Clarke MCD1 Motorcycle Dolly review: Take the strain out bike storage
The Clarke MCD1 Motorcycle Dolly is as brilliant as it is simple, can carry bikes up to a whopping 560kg and can easily be used by one person.
We are not betting fans here at Visordown. Nope, not at all. We’d rather throw our spare money (hidden change) at anything motorcycle related. Anyways, it’s a fair bet that our garage come lockup is no different to many other motorcycle owners’ garages/mancaves in the sense that its just not big enough for our riding kit, tools and more than, say, two bikes.
The more bikes on test (or owned) presents problems when having to move them around to make space or even get them out of the garage safely – big adventure bikes, fully dressed tourers and such make for bottom clenching, slow deliberate movements. We also know that a lot of Visordown readers have trouble getting bikes turned especially when backing out onto sloping or gravelled drives.
The reasonably priced answer for us to safely shift and turn our bikes came with kitting out the lock up with a Clarke MCD1 Motorcycle Dolly. Well, several.
In a nutshell, the MCD1 is a long, cross shaped channel you simply park a bike on, which can then be moved forwards, backwards, sideways or turned 180/full 360-degrees. The smaller “cross sections” are there to support the bike’s side sand, so when we say parked, it is just like parking your bike on tarmac, or a concrete/lined floor.
To move the bike laden dolly only requires a secure grip and safe balance point to apply a bit of heave-ho pressure to steer, while the six precisely placed dual-wheeled castors do the real work. No word of a lie, MCD Dollys have made our life so much easier. Reduced stress levels, too.
Assembling the first MCD1 raised questions: how safe the MCD1 actually is; what’s the biggest and heaviest bike it could handle, and could a bike be placed single-handedly onto the dolly?
The MCD1 is rated to handle a maximum weight of 560kg – not even a 393kg Harley-Davidson Street Glide Ultra is going to dent it. Raised edges all around keep a bike securely placed in that it cannot slip off it. This detail also raised another question as to whether the channel length is wide enough to accept wide-section rear tyres? We got a KTM 1390 Super Duke R (200-section rear) on ours no problem. Small gate-like ramps are fitted to both ends of the main channel. When pushed down they lift the MCD1 so the castor wheels are clear of the floor surface. This prevents movement when pushing a bike onto the MCD1’s 121mm length. With ramps upright, they act-like stops to prevent a bike from rolling off.
The Clarke MCD1 Motorcycle Dolly is as brilliant as it is simple. One thing to note is the castor wheels are designed for traversing across nigh on perfectly smooth floors. Saying that, it takes just a little more muscle power to shift a laden MCD1 over the many cracks in our manhovel. First time usage will test the brain; if we say our experience was akin to Dancing On Ice with a heavyweight Sumo champ as a partner, you’ll get it. We need not have worried. One person use really is a reality.
To find out more or to buy, head to the Machine Mart website.
You can find Visordown's full range of workshop tools and equipment reviews here.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
