I bought a Sears Yellow jack new. Only problems that I encountered is that when I was asselbling the jack and put the handle in, the powder coating on the handle was so thick that I had trouble turning to tighten/loosen the screw. A few revolutions of a wire brush and that was solved. The other issue is the speed at which the jack comes down. Really difficult to control the spped of the downward motion. Gives the illusion that the bike is about to fall.

 

I have the yellow one. Bought it when I had my chopper because it is so low when collapsed. Works well enough. It is a little wobbly but my bike has never fallen off.

 

Probably the biggest difference between these two Sears jacks will be the stability. Even though both will handle the weight of your Softail, the yellow/aluminum frame will flex a bit more so bike will seem unstable. Not to worry, it's going to perform fine.

 

I've got the Sears Yellow; works just fine with no complaints.

 

I have the Sears yellow as well. Works great for me, no complaints.

 

I have the yellow jack... and the opposite experience (luckily...) It has handled everything I've tried it for. Easy to maneuver and feels secure. But one of the things I really like about it is how easily I can control the descent... Perhaps each individual jack has it's own personality but I am able to really control the descent easily and controlled.

 

yellow here, works for my softail and street glide.

 

+1 also get the frame adapters.

 

I have the HF version of the yellow jack in the garage now. It does flex more than my buddies red jack, but Iike it better anyway.

 

OK so it seems from the replies that those with the Sears Red or Yellow jack (or equivalent) are happy with their choices.

The Red jack is heavy (90 .lbs.), only lowers to 5 1/3" which makes it difficult to fit under some low bikes however it is more stable and is cheaper ($107 on sale).

The Yellow jack is lighter (44 .lbs), lowers to 3 7/8" which should fit under most non-altered bikes, however is less stable and is more expensive ($162 on sale).

Both jacks are safe when common sense is used and which to chose basically comes down to weight, required lowering height and budget.

So my dilemma is do I buy a used Yellow jack for $85?
Well if I didn't already own a Red jack, my answer would certainly be yes and also, based on what I've read, if I had to do it over again I probably would have bought the Yellow jack in the first place, primarily due to it's lowering height.

However as noted I currently have the Red jack and I'm happy with it's performance.

Yes my Red jack at 90 .lbs is heavy and awkward to move around, but I feel it's greater stability due to it's heavier construction materials offsets the weight so that is not an issue with me.

My primary issue with it has always been that it only lowers to 5 1/3" which with my Heritage setup for 2-up it barely fits under the bike when the bike is upright.
When I have the bike setup for 1-up I have to put some blockage under one wheel so as to raise the bike which isn't a big deal, but just adds another step to the process.

However a couple of weeks ago I bought a Condor wheel chock to park my bike upright in the garage and to use for trailering. The Condor raises the front tire about 2" which now gives my Red jack plenty of clearance regardless of my setup.

So in short I'm going to pass on the used Yellow jack even though I feel it's a quality jack and at $85 used, it's a great price.

So if anyone in the Omaha area is looking for a good jack at a great price check out craigslist. http://omaha.craigslist.org/sno/4025928379.html