GStwin.com GS500 Message Forum

Has anyone ever had experience moving the GS up and down stairs before? It's supposed to get below 20* tomorrow night with rain and sleet all day long. I don't think I want to leave my baby outside, especially parked on wet and iced over brick. That stuff is slippery and I don't trust drivers here on campus. I am thinking about moving the GS into my dorm room just for the night.

Since the wheelchair ramp isn't big enough to support a motorcycle turning, I'd have to move her up the stairway, through the lobby, down the hall, and into my room. My only issue thus far is the stairs.

Any tips or tricks I should know about? I might be able to get a big 2x6 to place on the stairs to act as a ramp if I need to, but if I don't need to I won't.

ride it.  how steep are the stairs.

The stairs are alright, I guess. 40 to 45 degrees at the most. Think it will handle the stairs riding it up, or should I use the 2x6? Also, how do you suggest getting it down the stairs? Walking it down trailing the front brake, rear end first?

Why not just park it on a sidewalk somewhere?

How on earth is an accessible ramp not big enough to allow a bike to turn?  Do the backandforthwiggle, and I bet it'll go.

how many steps up?  i've never done  steps ont he GS before but i have doen some wicked tall curbs on the GS. The  key is to stay committed once you;ve started up..  Don't chicken out and chop  the throttle or you're in for a world of hurt.

don't know how i would feel about riding back down them with the spooshy gs suspension.

Mk1 - It's also cold outside. My baby is from Spain and lives in Texas. She likes to be warm. Also, we can get ticketed for parking on a sidewalk.

RG - The ramp is made for something that can spin in circles if need be. It starts with a 90 degree turn from the right, goes a ways, then 180s in a VERY small distance, goes up some more and does a 90 to the left.

jake - There are 10 - 12 steps up, I think, followed by a short platform, then the double door with a center rail.

get some wood! I can see trying to ride up stairs only ending badly for you myfriend. how pissed are you gonna be if you f- up your bike doing somthing stupid like trying to ride up stairs. its not a dirt bike, chances of you makeing don't seem good in my mind. get your 2x6 and ride it up that. I would have two buddies around when I do this too. one to stay at the bottom to hold the board from slipping out when your on it with the heavy bike, and one to be behind you or beside you on your way up to prevent dropage. good luck!!!

Bingo, BSD. I actually convinced one of my friends to help me do this, so I think I'll be good for that.

Now getting it down. I'll put the 2x6 on the stairs again and just back it down like I'm unloading it from a truck, riding the front brake all the way down, right? That's my plan, at least.

My friend and I are going to get some pictures, and if we can we're going to get it into my bed and get a picture of me spooning it (a la the Gixxer Love picture circulating out there). I'm thinking about removing a bunch of parts while it's in here and setting them on my roommate's bed. I hate him so much. Maybe I'll drop the engine and set it on his bed and tell him not to touch it.

10+ stairs at a 40 degree angle...no way not me.  The board is an idea but if it slides or moves that wouldn't be good.  If you are riding it on a board and gas it the board will slide back. You never mentioned if you had help moving it?  If so I might consider it doable.   Your bike would probibally tolerate some cold and rain better than being dropped down the stairs :o

have a camera handy. and please post pics of when you drop it.

Quote from: subchave a camera handy. and please post pics of when you drop it.

lol  That's more or less what I'm thinking.  If the 2x6 slips you're going to be in a world of hurt.  Plus, whats security going to think when you wheel your gs through the lobby?  Somehow, I doubt they'll see your point of view.   :lol:

Park it along the side of a building and throw a $1 tarp over it.

simple common sense comes in handy in a situation like this  :lol:

can't you just find a movers dolly and put it under the rear wheel then you can swing around the handicap access?

I think that you big, manly men could just carry down the stairs. I mean how much could a GS weigh?

Does your college have a football team?...........

Well, the 2x6 we've got has a handly little grip thing on it that goes over a lip. We use it to load my dad's FZ1 onto his truck all the time. It should be able to handle the GS.

Thankfully we don't have security at my dorm, so wheeling it through won't be a problem.

I wouldn't do it.

How about parking it under the stairs? Buying a bike cover? Cold weather really doesn't hurt a GS any. Its the moisture and its freezing that does the damage.

Can't park it under the stairs, they are solid state. A bike cover might do me over, but I'm worried about the ice and hail that is possible.

If you are worried about hail, get some of that foam and put it in the top of the cover before putting it on to pad against the ice. Might even make a good insulation against hard freezing.

It would probably be a lot easier to take it somewhere and park it in a public garage for the night.  It's not like you want to store it for any length of time, right?  The number of ways that taking it up a full flight of stairs could go wrong is stunning, and just doesn't seem worth it to get it out of the elements for one night.  Paying for a day or two of parking is probably going to be a lot less expensive than replacing all the parts that break off when you drop it.

Quote from: AlphaFire X5'm thinking about removing a bunch of parts while it's in here and setting them on my roommate's bed. I hate him so much. Maybe I'll drop the engine and set it on his bed and tell him not to touch it.

Haha.. this cracked me up, cuz it's something me and my 2 other roomies would do to the 4th roomie.. fortunately, for us, it's easy.. my roomie is DEATHLY allergic to peanuts.. I keep a jar of peanut butter, relabled to "SILVER BULLET" on my desk... if he pisses us off, I put it on his desk, or in one of his drawers, or under his pillow...  :lol:  :lol:

I went down the stairs today. I don't think it's 40 degrees, that seems a bit excessive. 25* maybe? I'm going to try and find a place to park in a garage with motorcycle parking. I don't think there are any garages on campus that have covered motorcycle parking in them. I'll check around, though.

Methinks you should invest in a nice generic bike cover.

Methinks you are being a complete pansy about this...my GS froze hard and solid each winter until I moved to CA.  Our dirtbikes were always stored in a covered trailer, but they had basically no insulation from Minnesota freezing and they are still running with no issues.


2 days of cold will not hurt it...

Thank you, Mk1. It's nice to get some reassurance. I don't want it running crappily on me when I go to the track this Saturday. Like I said, I've never had to deal with cold and motorcycles before, so It's nice getting some feedback.

Nice sig, by the way :lol:

Moving a 380 pound motorcycle up 10 stairs just because it is freezing is a bad idea.

Like, Bad Idea Jeans bad.  

Right now it is 12 degrees here and snowing.  Hard.  

And I hate you too.   :kiss:

so, where are the pics?

I just got word that the university is being closed because of the weather. No classes or tests starting 2pm today. It'll reopen tomorrow at 10am. We're supposed to get flurries and an ice storm tonight.

Texans are pussies when it comes to ice. We're not used to it.

I found a garage I can move her to for the night, so she'll at least stay out of hail damage.

The track day is looking good. 60 degrees and sunny.

Quote from: AlphaFire X5I just got word that the university is being closed because of the weather. No classes or tests starting 2pm today. It'll reopen tomorrow at 10am. We're supposed to get flurries and an ice storm tonight.

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  Silly warm weather folk! We don't close for anything less than 24 inches, our school buses have chains on the tires and there was more than one occassion where anyone older than 13 had to get off the school bus and shovel the bus out of a ditch and put down kitty litter so we could go to school. If they closed for flurries and ice storms we'd never have school.

Exactly! We're pussies about cold weather. It's hilarious. No one down here knows WTF to do when they hit ice. They tend to slam on their brakes, steer into oncoming traffic, and go 10mph over the speed limit.

Morons.

Quote from: AlphaFire X5I found a garage I can move her to for the night, so she'll at least stay out of hail damage.

Are they really expecting hail?  Hail is usually associated with thunderstorms, not snow storms.  Snow storms usually offer sleet or perhaps freezing rain...neither of which is hail, nor will they damage your motorcycle.

alpha's just looking for excuses to bring his bike inside. he thinks it might freeze and die.

I want to be able to cuddle and spoon with my baby.

dude, quit being a kitty cat, go watch animal house for some pointers and then just ride it in.   how do you think I get all the bikes into the basement?

Quote from: NiceGuysFinishLastmy roomie is DEATHLY allergic to peanuts.. I keep a jar of peanut butter, relabled to "SILVER BULLET" on my desk... if he pisses us off, I put it on his desk, or in one of his drawers, or under his pillow...  :lol:  :lol:

Now that was funny...   :)

Quote from: davipudude, quit being a kitty cat, go watch animal house for some pointers and then just ride it in.   how do you think I get all the bikes into the basement?

I'm getting ready to ride mine into the basement for disassembly this weekend.  I have the feeling that it's going to scrape the frame as it goes over the top step, but meh.  When it comes back out again it'll be in pieces, and I'll probably re-assemble it in the garage sometime this spring when it's warmer.

Quote from: AlphaFire X5Exactly! We're pussies about cold weather. It's hilarious. No one down here knows WTF to do when they hit ice. They tend to slam on their brakes, steer into oncoming traffic, and go 10mph over the speed limit.

Morons.

motherf***er i got out of a final and got caught in the worst sleet storm of my life.  i had to roll start the bike to get it to run, and when i got some my jeans were frozen, and my shield had little ice pellets on it.  and the bike is staying out tonight with a cover on it.  i pulled the battery and left it on the tender inside though  :thumb:

edit here is a pic i just took

it's only 400lbs ish you can lift it ;) find a friend with a garage or make a friend with a garage, that's what I did :)

Man, steve, I'm glad I wasn't outside today!

I ended up leaving the bike outside in the elements. I'll see how she is tomorrow when I try to ride her home to sell some parts (and ship some off to others) as well as getting her track prepped for Saturday.

You should really get a cheap cover at least.
Here's mine (it was like $15 at weelmart) and it gets the job done (pic at school).

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v170/subco/gs_covered.jpg)

I have covered parking at home, but I still put the cover over the bike every night.

Quote from: AlphaFire X5Man, steve, I'm glad I wasn't outside today!

I ended up leaving the bike outside in the elements. I'll see how she is tomorrow when I try to ride her home to sell some parts (and ship some off to others) as well as getting her track prepped for Saturday.

i'm sure it'll be fine.  maybe a little hard to start, but none the less fine  :thumb:

u guys are rediculous.  I went to college in oswego and grew up in upstate NY. Oswego gets an average annual snowfall of 180 inches a year = 15 feet of snow.  I remember and have video of us going out to the parking lot and you cant even see the car.. its totally burried.  and/or burried other peoples  cars for fun.  ur talking about sleet? it will be fine.

on second thought.. i really want to see you roll it into the dorm. can you do it tomar when its nicer out?

p.s. heres a vid on my website of us tubbing off the back of my old blazer two years ago in oswego.  were driving down the snow coverd road.  (its a slow 14 meg download from my home webserver) http://ww2.nickbargovic.com:1111/laughs/videos/tube.mpg[/quote]

Quote from: Mr.7I think that you big, manly men could just carry down the stairs. I mean how much could a GS weigh?

yeah, actually me and two other guys just lifted my GS into the back of a pickup truck once.  if you get 4 guys that's only 100lbs each :)