| Author | Message | ||
     Captainkirk |
Just wondering what you tuber owners are using for motorcycle lifts these days, and your opinion of them? I took the plunge back around early 2000-something and went out on a limb to spring for a Handy Lift with the cycle vise front wheel clamp...best single motorcycle tool investment I've made, before of since. Even mundane, boring tasks like cleaning and waxing become easy and simple when positioned at eyeball level. I have friends who have the HF lift table and complain about steadiness/wobble, and a completely inadequate front wheel clamp. Not knocking it, as ANY lift platform is better than lying on cold concrete in my book! I also purchased a set of Lockhard-Phillips front and rear stands that work well on or off the lift table. Several buddies use those 'motorcycle jacks' things with varying results (most of them bad...) What do you use, and do you recommend it to others? | ||
| 89rs1200 |
Do not have the room for a lift. Find I cannot do without an engine hoist and a couple of ropes in the rafters to hang or stabilize the front end. Best tool I know to change tires or rebuild an engine. Use it to lift and hold the frame. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Plan on buying one of the harbor freight lifts eventually. I know there are plenty of nicer options, but paying $1000 for one seems excessive. The HF can always be made more sturdy. A lot of their products can be made a lot nicer with a little time and effort(see my post about changing your own tires with their tire stand). When I made my garage workbench I made it long enough that I'll be able to slide the HF stand under the bottom shelf(minus the crappy wheel clamp). At one point in the past when I was doing a bike rebuild I made a nice wooden platform. Seriously sturdy, locking casters, D-rings. Used a normal ramp just like loading a bike into a truck bed. Great but a complete bear to store it, and after paying $100 to build it, I wished I had just spent the money on the HF lift. Currently I just put the bike on the normal front and rear stands and deal with the floor. | ||
| Hawgford |
I have 4 Hf unit and caught em all when they had the $250 twice a year sales.... Never an issue. The sturdiness 9/10 times is due to the surface its on from what I have even dealt with and bigger pads are easy.... check the cyl oil and squirt the lift shaft and ya good.. I've used 2 to pick up trike dune buggy ford 9n.Oe stays in my 18ft trailer.Thinkin about a wheel and tire upgrade for off road with larger stabilizers .. | ||
| Ggggary |
My harbor freight has been in constant use for over 15 years, literally thousands of on and off, up n downs. A K1200LT BMW was on it for the winter one year, one of the heaviest road bikes there is, about 900 lbs. That's prolly the hardest thing getting those really huge baggers up on the center stand they use up the entire platform. With really heavy bikes it's best to insert the stop pin and let the hydraulics release till the pin supports the platform for the most stability. I don't have a front wheel clamp and don't see the need. I just use a scissor style jack along with the bike centerstand to support a wheel in the air. I have drilled a couple 1/2" holes along the long edge of the platform to provide extra strap attach points, best to use a strap when the bike is on the sidestand. First thing I do is take a file and round all 4 corners of the lift platform so I don't tear pants. After ten years or so I now keep a shop rag on the floor under the hydraulics, it does leak just a little but it's takes months for a bike to lower noticeably. Not bad enough to be worth chasing. It's single best thing I have done in my dedicated to bikes, one car garage. I did buy and try one of those stand on end narrow channel type ramps with electro hydraulics, HATED it and sold it on, put the HF back in the place of honor. I find I really need the room the platform offers for tools n parts while working. My shop is small with barely enough room for a second bike and the lathe and small mill, a work bench and several tool chests. Sometimes wish I had electro hydraulic lift like when doing jetting changes but really the foot pumping is no big deal.  | ||
| 99cyclone |
I have 2x Harbor Freight lifts, both upgraded with a good quality wheel vise. I love them. My projects tend to go up on the bench and stay up there for a few days to months. If I were doing service work with constant ups & downs I would pay the extra for an air-over hydraulic lift. For occasional use, the foot pedal is no big deal. One feature I actually like BETTER on the HF lift vs. the USA made examples like Handy is the rolled lip edge that keeps parts and tools from falling over the side.  | ||
| Ggggary |
I see you use a piece of plywood underneath for parts stowing, brilliant! Does it have an interlock so you don't accidentally crush stuff?  | ||
| 99cyclone |
Sharp eye, that's the ramp stowed underneath. I don't do that often, but remove it and prop it against the wall to reduce footprint. | ||
| Screamer |
I use two lifts. One for everyday work (red) and one for long term projects (aluminum). I built the red one with the intent to allow better access to the underside of the bike than a conventional lift (which it does), and to save money (which I didn’t). The other was a “race table”, which I purchased at the final EBR sale. It has removable pins which permit the legs to fold up - and it can be easily stored or transported. Before I built the lift (20 years ago?) I would use wood platforms 12” to 15” high, which may sound crude, but was so much better than working on a bike sitting on the floor.   | ||
| Jayvee |
Easyrizer Red lift. It stows compactly, multiple lift points, or by the wheels. Pretty easy. I have one of those race table stands like the above, too hard to use in my garage, I should probably sell it back on craigslist. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
"I have 4 Hf unit and caught em all when they had the $250 twice a year sales.... " -Hawgford Do they still have those sales, or did you purchase those a long time ago? The cheapest I've ever seen them is $299. I recently asked someone who worked there and they said you could use one of the 20-25% off coupons with them if they were on sale, but I'm not entirely sure if they ever actually go on sale, or if they're smart enough to only offer the $299 coupons, since you can only use one coupon at a time, so that'd keep you from combining them. | ||
| Hawgford |
UTM Yep $259 years ago.Think i remember scoring coupons from either a sports or mechanics magazine,but it was a specific $259 coupon for the lift not a 20% off..The best price i have seen recently is 299 and still well worth it. I've been building bikes for 40 years, startin in my pre teens,with bicycles and lawnmower engines,lol Oh,the stories,...i doubt we'll see them at 299 much anymore,so grab when you can!One other item from Hf i have picked up multiple when on sale at $25 i think, is the viking 4 amp battery box.Its an all in one unit that has taken a beating around here and still keeps on.I have one that i use daisy chain on a string of bike lawnmower and car batteries and did it purposely to see if one would last and it has.I would qualify as an HF fanatic but am quite careful at what i buy as some of the stuff is NOt a deal,most of the time the item being chinese junk that fails when you need it. HF electric motors being the worst. ?I do see lifts pop up for sale on CL,but folks think they are gold plated | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Now that you mention it, I do think I remember that price before they upped it to $299. Their regular price is up to $450 or so, so I do assume the sale price will go up again eventually. Always baffled by the used prices. I constantly see used and beat up lifts for sale for $300-400. I guess they assume if they can argue that they costs $450 new, that it's a fair price. I've seen lifts that have been left outside for years, completely rusty with not one bit of red paint left, and they still want $250 for the things. I agree I'm a big fan of the store. I know they sell some junk, but they've got so much great stuff. Current project is to collect some of those suitcase style parts organizers. Ever since Adam Savage showed his Sortimo setup on his youtube channel, there's a million different people posting videos of their homemade setups using the harbor freight boxes. They're only about $6.50 a piece with a coupon, and it'll be great to finally get all my hardware and small parts organized. Only downside is that you've gotta buy the cases one at a time since you can only use one coupon. | ||
| Captainkirk |
My son picked up a HF lift with a coupon and was able to get the lift and cycle vise for 225 with a 25% coupon added to the mix. They didn't want to take a coupon along with a sale price but he pushed the issue. While I have nothing bad to say about HF lifts, I will say my Handy is so rock solid I can climb up on it fully extended and sit on the bike. Nothing flimsy about it. Every dealership shop I've been in is using Handys and since I was flipping and doing service work for a number of years, I decided to take the plunge right off and have never regretted it. It is heavy as hell though, and very difficult to move even if it does have front wheels. It's a two man job. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
I have one of the dirtbike stands that lifts up with the foot lever, I believe I got it from cyclegear. It always had a bit of a wobble to it, but I put eye-bolts in each of the 4 legs and could run straps from the bike to the base and it was rock solid. I'd be willing to bet if you put rings on the bottom of the table and some at the base you could lift your bike up, tighten the straps a little, and it wouldn't have any play in it. Not idea for daily use, but if you've got a long term project it could help. The handy lifts look amazing, but mobility definitely sounds like a plus for something that big, whether it can fit under a work bench, or at least be rolled against a wall. | ||
| Captainkirk |
"The handy lifts look amazing, but mobility definitely sounds like a plus for something that big, whether it can fit under a work bench, or at least be rolled against a wall." The standard lift is really no bigger than other lifts. Spec sheet says it weighs 298#, I'd add 25 for the cycle vise (a must-have!) I would think it would be simple to make a simple dolly to be able to move it around if needed, but I usually just store one of the bikes on it. The best feature is the locking bar. Locks it up like a Swiss vault...you're not gonna lose any digits or limbs unless you are being really careless. Of course, you do need compressed air, but any shop should have that anyway (as an alternative they do have an electric Handy) https://www.handyindustries.com/motorcycle-atv-utv -lifts Looks like the do make a dolly...$15.00! https://www.handyindustries.com/standard-1200?ligh tbox=dataItem-itbm9e0t } | ||
| 34nineteen |
Screamer, what is that rear brake on the beautful blue S2? That thing looks huge! | ||
| Hawgford |
Looked at the handy lifts site and spending the same amount on HF and gettin 4, plus the fact that it DOESN'T need air or electricity to be used anywhere[track/rally],and can be refurbished out of the junkyard.I'll take the HF any day I just wish had remembered to hit the corners with a grinder,lol...A bike lift that needs a dolly to move it around, really? | ||
| Screamer |
34nineteen, It’s a four piston PM. The aluminum mounting brackets make it appear larger than it actually is. (Message edited by screamer on July 08, 2020) | ||
| Upthemaiden |
I didn't assume the Handy lift was any bigger than others, but I could see them all get in the way at some point, even if you park a bike on them. Plenty of times I roll the bike into the driveway when I'm using the garage to work on something. I was looking at pictures of them, assuming there had to be a good way to move them, welding some heavy duty casters in just the right spot so they'd hit the ground when it was in the fully lowered position, or even making some kind of heavy duty movers dolly that you can just slide under the pivot before you lower it. Who knows. I'm sure plenty of people have modified them. I fully agree a shop needs compressed air though, especially if you do enough maintenance to be able to justify a lift. | ||
| Captainkirk |
}"Looked at the handy lifts site and spending the same amount on HF and gettin 4, plus the fact that it DOESN'T need air or electricity to be used anywhere[track/rally],and can be refurbished out of the junkyard.I'll take the HF any day I just wish had remembered to hit the corners with a grinder,lol...A bike lift that needs a dolly to move it around, really?" Well, for one...I don't even have room for a second lift, so moot point. If I'm gonna have one I use on a daily or weekly basis, why not buy the best (kinda like Snap-On) Can't argue with the fact I need compressed air while the HF unit doesn't, but I have the entire shop plumbed for compressed air, so no issue there. As far as moving it, well...I don't. So that doesn't bother me at all. My shop is organized around the lift so moving it would be counter-productive. I sort of looked at the Handy as a once-in-a-lifetime purchase and investment. I don't regret it even for a moment. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
It's a good investment if you've got the money to spend on one, which I do not haha. Maybe if I convince my wife it's a ride for the kids, they can hop on and I can lift them up and down a bit. | ||
| Captainkirk |
"It's a good investment if you've got the money to spend on one, which I do not haha. Maybe if I convince my wife it's a ride for the kids, they can hop on and I can lift them up and down a bit." UTM, I bought mine with my tax refund after I convinced the wife it would pay for itself by doing service work and flipping bikes...which it did...but you've got to be willing to do side work for that to work out. Fortunately, there are millions of people out there that buy a non-runner for a couple hundred bucks and have no clue how to get it running. If you don't like dealing with people (and believe me, motorcycle owners are some of the biggest cheap-asses out there!) one can always buy those cheap non-runners and flip them. I've done both. | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Ah, tax returns are wonderful. We've been using them to fix up the house we bought a few years ago, and to IVF a couple kids. Looking forward to actually be able to use them for fun stuff though! There's an old GSXR slingshot project out there somewhere with my name on it. | ||
| Kc_zombie |
I'm tardy to the party but thought I would chime in anyway.. I use the Harbor Freight lift (pneumatic) with the HF steel MC stand bolted to the table with the support arm removed. Cheap and effective for over 10 years.    (Message edited by kc_zombie on July 14, 2020) | ||
| Shoggin |
I have a friend that swears by the HF lifts with a wheel chock upgrade. If I didn't already have mine I'd consider it. I used those same wheel chocks you did (chopped up) and mounted to the floor of Josephine Dirté for track days. They work really well!   The adjustability is key for different bikes  | ||
| Upthemaiden |
Some great looking bikes! The car looks like fun too, I bet it's so easy to roll a bike up into the back of the bed. Those wheel chocks you guys are using... the front vertical piece, is it only held on with that rod/cotter pin? That'd be convenient for storage if you could just pull those pins and only have the base plate attached to the life. I have a normal stand alone wheel chock, and it's convenient when the bike is in it, but it's a pain to get the bike in it, and a bigger pain to get the bike out of it. The thing just wants to slide on my floor. Works fine in the driveway with some grip, but the VCT tile floor in the garage isn't interested. | ||
| Shoggin |
That was the whole point of not using a truck like the one my buddy just got. I put air bags in the rear of the ElCo to replace the coil springs completely, let the air out and it's maybe an 20" step up? Love it. His high option Silverado is over 4 FEET and he can't even put his R/6 in it. for $80,000 you'd think truck engineers would have that part figured out by now, LOL. | ||
| Bartimus |
KcZombie, Pneumatic? Is that an upgrade you added? Or did it come that way? I'm intrigued... | ||
| Kc_zombie |
Pittsburgh made a version of the lift with a pneumatic actuator that operated the hydraulic ram. I do not think they offer the pneumatic option any longer. I bought the lift sometime back 2004-2006. |
