Motorcycle lift table [Archive] - The Sportster and Buell Motorcycle Forum

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klinesamuel

14th May 2006, 01:22

Has anyone ever built there own lift table? I have looked around and the cheapest one I could find was from Harbor Freight for a little over $300.00 U.S.
I really don't think that their lift looks nice at all. It looks very cheaply made and other lifts I have seen are very expensive.
So I have decided to build my own made out of plywood and 2 x 8s. I have half of it done so if anyone is curious what it looks like let me know.
So who else has tried this?
Cheap ass Sam

Moved On

14th May 2006, 02:57

Try here for some plans...

http://www.afabonline.com/table_lift_plans.htm

http://www.afabonline.com/images/Bikes%20on%20Lift/comp_lift_2.JPG

Gazza

Jesse_Bolt

14th May 2006, 03:18

¿How do you change tires? Especially the front tire.

JB

Moved On

14th May 2006, 03:27

Moved On

14th May 2006, 03:30

I was just looking more at that scissor jack vendor... the heck with the silly forum gnome... the forum should get one of these...

http://www.shop-equipment.com/western_mfg/motorcycle_dyno_mobile.html

Gazza

dgfironworks

14th May 2006, 03:35

i have the harbor frieght lift .its good except for how the front tire locks in place,but im going to fix that. its a quality lift for money. the system for the front tire is the only cheapy piece on it. but can easily be fixed woth more support for the tire. when i complete the fix i will take some pics if you want. but builing one yourself is always a good idea and fun. just my 2cents.

Moved On

14th May 2006, 03:44

I'd really like to see your mods when they're done.

Gazza

cphilip

14th May 2006, 04:00

I looked and looked and this is the final choice. Mainly because of the better construction and the Shop air/foot pump option plus I got ahold of the Hydraulic Ram they use and its entirely rebuildable and seriously beefy. This is a good deal for $650 delivered. So its what I am going with. Tired of the Craftsman thing and all the squatting.

At this point my choice is the 800 model.

http://www.lift-buddy.com/

klinesamuel

14th May 2006, 05:32

Gazza,
I really like the looks of your bike lift. Looks very strong and capable of doing the job.
My lift will work on the same principle as yours meaning I will be using a floor jack to give me my lift. I am making the mechanical part of the frame out of 3/4" black pipe and the table itself is 3/4" plywood with a 2x8 wooden frame. This should work just fine but I will test it on the dirt bike first.
Sam

Moved On

14th May 2006, 13:49

Gazza, I really like the looks of your bike lift.Hey Sam,

I don't have one of those lifts (yet). That's a picture from the website that sells the plans. I don't want to appear that I'm recommending it through experience, I just had the website bookmarked from an old thread.

Gazza

cantolina

14th May 2006, 14:31

The dealer uses tables like those when the tire has to come off. They put some sorta scissor jack under the frame to lift whichever tire is not in the chock. Back the bike onto the lift if they're working on the front.

http://www.shop-equipment.com/western_mfg/images/scissor_jack-shop_dolly/universal_scissior_jack.jpg

Of course one of those scissor jacks will cost you as much as a typical at home bike jack...

http://www.shop-equipment.com/western_mfg/scissor_jack.html

Gazza

Yeah...we use a scissors jack on the table for the rear tire, but we put it on the "wash rack", which is actually an old cage lift, to do the front tires....

klinesamuel

14th May 2006, 18:43

The dealer uses tables like those when the tire has to come off. They put some sorta scissor jack under the frame to lift whichever tire is not in the chock. Back the bike onto the lift if they're working on the front.

http://www.shop-equipment.com/western_mfg/images/scissor_jack-shop_dolly/universal_scissior_jack.jpg

Of course one of those scissor jacks will cost you as much as a typical at home bike jack...

http://www.shop-equipment.com/western_mfg/scissor_jack.html

Gazza

I wonder if I could modify a factory style car jack to do the same thing. If I were a professional wrench I would buy a good one but I'm not going to be using it all that much.
I am going to go to junk yard and see what I can find.
Sam

Deicer18

14th May 2006, 18:58

ronssportster

15th May 2006, 17:09

I made this one and it works good. I haven't had to take off the front tire yet though.

http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/bikelift.htm

klinesamuel

15th May 2006, 17:34

I made this one and it works good. I haven't had to take off the front tire yet though.

http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/bikelift.htm

I made one of these last year. I pretty much just use it for getting the wheel up off the ground so I can clean the spokes easier.
On mine I notched the corner so I would have plenty of clearance for the bottom exhaust pipe.
Sam

klinesamuel

24th May 2006, 01:31

http://xlforum.net/photopost/data/500/100_1495_Small_.JPGWell, I was going to go out and buy a bike lift but what the hell I got plenty of time so I just built one.
The base and the top are made out of 3/4" plywood, the top support frame is made from 2x8's and the bottom frame is made from 2x4's. I used 3/4" black iron gas pipe to make the cantilever frame and it uses a set of 2x4's to set the working height, one short one long. The max height is close to 30" but only because that is the max my floor jack can lift the frame.
I still have to make the wheel vice to hold the bike upright and I will have to build a ramp. When the table is fully collapsed it is only 8" tall.
Once I build the wheel vice I will take the lift out of the shed and take some better pictures.
Sam
P.S. I have two photos in my gallery of the bike lift. I'm reading the tutorial right now so I can figure out how to link to this post.

klinesamuel

24th May 2006, 17:16

I sure have a lot of junk in my shed. Can you believe that I also park my bike in this shed. My next house is going to have a garage, maybe two garages, yeah two garages!
Sam