a place in Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, or Canon Beach, OR. (I suspect there is more than one in Warrenton?)

What I don't know is whether lengthening it WILL help - I liked how the ones I linked to earlier all curved at the top like they did, in addition to being longer.

Plus, I noticed the weights. There was one steel one which weighs 32 pounds!! No, thank you. So now I understand why I'd want this in aluminum.

The ramp company wrote back saying, of course, that none of the ones I mentioned would work and that only the one supplied with the carrier will work with the carrier, but I don't actually believe that, because I used to attach my old ramp (which had holes in in) to the old carrier with a long heavy-duty velcro strap and that kept it in place nicely, though I still had the same loading problem.

I'm thinking of buying one of the wider ones anyway and taking it to one of those shops y'all are talking about, and having whatever doesn't work (like the attachment point) removed or modified.

Wouldn't that be cheaper than having one made from scratch?
And do all these shops work with aluminum, or is that a specialty?
 
My two cents are like most have said, one a longer ramp to ease the angle and second i would suggest a parallel ramp to walk up with the bike so that the weight does not get heavier to handle as it gets higher on the hitch.

http://www.harborfreight.com/super-wide-tri-fold-loading-ramp-90018.html wide ramps

or here is motorcycle or scooter crank hitch lift: I am currently making one for myself for a dual sport motorcycle similar to this
http://motorcycle-rack.com/RV_Motorcycle_lift_single.html
 
I still say you should get one of the longer allum. arched folding ramp and you may need to modify the end of it as required to sit well on rack.

you should always secure the ramp to the rack with a tie-down strap when you are loading or unloading.
 
You have PM.
I just talked to the shop that I gave you and they sound very positive.

Hope they help you get this resolved.

Corky
 
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