How to weigh your motorcycle

[Kbike]

An easy way to get a fairly accurate weight is grab your bathroom scale, don't tell the wife, and roll the rear wheel up on it, then the front, and add the two weights for the total. To protect the scale use a 2x6 to roll the bike up on first, then onto the scale.



My KLR weighs 230 on the rear

and 185 on the front for a total of 415, and my WR450 is 259 total. Close enough for anything I need to do.

[Lumpyboy]

? No way that will be close to accurate -- one tire on the scale and one on the ground, and then switching. Simply too much weight in the middle of the bike will be unaccounted for.

Better way is to put your scale on top of a lift stand or jack and then lift the entire bike up on the stand.

[Hodakaguy]

It will work, with good accuracy. They weight big trucks and aircraft like this all the time.

Hodakaguy

[threadkiller]

Originally Posted by Lumpyboy

? No way that will be close to accurate -- one tire on the scale and one on the ground, and then switching. Simply too much weight in the middle of the bike will be unaccounted for.

Better way is to put your scale on top of a lift stand or jack and then lift the entire bike up on the stand.

LMAO!!!!!

[webhank]

i like to weigh myself on the bathroom scale and take note of my weight - then pick up the bike, hold it over my head, take note of that weight, then subtract my weight from the combined weight of me and the bike.

i am wicked strong.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

You could also go to a materials yard, around here they have them for landscaping materials etc - they have large drive on scales that will weigh the whole bike at once.

[jeiff]

Originally Posted by Lumpyboy

? No way that will be close to accurate -- one tire on the scale and one on the ground, and then switching. Simply too much weight in the middle of the bike will be unaccounted for.

Better way is to put your scale on top of a lift stand or jack and then lift the entire bike up on the stand.

So where would the "weight in the middle" be borne when both wheels are on the ground?

Kbike's method works. But the wheel that is not on the scale should probably be leveled up to the scale height for better accuracy.

Joe

[Hamon]

Originally Posted by Lumpyboy

? No way that will be close to accurate -- one tire on the scale and one on the ground, and then switching. Simply too much weight in the middle of the bike will be unaccounted for.

Better way is to put your scale on top of a lift stand or jack and then lift the entire bike up on the stand.

Man, don't you get it? The problem with this method is you have all the weight of the tires, wheels, and suspension underneath the horizontal line that is the top of the scale that will never get weighed..

Some people think they're physics majors or something..

[JDLuke]

Sheesh, if you're THAT concerned about accuracy, just do a stoppie that comes to rest on the scale.

It takes a little practice.

[Lumpyboy]

The one scale method usually isn't that accurate b/c people are not careful enough to make sure that the weight of each end of the bike is transmitted to the middle of the scale and not the edge of the scale as each end is weighed (the comment above about leveling up is important). That was my point. Only accurate way to do it is to slip the scale onto your bike stand. And in addition, bathroom scales are often not accurate if that's what your using. Best to use a shipping or medical scale.

[plugeye]

thats like weighing yourself one foot at a time & adding it up
i'm under 20 lbs

[Boon Booni]

Originally Posted by plugeyes

thats like weighing yourself one foot at a time & adding it up
i'm under 20 lbs

no it isn't. You can controll how much weight you put on one foot by shifting your body. The bike can't, it's a rigid system. This method is accurate, even without leveling the other end. The amount of weight shifted by being out of level that little bit is negligible.

Bathroom scales are accurate enough for this. Just make sure the wheel is in the center of the scale. If it's accurate enough to weigh you, it's accurate enough to weigh a bike.

Many bathroom scales have a 250-300lb max though, so if you think the bike will weigh over 550lbs or so, I would suggest trying another method.

[dentvet]

this is fun.

1. two bikes weigh 300# each, one is a short cruiser, one is a tall dirt bike. lay them both over and put the handlebar end on the bathroom scale. Which is heavier, which is easier to pick up?

2. put a sealed box with a pound of flies on your luggage rack. Start the engine to disturb them, making them all fly around inside the box. weigh bike. As the flies die and fall to the bottom of the box, does the bike get heavier or lighter?


not trying to hijack a thread with a good description of a handy technique. sorry

(I'm thinking the handlebar weight might actually be a useful piece of info)

[Ruffus]

[quote=dentvet
2. put a sealed box with a pound of flies on your luggage rack. Start the engine to disturb them, making them all fly around inside the box. weigh bike. As the flies die and fall to the bottom of the box, does the bike get heavier or lighter?/quote]

This was a problem brought before me & my fellow students in grade nine, only it was a cargo van full of 1000 pounds worth of chickens. At the weight station, the driver would get out & beat the sides of the van with a club, causing the chickens to fly around so he could cheat the scales. So did it weigh less? LMAO

[Boon Booni]

Originally Posted by dentvet

1. two bikes weigh 300# each, one is a short cruiser, one is a tall dirt bike. lay them both over and put the handlebar end on the bathroom scale. Which is heavier, which is easier to pick up?

What do you know about leverage?

[Boon Booni]

Originally Posted by dentvet

2. put a sealed box with a pound of flies on your luggage rack. Start the engine to disturb them, making them all fly around inside the box. weigh bike. As the flies die and fall to the bottom of the box, does the bike get heavier or lighter?

As sealed box will stay the same weight. A box with a mesh floor and lid will get heavier as the flies die.