How-to: Make your own motorcycle workbench

And save over $200 from an aluminum one. The only downside is that it's too heavy to take to the track. My total cost was less than $100.

What you'll need:
3/4" Birch Plywood (Finish Grade)
3/4" Plywood (Cheap Stuff)
2x4's (2x3's might work better)
4x4's
1 3/4" Trim
3" Decking screws
1 1/4" Decking screws
Wood Glue

The dimensions I made mine were: 6ft long, 2ft wide and 16.5" tall. You can use whatever dimensions you want, this is just what worked for me. If I were to make it again I would probably make it at least a foot longer, this should work hopefully (don't have a bike to test it on yet). If it's too short I will just make the legs longer and turn it into a standing level workbench and make another longer one. If you don't have your own saws you can have Lowes/Home Depot cut them to length for you. Pretty simple process.

1) Cut the two sheets of plywood down to 6'x2'. Use wood glue and clamps to hold the two together. While the glue sets screw 4 screws (1 1/4" screws) every 8" for the length of the plywood, FROM THE BOTTOM. Trim and sand the edges.

2) Cut the 1 3/4" trim down to length and glue and nail into the sides. Use a router to trim up the edges and sand the whole surface. Your bench top is done.

3) Now build your base. Cut 4 15" 4x4's as your legs. I used 2x4's for the supports, but I wish I used 2x3's. The photo below shows how to assemble the pieces.


4) Screw the top into the base using the 3" screws, one screw in each leg and 3 evenly spaced along the length of each 2x4 support. I did it from the top and will plug the holes later.

You're done! Shouldn't take more than a few hours with a buddy's help (if you need it). If you wish you can sand/finish/paint the entire thing, I haven't decided if I will yet.

Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions.

Nice dood! I've thought about doin somethin like that myself actually. Maybe I will now. Would be killer to have in the garage, especially since my knees are starting to give me shit and I need to save em for the track instead of crouching down.

I thought the same thing, it's maybe a little short to put the pile on both stands while it's on the table.

So you probably did the whole thing for what, about 75 or so by the time you account for the cost of 2 sheets of 3/4" plywood, one being finish grade, no?

What about buying just a single sheet of finish grade 4' x 8' ply, ripping it right down the middle to make it 2 ft wide, and just glueing those two together instead of buying a sheet of finish grade and a sheet of regular? I might even entertain not cutting it down at all, just leave it 8ft. long, and maybe add another set of 4 x 4" legs in the middle.

It's waaay easier than I expected and the thing is rock solid. I jumped up onto it and jumped around on top of it and it didn't move or rock an inch. The whole thing with materials and all was about $75-$80.

I was going to use both pieces of the finish grade to save another $20-$30 on the second piece of plywood, but decided not to since I'm going to use the second piece to make a floating island for my tiny kitchen. Otherwise yes, you can make it even cheaper with just one sheet and double it up.

i think you might be a bit short in terms of overall length. my truck bed is 6 foot and the bike just barely fits.

great concept tho and i'll definitely be doing this. i just checked the dimensions of the alum one and its 7.5 ft, so i'll just take the easy route and make mine 8ft.

why do you wish you went for 2x3? wouldn't the 2x4 have more stability?

also what is the trim for? the only thing i could thing of is to have a lip on the edge so bolts/pieces don't roll off.

finally, what kind of plywood did you use? i made a trip to lowes today for something else and there were tons of choices in the lumber dept! from the cam pics it looks like a medium grade plywood, 15ish bucks a sheet right?

I would rather pay the extra $100 for one from Harbor Freight that I can roll around, raise and lower.


This looks like a good format for a work bench though.

Thanks for the write up.

Originally Posted by natedogg624

i think you might be a bit short in terms of overall length. my truck bed is 6 foot and the bike just barely fits.

great concept tho and i'll definitely be doing this. i just checked the dimensions of the alum one and its 7.5 ft, so i'll just take the easy route and make mine 8ft.

why do you wish you went for 2x3? wouldn't the 2x4 have more stability?

also what is the trim for? the only thing i could thing of is to have a lip on the edge so bolts/pieces don't roll off.

finally, what kind of plywood did you use? i made a trip to lowes today for something else and there were tons of choices in the lumber dept! from the cam pics it looks like a medium grade plywood, 15ish bucks a sheet right?

Yeah, it's a tad short (haven't tried it on a real bike yet) but I made it 6 ft because I wanted it to fit in my apartment.

2x4s are a bit over kill, and you can see them from under. 2x3's would have been more than sturdy for the application but would have been more hidden, especially on they ends.

The trim is just for looks. 2 sheets of 5-ply plywood glued together doesn't look good, the trim just adds a finished look.

For the top piece of plywood I used finish grade, it was like $35ish at lowes, 3/4". The bottom piece doesn't matter as long as it's around 3/4" it just adds stability.

Originally Posted by TRAVR6

I would rather pay the extra $100 for one from Harbor Freight that I can roll around, raise and lower.


This looks like a good format for a work bench though.

Thanks for the write up.

While the harbor freight is a good value, it's not $100 more. My material was under $100, the harbor freight table is $500+

yea i made made mine this past weekend, i see what you meant by 2x4's being overkill. i'm pretty sure this table could survive the apocalypse. I made mine the full 8ft length, but i made sure to add in additional 4x4's halfway for added support. have yet to have a bike on it yet, hopefully by this weekend or beginning of next week i can see if the length is ok with stands.

i got the 1x2 trim which my noob carpenter mistake isn't actually 2 inches tall, but it actually worked out ok in that its just enough above the working plane to prevent screws etc from falling off.

also to whomever is attempting this next, good luck finding trim that is straight from lowes. or don't bother.

my total was around 80 only because i actually went for the better quality plywood instead of 5ply. i'll probably paint it when it gets warm out, maybe add a large yamaha vinyl graphic to it lol

i can post up my exact design layout and inventory list of wood i got.

another note: lowes can't cut 4x4 to length, so i improvised and glued/nailed 2 2x4's together that were cut to length. not a problem for anyone who has there own saws.

I totally dig it!!!

Originally Posted by tamer

While the harbor freight is a good value, it's not $100 more. My material was under $100, the harbor freight table is $500+

Maybe if you buy two of them.
I gave $199 for mine. Guess they went up a bit.