A friend recently asked me for plans of a bike stand I built about 15 years ago, and several days later someone on the Net inquired about the stand (which appears in several of the pictures on the website).
Since I've found the stand very useful, and there seemed to be some interest I drew it up, scanned it, and then did some editing where the thin lines in the drawing didn't scan clearly. The stand is pretty straight forward to build and use, and I've had bikes of about 450 pounds on it. It may require some additional bracing for anything heavier.
The top and back support panels of the stand pivot and form the ramp for rolling the bike on to the stand. With a heavier bike you will definitely want to be sure you have a fair amount of room for the approach in which to build up some speed, as otherwise you'll find that you can't push the bike quite far enough up the stand to go over-center and have the stand top return to horizontal.
After rolling the bike up I secure it with tie downs to some metal eye brackets on the sides of the stand. I also use a hook and eye to secure the back support panel to the side, so that it can't be accidentally kicked out of place. You will need to have some sort of wheel stop at the front edge of the top to keep the bike from plummeting off when you roll it up in ramp-mode. Put this chock as far forward as possible, so you can be sure the bike's center of gravity goes past the top's fulcrum point.
Procedure:
After cutting the various parts out (and no, it doesn't seem like you can get all the panels out of one sheet of plywood - get a friend so you can buy 3 sheets of plywood and make two stands) join the two sides with the cross bars. Nails are fine but glue and wood screws are nicer. Then attach the front panel to the front (18" high) of the sides. Make sure the top-center cross bar doesn't extend into the ramp area, and is flush with the top of the sides. This is needed so the hinges attach properly and it doesn't interfere with the top in ramp mode.
Attach the top and remaining end panel to each other with the hinges so the hinge is on the underside of the top and the two panels fit closely to each other when in the same plane.
Now the tricky part. Lay the combined top/end panels on the angled portion of the sides so that the back end of the end panel is at ground level. Now mark the top panel where it hits the back corner of the middle-top crossbar, at the fulcrum point. You can then put the top/end panels on the floor, hinge UP, and upend the sides onto the assembly. Align the fulcrum point/crossbar/line on the underside of the top panel, and mark for the holes to attach the hinges. Now drill the holes and bolt the hinges to the cross bar and top. If you don't get the hinges attached properly the top panel won't move smoothly between horizontal and ramp positions.
Turn it back over and attach the eye plates, wheel chock, and hook/eye for the back panel. A coat of sealer to keep oil from soaking in and you should be ready to use the stand.
I'd suggest cutting some holes in the side or end panels for access to the area in the front end (away from the ramp) of the stand. It is a good place to put those full oil-drain pans so they don't get kicked, or storing other parts. If you put stuff in the back section, you have to make sure it doesn't stick up high enough to be hit when the top goes into ramp mode.
I've drawn side and top views of the parts, as well as two side views, one of which shows the top in ramp mode, and the other shows the top horizontal. The stand is pretty simple so I think this should be sufficient to get the idea across.
If anyone spots an error, be sure to let me know so I can adjust the text/drawing as needed.
