More bike lift questions and my experiences
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Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 43
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More bike lift questions and my experiences
I bought the yellow professional series bike lift from Sears last week and had a chance to try it out on my Ultra Classic today.
I tried to find the best jacking point and it seems putting the one rubber pad inside the rear C channel crossmember is the best spot to lift.
I must say it is a little un-nerving to me to have my bike tilt up straight until the frame sits flat on the jack while pumping it up.
I only took the bike up a little bit, I noticed once the bike was up it tends to rock, (forward and back) pretty good.
I guess it would be OK to clean the bike and light mechanical work but if I was wrenching hard on the bike I would either lower the bike all the way down or at least put one wheel on the ground for stability. After looking I noticed the bike's forward and back rocking is due to the jack's lifting boom itself as it sorta twists forward and back under the weight of the bike.
I tried to reposition the jack under the bike and either had the front end coming up first or the rear end coming up first.
When lowering the bike it is again a little un-nerving to have the bike sorta lurch down then over on it's jiffy stand.
For those of you who also use a lifting jack am I doing something wrong or is this normal?
I understand the lift has straps but I don't see how the straps would help if the jack itself is flexing forward and back.
Thanks.
I tried to find the best jacking point and it seems putting the one rubber pad inside the rear C channel crossmember is the best spot to lift.
I must say it is a little un-nerving to me to have my bike tilt up straight until the frame sits flat on the jack while pumping it up.
I only took the bike up a little bit, I noticed once the bike was up it tends to rock, (forward and back) pretty good.
I guess it would be OK to clean the bike and light mechanical work but if I was wrenching hard on the bike I would either lower the bike all the way down or at least put one wheel on the ground for stability. After looking I noticed the bike's forward and back rocking is due to the jack's lifting boom itself as it sorta twists forward and back under the weight of the bike.
I tried to reposition the jack under the bike and either had the front end coming up first or the rear end coming up first.
When lowering the bike it is again a little un-nerving to have the bike sorta lurch down then over on it's jiffy stand.
For those of you who also use a lifting jack am I doing something wrong or is this normal?
I understand the lift has straps but I don't see how the straps would help if the jack itself is flexing forward and back.
Thanks.
Banned
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 17,265
Likes: 21
From: Los Angeles, CA
RE: More bike lift questions and my experiences
Mine does the same thing. I have the harbor freight yellow one. It i have to wrench on something hard, I will put both wheels on the ground to loosen the bolt, then jack it back up if necessary. However, I jsut did my first oil change with it on the jack, and it was fine. I did the engine oil, and the tranny oil. No problems at all...
Advanced
Joined: Sep 2006
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From:
RE: More bike lift questions and my experiences
I have the same motion when lifting my RoadKing. One thing I do is let the jack down to the first lock position, in this position the front and rear wheels are touching the ground and then I can wrench on it with out having to worry about the back and forth motion and without removing the bike from the jack. When letting the bike off the jack I put the bike again in the last lock position then sit on the bike and jack the bike up just to release the pressure on the lock by pulling on the rope that is attached to the release handle and let the bike down by doing it this way I have control of the bike going back on it's jiffy stand
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 535
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From: MA
RE: More bike lift questions and my experiences
Hey Anubiss,
Did you actually drain your fluids while on the lift? Mine (yellow Sears) was completely in my way so I ended up not using it at all when changing my engine and tranny fluids.
d
Did you actually drain your fluids while on the lift? Mine (yellow Sears) was completely in my way so I ended up not using it at all when changing my engine and tranny fluids.
d
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 535
Likes: 0
From: Mont. Co. Maryland
RE: More bike lift questions and my experiences
I have the red lift from sears, BUT I just use it too lift my bike up. After its lifted, I put/lower the bike on a dolly. ($35 from harbor freight), and get rid of the lift until I'm ready to take it off the dolly.
This dolly allows me to move the bike anywhere I want. Hell, just for fun, I had the bike rolling in circles. The bike was stiff, and I couldn't rock it anyway I tried. I love the dolly, and I leave it on the dolly while stored through the winter. The dolly also makes it so much easier to work on the bike, and I thought the dolly was more stable than the jack.
The jack isn't the greatest thing to have the bike on while working on the bike. I don't think the jack pads fits into the channel on the bike (at least mine didn't). SO the front tended to leave the ground last. I thought the bike was alittle shaky off the ground too.
This dolly allows me to move the bike anywhere I want. Hell, just for fun, I had the bike rolling in circles. The bike was stiff, and I couldn't rock it anyway I tried. I love the dolly, and I leave it on the dolly while stored through the winter. The dolly also makes it so much easier to work on the bike, and I thought the dolly was more stable than the jack.
The jack isn't the greatest thing to have the bike on while working on the bike. I don't think the jack pads fits into the channel on the bike (at least mine didn't). SO the front tended to leave the ground last. I thought the bike was alittle shaky off the ground too.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,033
Likes: 29
RE: More bike lift questions and my experiences
The narrower width of the frame crossmember on the Touring bikes compared to the lift arm is a problem with a lot of lifts, IMO. I bought the Sears red lift, brought it home, put the bike on it and found it not to be as steady as I would like. I took it back. I ended up buying a lift from Northern Tools with narrower arms. However the overall frame footprint is a little larger than the red Craftsman. You would have to run and tackle a Dresser or Softail to knock it off this lift.
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,813
Likes: 6
From: Rio Grande Valley-Texas
RE: More bike lift questions and my experiences
Hey Rodman, When the bike is on the Harbor Freight Dolly, can you get to both the engine and trans plugs?
ORIGINAL: Rodman813
This dolly allows me to move the bike anywhere I want. Hell, just for fun, I had the bike rolling in circles. The bike was stiff, and I couldn't rock it anyway I tried. I love the dolly, and I leave it on the dolly while stored through the winter. The dolly also makes it so much easier to work on the bike, and I thought the dolly was more stable than the jack.
This dolly allows me to move the bike anywhere I want. Hell, just for fun, I had the bike rolling in circles. The bike was stiff, and I couldn't rock it anyway I tried. I love the dolly, and I leave it on the dolly while stored through the winter. The dolly also makes it so much easier to work on the bike, and I thought the dolly was more stable than the jack.
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Road Master
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 944
Likes: 2
From: Tennessee
RE: More bike lift questions and my experiences
Has any one tried making outriggers for the red lift? I thought about using a piece of angle on one or both sides to stop any forward and back motion and give it a wider footprint. They could be made easy on easy off with leveling feet at each end to remove the "rock".
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Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 13,389
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From: Windham,Maine
RE: More bike lift questions and my experiences
I have a Sears one that I built a Road King on.The first thing I did was make up 4 heavy steel clips to go over the frame tubes,drilled out the lift and bolted the bike down.It worked so good I am building another Road King the same way.
Thread Starter
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Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 43
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RE: More bike lift questions and my experiences
ORIGINAL: dog155
I have a Sears one that I built a Road King on.The first thing I did was make up 4 heavy steel clips to go over the frame tubes,drilled out the lift and bolted the bike down.It worked so good I am building another Road King the same way.
I have a Sears one that I built a Road King on.The first thing I did was make up 4 heavy steel clips to go over the frame tubes,drilled out the lift and bolted the bike down.It worked so good I am building another Road King the same way.
Thanks for the responses everyone, it's good to know I'm not the only one who's bagger is tipsy on the Sears lift.