I have been looking at the Larin jack online and contemplating buying it. Does anybody know anything about this jack (maybe you own one or know somebody with one)&nbsp\\;and could give me some feedback on it either good or bad?

 

The best jack to lift your bike is the jack you can get under the frame. If you can't get the lift under the bike then it doesn't matter how much or how little you spent because you can't lift the bike. Read these forums and you will see many messages from guys that bought an economical jack that worked great for dozens of other people only to find out the jack was too high to fit under the bike.

All of the jacks look nearly the same in the pictures on the internet but they have dramatically different resting low heights. The Larin MAL-2C has resting height of 2 1/2 inches. The red Sears Craftsman has a resting height of 5 inches.

Measure from the lowest part on your frame to the floor and get the height from frame to concrete. Look for a jack that is LOWER than this height when the jack is in the lowest position.

Once you have narrowed your candidates to jacks that fit under your bike then read reviews on that jack to get user experience with stability.

I have the red Sears Craftsman. It did fit under my 883 Sportster if I tipped the bike a little. I had to raise my Road King Classic off the kickstand to get the jack under the big bike.

Then I lowered the Road King Classic with the Harley-Davidson lowering kits 54631-02B (rear) and 54514-05 (front) which lowered the frame to 4 1/2 (plus 1/16 if I'm lucky) inches from the floor. The red Sears Craftsman no longer would fit under the bike tipped or not.

The HD lift P/N 94653-98 states the minimum clearance needs to be 4 1/2 inches.

I like the idea of the HD lift because it uses a crank instead of a hydraulic bottle. The crank allows you to lower the bike at a speed of your choosing to safely put the bike back on the ground.

The bottle jacks are somewhat more difficult to control the lowering speed of the bike and I've seen some of the videos on the Internet where the bikes drop pretty quick and the bike abruptly leans to the kickstand side. This seems a little risky to me and the red Sears Craftsman I had behaved the same way.

My bottom line message is to measure the clearance under your frame then find a jack that will get under the bike. Once you have several jacks selected, then understand their stability with the bike on the jack and when lowering the jack. Then make your purchase.

If you bike is lower than 4 1/2 inches then the Larin MAL-2C and perhaps one or two others are your only choice.

 

I bought the Larin MAL-2C and it lasted about 8 times and barlely 2 years. Then the bottle jack died. I use it on a Road King Classic in a nice warn basement and I did maintain it. I called Larin for a new bottle jack for it but they are out of those, as the jack failure must be a common issue. They would not even take the order they told me to call back and check after the first of the year..... I got it from Motorcyclejacks.com and they were not real help either.

 

I've got one of those Laren jacks and I've had no problems at all with mine, after initially receiving one with a bad cylinder. I called the manufacturer in Cal. and got the jack replaced plus got a replacement jack. It sits low enough to slide under my lowered WG and is pretty well stable when jacked up with both wheels off the ground. I use mine all the time.

 

I've always thought that too, kind of a little spooky..especially with the newer dressers that always want to seem to move a little forward as soon as you put the kickstand down.

 

Not sure about the Larin's jack, but J&S jacks are about the best in my opinion. http://www.jsjacks.com/index.php/pro...FYa7Kgod9xabng

Watch the video on their homepage, also google J&S jacks and watch some videos on youtube about their jacks.

 

J&S cost about the same as a table lift. Larin's cost a fraction of either and work just fine. If I'm going to spend $500 I'll just get a table lift.

 

Had the Larin...for all of one day & returned it. Didn't like the construction, wouldn't collapse low enough to get under bike (even though it claims to) and failed on second attempt to lift bike.

After that experience, and visiting local HF store to look @ jacks, went w/J&S...felt it was best suited for $20K bike and wife wanted to get it for my XMas list (last year). Let the flaming/jack envy posts begin, but I recommend putting a little $$$ into something that's going to hold my bike up for maint & storage. If I had room for a lift - would've gone that route instead...

 

Room can be a factor. I would opt for one of the tables that fold up and can be rolled up against the wall. They take up no more space than a couple of golf bags and gear on one of those shelf racks made for them. I also don't store my bike on my lift but rather just use it then take the bike back down. I suppose if you are storing your bike on it that makes a difference. Personally I would be a bit apprehensive about leaving the bike up on anything other than a table for any long period of time, but maybe thats just me.

I am riding a lowered Wide Glide. I might think different if I were on a bigger heavier bike. The Laren would probably get it up off the ground, but stability of a bigger bike could be the deciding factor.

 

J&S is built like a tank & the stops seat in slots so they're not moving when in-place. 2nd year of winter storage & going strong...