R&G has added a motorcycle loading ramp to its workshop range, a stainless steel fold-down ramp for the moment a bike goes from the floor to a van, a trailer or a bench. It is 2.1 m (7 ft) long, 27.5 cm (11 in) wide and rated for 300 kg.
Stainless Steel Motorcycle Loading Ramp Design
Stainless steel is the right material for something that lives in wet garages, paddocks and the back of a van. It resists corrosion, so the ramp should look the same in year three as it did out of the box. The deck is flat, with no raised rails to catch a footpeg, and the surface is textured and slip-resistant so a tyre has something to grip on the way up.
A flat deck changes how you load. You walk the bike up a single even surface and keep your eyes on the front wheel, and the ramp stays where you put it. R&G describes the ramp for workshops, garages and trailer setups, which covers most of the places riders get a bike off the ground.
R&G is better known for the parts that protect a bike after it goes down, from frame sliders to tail tidies, and it is the official protection partner of MotoAmerica this season. A ramp sits at the other end of the same job. Crash protection limits the damage once a bike is on its side, and a good ramp keeps it upright in the first place.
Motorcycle Loading Ramp Size and Capacity
The 300 kg rating covers everything from a lightweight naked to a loaded adventure bike, with room to spare for most of the people reading this. At 2.1 m the ramp is long enough to keep the climb gentle into a van or onto a trailer bed. At 27.5 cm wide it is a good deal wider than a 200-section rear tyre, so there is margin either side of the wheel.
Margin is the point of a motorcycle loading ramp this wide. Most loading mishaps start with a wheel drifting toward an edge, and a wider deck gives a rider a second or two to correct before the bike makes the decision for them.
Folding Motorcycle Loading Ramp for Storage and Transport
Folding is the feature that decides whether a ramp gets used. A fixed plank leans in the corner of the garage, gets in the way and ends up in the shed. A ramp that folds fits behind a seat, under a bench or against a wall, and it travels with the bike to the track, the dealer or the trip.
Folded it stores compact, and unfolded it gives the full 7 ft of run. For a rider with a small garage, that trade is the whole sales pitch.
R&G general manager Jack Taylor ties the design to the company’s own routine of moving bikes to its headquarters for research and development. That is a useful origin for a ramp. A company that handles bikes every week has already learned which parts of loading go wrong.
R&G Motorcycle Loading Ramp Price and Availability
The R&G Workshop Motorcycle Loading Ramp is available now at $133.44. For the price of a decent set of tyres, a rider gets a piece of kit that protects a motorcycle many times that price, and a back that is spared a bad lift.
Anyone who has loaded a bike alone knows the ramp is the whole job. A flat 7 ft of stainless steel will not make the bike lighter, but it removes most of the guesswork.
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