Plans and building guide

To construct A

Wheelie Trainer.

These plans contain everything you need to build your own Wheelie
Trainer.

You will need a workplace with basic Tools such as a chop saw,
pillar or bench drill, welding set and hand grinders, hand drills and
basic hand tools.

The trainer illustrated was constructed by myself with these basic

tools and equipment. I am not a qualified engineer nor a skilled
draftsman, but I was able to design and build the dolly shown here.

If you wish you can change some dimensions and materials used to
suit you.

These plans and drawings are copyright of chrisg120_0 on ebay uk and are
registered as such in the UK, USA and EUROPE. © 2017 They are for
personal use only and do not cover commercial use or manufacture. Legal
action will be taken against anyone violating these intellectual property rights.
They may not be copied or sold.

I learnt to wheelie 30 years ago, and like most people who can
wheelie, I learned to wheelie the hard way. Lots of spills, crashes,
damaged bikes and injuries.

You can be injured not only by falling, but also the bike falling on
you which is usually worse.

One innovation was the introduction of wheelie cages for the bikes,
which protected the bikes to a certain extent, but did nothing to
stop the rider falling, or the bike falling on him.

The beauty of the type of Wheelie Trainer shown here, is the bike is
firmly held upright and cannot go over backwards as the tail of the
bike will just rest on the trainer deck.

It cannot fall sideways either as it is supported by the outrigger

wheels.

The rider will also remain off the ground as all he has to do is hold
onto the handlebars and his back will just rest on the rear deck of
the trainer.

The angle the bike can lean back can be adjusted by using blocks of
different heights on the center deck.

As you can see this makes for a very safe, easy way to learn. Also
can be used by riders who can wheelie and want to develop new
stunts, e.g. seat standers etc.

Many wheelie schools employ this type of trainer.

With these plans and drawings, you can easily make you own.
 CONSTRUCTION
All the steel used is standard box section etc and can be purchased
at any steel stockholders, do a google search for stockholders in
your area.

The construction will be divided into 7 sections, each section

focusing on one part of the trainer.

1) the front section.

2) The swing arms.
3) The center section.
4) The rear section.
5) The wheel spindles.
6) The adjuster arms.
7) The castor wheel.

THE FRONT SECTION

Mainly 50 x 50 x 2.5 box with some

50 x 25 x 2.5 box and some
40 x 6 flat strip.
The drawings to use are,
FFSPV
FFSSV
FSB

Cut the 50 x 50 box and use drawing FSPV to make the bottom part
of the frame. Just tack together at first.
It helps to mark out on a piece of plywood the outline as shown in
the drawings, or draw on a large piece of paper or card and use this
on your welding table as a guide.

Next cut the steel for the uprights as shown in drawing FFSSV, 2
pieces of 50 x 50 box 50mm long welded on top. These pieces serve
as holders for the nuts used to mount the 1” threaded bar used for
the wheel holding spindles. 2 nuts are used on each side. Don't weld
in the nuts yet as everything needs to be aligned properly.
Tack the vertical pieces in place first.

Next the 2 each side 50 x 25 box pieces, check the measurements

first as your frame may differ slightly from mine. Tack in place.

Next the 40 x 6 flat strip pieces, first cut them out of cardboard and
check fit before cutting them out of steel.

Make 10 brackets as shown in drawing B1 from 50 x 6 flat strip,

these are self explanatory, study the photos and drawings. To make
the bend in them I cut along the bend line with a 1mm slitting disk
until about 75% of the way through, then place them in a vice and
bent them over to 90 deg, only bend 8 at the moment as 2 will need
a different angle bend when making the swing arms.
You can tack the front 2 brackets to the frame, but leave the rear
ones for now, make the swing arms first. Don't weld in the B2
brackets yet.
Check everything then fully weld up the front frame section.
Next get a length of 1” threaded rod ( check for straightness ) wider
than the frame and place 2 nuts ( each say 4mm apart ) on each end
of the rod. Insert this through the box section on the top of the
vertical posts. Alter the position of the nuts until are just within the
box ( or slightly protruding ) It may help to grind the corners of the
nuts to help.
Tack the nuts in place and then weld. Remove the rod. This may be
difficult and require some cutting of the rod.
Next are the swing arms.

THE SWING ARMS

The arms are both identical and are constructed out of 50 x 25 x 2.5
box.

The drawing is SA.

As before, copy and draw out drawing SA onto a plywood board or a

piece of paper/card and use as a template.
The brackets used are the 2 unmodified B1 brackets, modified to
suit the swing arms.
A 19mm nut is welded into the end as shown to hold the wheel bolt.
The wheels I used had bearings for a 19 mm shaft, if yours are a
different size, use suitable bolts. I had the nuts protruding from the
ends so I could drill them for a cotter pin.
Check the arm for fit on the front section and weld the rear B1
brackets to the frame.
Next make the adjuster arms and then you can line up bracket B2
which goes on the frame and the remaining B1 bracket on the swing
arms.

THE ADJUSTER ARMS.

Use drawing AA.

These are made from lengths of 1” ( or 25mm ) flattened at one end
and with a 19mm nut welded on the other end.
Lengths of 19mm threaded rod are welded to the 40 x 6mm flat
strip brackets as shown.

Next is the rear frame section.

THE REAR FRAME SECTION

The rear frame is mostly of 50 x 25 x 2.5 box.
Drawings are
RFBSPV
RSSV
RFPV

First lift up the front section ( without the swing arms ) on 4 blocks.
The height should be so that the distance from the table to the
center of the 1” threaded rod is the same as the radius of the rear
bike wheel you are going to use.
This trainer is designed to use 17” ( up to 190 section ) or 18”
wheels. The radius will differ slightly, depending on the wheel size
and tire section. A typical radius may be 310/320 for example.

Lifting the fame like this will put it at ride height when used.

Next make the top part of the rear frame.

Drawing is RFPV

Offer this up to the front frame and support it on blocks, the front
wants to be level with ( and touching ) the front frame.
The back part wants to be resting on a block 290mm high from the
table.

You can then make the rear frame bottom section.

Drawing is RFBSPV.

Offer this up to the rear frame as in drawing RSSV.

Check for fitment and tack everything together.

 WHEELS
The wheels I used were pneumatic 10” overall dia and just standard
cart or truck wheels you can buy off ebay or locally. I purchased
mine at a hardware store.
You can use 8” wheels also. After making this trainer I saw some 8”
wheels with solid tires for sale which I think may have been better.
They had solid tires instead of pneumatic, but this would have been
OK. The main importance were they had stronger bearings, with a
wider bearing housing.

Basically you can use whatever wheels you can obtain, the stronger
the better.

BRACKET B2
2 of these are required and are cut from 10mm plate, using a
plasma cutter for example.

Drawing is B2. Exact dimensions are not critical.

WHEEL SPINDLES AND ADJUSTING SCREWS

These are to firmly locate and hold the rear wheel of the bike in the
frame.

Drawings are
WS
WSAS

These I had make on a lathe to the drawings shown.

Inside each wheel spindle I inserted 2 sealed bearing races and

then inserted the turned end of the adjuster screw into the
bearings. Bearings used were 40 x 17 x 12. 2 bearings each side.
I think an upgrade to this would to be use a thrust bearing also.
Bore out the wheel spindle a bit deeper, insert a thrust bearing first
then the 2 bearing races, also machine the 17mm section of the
wheel spindle screw a bit longer to fit the thrust bearing depth.
An upgrade to the adjuster screw would be to make them out of
high tensile bolts

CENTER DECK AND REAR DECK

Center deck is made from 1.5-2 mm steel.

Drawing CD

Rear deck is made from steel sheet or aluminum ( checker-plate )

which looks better. This should be fitted at the end of construction
to allow access to fitting the rear wheel. It can be pop riveted on.
Drawing is RD.

CASTER WHEEL BRACKETS

These are made from 50 x 50 x 3 angle iron.

Drawings are
CWTB
CWBB
 REAR CASTOR WHEEL

Drawings are

CWB1
CWBTV

When I made mine I initially got the angle wrong and had to modify
it as shown in the photos below. However if you make it according
to the drawings you will be OK, also study the final photos.
Plate used is 3 mm.
The swivel tube is 17mm OD and 10mm ID, inclined 10 deg from
vertical.

2 springs are used to help keep the wheel straight but allow
steering when turning. Dimensions are not critical and I just chose
mine from a selection in the local hardware shop. Use photos as a
guide.
 USING

When using the trainer have the bike wheel centered from left to
right and do not over tighten the wheel spindles, but rely on locking
them in place with the 2 lock nuts on either side, these can be
tighten with a spanner.

You will have to have some kind of wheelie bar fitted to the rear os
the bike so the bike can rest on that rather than damaging the
bodywork. Photo is one fitted to a KTM.
These plans and drawings are copyright of chrisg120_0 on ebay uk and are
registered as such in the UK, USA and EUROPE. © 2017 They are for
personal use only and do not cover commercial use or manufacture. Legal
action will be taken against anyone violating these intellectual property rights.
They may not be copied or sold.