Modding your motorcycle will add weight to it, but how do you measure just how much? Keep reading to discover three useful ways to weigh your motorcycle!
Suppose you’d like to compare your motorcycle’s weight before and after you’ve made modifications to it. If that’s the case, then you generally have three options. Firstly, you could ride to a location that has an industrial weight scale.
Besides that, you could use a heavy-weight hanging scale, or you could go with the classic method of weighing it at home with a standard bathroom scale.
Each of those options comes with its share of pros and cons. So, your choice will depend mainly on the tradeoff you’re willing to make between convenience and accuracy.
Whatever the case may be, let’s explore how you’d go about using each of those three methods to weigh your motorcycle.
Finding An Industrial Weighing Scale
For many people, the most obvious way of weighing a vehicle or any vehicle is to rely on an industrial weighing scale*.
We’re talking about the type of scale that you’d find at a weighing station for cargoor vehicles.
But there is also a smaller version. For small businesses or your garage.
Depending on where you live, you might be able to find such a scale at your local recycling center, factory, or vehicle weighing station.
These kinds of weight scales are built into the ground and are designed explicitly to weigh large volumes of items, including cargo, cars, trucks, and of course, motorcycles.
The good news is that using them is a breeze, at least from a technical standpoint. All you’d have to do is ride your bike onto the scale, and the display will show the precise weight of your motorcycle.
The problem? Gaining access to use those scales in the first place. The facilities that own those industrial weight scales may not allow you to use them to weigh your motorcycle.
Still, with that said, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Some places might be willing to negotiate with you to let you use their scale to weigh your motorcycle.
Using A Hanging Scale
Another option you have is to use a hanging scale. Careful, though. Here, we’re not talking about the hanging scale you use to weigh your luggage before traveling!
Instead, we’re talking about heavy-duty hanging scales* that can sustain the weight of a whole motorcycle.
Bear in mind that the average motorcycle weighs approximately 700 pounds or about 300 kilograms. That weight can even be higher if you’ve made significant changes to your two-wheeler, so you’ll need a scale that has that kind of capacity.
When using a hanging scale to weigh your motorcycle, the trade-off is two-fold: just like the previous option, heavy-duty hanging scales are not so easy to find, and on top of that, using them to weigh your bike is going to be a challenge.
Assuming you can find someone with a heavy-duty hanging scale, you’ll still need to hang your bike onto it somehow. That may involve the use of ropes or straps, which make the exercise much riskier.
Can I Weigh My Motorcycle On A Bathroom Scale?
Yes, the third and probably most practical way to weigh your motorcycle is with a bathroom scale.
Firstly, these scales are affordable and easy to find (you probably have one under your sink right now!).
Second, they’re easy to use.
Granted, these scales are small, and you can’t put your whole bike on top of them. That’s alright! All you have to do is place one wheel on the scale at a time. Weigh the front and rear wheels separately, then add those numbers up.
That final number will be the total weight of your motorcycle!
The Most Accurate Way To Weigh My Motorcycle
Given these three options, you must know that the most accurate method among them is to use an industrial weighing scale, such as the one you’d find at a weighing station.
Unlike your bathroom scale, a weighing station will measure the weight of your entire motorcycle together, leaving no room for any variances.
Still, it should be said that using the bathroom scale method isn’t inaccurate either. Sure, it may be a couple of pounds off.
But if you’re just looking for a ballpark figure to know how much your bike weighs, then your bathroom scale is an option that provides you with a sufficiently accurate and easy-to-use method to weigh your motorcycle.
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