Semi-mobile bike cover questions

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Dunnes

Race Dog
Joined
Apr 4, 2016
Messages
838
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22
Location
Gauteng, Pretoria
Bike
BMW F650GS / Dakar
Dagse dogs

I have very limited space at our place in Jhb. Currently my bike is parked under our carport, very visible from the street, but at least behind a locked gate. I want to park it behind another locked door but that means I need to make a bike cover. I would prefer to just build a "afdak", but the owner doesn't like the idea. I reverse the bike through the door and into a narrow corridor. Its not possible to turn the bike around.

I have two ideas:
1. Make something similar to the first picture. It is made by a TheBikeBarn (https://thebikebarn.net). My Dakar has a large topbox at the back, so I will need to look at this carefully to accommodate the front and backside. If I make it big enough, it should work. Their site says the cover material is "Commercial grade woven polyester fabric with long life UV testing" with a "Polyurethane coating on inside for waterproofing". I would need to get a material that can fold relatively easily as you don't want it in the way as you backup the bike into the frame.
2. Make a steel structure and cover it with a tarp material as in picture 2. The side panels will be fastened to the frame with velcro or zips to get to the bike. The wheels will be attached in such a way that movement is only in one direction. That way the wheels will work as a pin connection in one way at the front to help with stability

Questions:
1. I think the correct cover material to use is a type of polyethylene (PE) tarp. This type of stuff: https://goo.gl/5mn2NH
I tried a company in Benoni for a 3m x 7m piece, but they're asking R650 and for R550 I can get a big enough piece (2 x 8m) from www.diyshop.co.za delivered. PVC is much stronger, but its more expensive. What material would you recommend?
2. Any other ideas I should look at?

Thanks for the help
 

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