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Posted

Today I went to the HF store near me to check out their lift tables. Had one in stock & on the floor display. It was a foot operated hydraulic system & rated at 1,000 lbs. selling for $500.

Got home and decided to do a web search to see what's out there. WOW a lot to choose from. Prices seem to run about $500 to $1000 with most lift tables rated at the 1,000lb rate. A few in that price range even went to 15-1600 lb ratings. I also found 1 company that had a 2000lb rated lift table. No idea on price of that one as you have to call the company for pricing.

On another note I was even entertaining the idea of a auto low-mid rise scissor lift that I could use for my cars as well as the trike & other bikes. :mo money::mo money:

Larry

Posted

don, this is the ebay item # - try it........

 

120711265216

 

cll'd my local HF and they will have one in Thurs. and it's got my name on it.....they would not honor the 20% coupon in conjunction with sale ...

Posted

I've got to do some measuring now before I make any kind of decision. I want it long enough so that I can remove the rear plate and the wheel will drop through it. It was reported earlier in this thread that the Harbor Freight lift is too short for that to work with the RSV.

 

What would be even better would be one where the front hinges down or has a removable plate so that you could pull the front wheel also. I realize it would require tie downs to hold it as the front clamp would be useless but I can see where it could easily be done.

Posted

Watch out on the 20% OFF coupons. They used to take them on everything, but most now say no good on hyd jacks, air compressors, tool boxes and certain other stuff. Just tried to use one on a new jack and air comp for my son at the local store and they wouldn't let me use it.

Posted

Now HERE is one with the features that I like. At over $2,000.00 PLUS the from wheel chock, it is way more that I would spend but it has the front and rear drop panels that I think would be very useful.

 

Posted

Don, i don't remember who it was, but we had a Member telling us about getting K&L Dealer Discounts about six or eight Weeks ago ... it was quite a lengthy Discussion, about 25 or 30 Posts long and the Member got Price Quotes for two or three other Members here.

 

Those K&L and are by far superior to anything what HF or similar sells...

 

But they know it and everything from them comes with a rather heavy Price Tag ...

Posted

Nothing cheap at K&L, but some stuff (XVZ valve shim tool) cannot be found anywhere else.

 

I use the HF lift Don is considering in the shop. One of its big advantages is it's low which is easier to load a bike on, especially backwards (which is how you change a front tire!). I like the hydraulic and find it easier to control than the air lifts I've used. You do get a lot of leg exercise running I bike up - it's not hard but takes about 60 pumps of the pedal.

 

One of the big drawbacks is that there is a support at the rear edge of the table that runs under the trap door. So when the trap door is pulled the wheel has to go straight down (or even forward a bit) rather than swinging out the rear.

 

I know I've had a 2nd gen on the lift, but I can't remember doing tires. I don't recall it being so far rearward that I wouldn't be able to do a tire. I have tires sitting there waiting for a 2nd gen to come in so if I can't I'm going to be in trouble. I have done 1st gen tires on it.

 

The front wheel stop is adjustable and I have mine in the farthest forward position. If it's not all the way forward you're not going to get a large bike on.

 

The holes for the tie down U bolts are at the center of the table. If you tie one down there you're not going to change tires. I re-drilled for the U bolts up by the clamp.

 

At $300 I think it's a good value (I think I had a coupon +20% and got mine for closer to $200). At $500 I'd pop the extra $175 for THIS.

Posted

Yea, I saw that and just found it again but like I said, it is WAY more than I could spend on a lift. They have a model that is cheaper and looks great too but it doesn't have the panel that drops in the front. I think that is a great feature.

Posted
Nothing cheap at K&L, but some stuff (XVZ valve shim tool) cannot be found anywhere else.

 

I use the HF lift Don is considering in the shop. One of its big advantages is it's low which is easier to load a bike on, especially backwards (which is how you change a front tire!). I like the hydraulic and find it easier to control than the air lifts I've used. You do get a lot of leg exercise running I bike up - it's not hard but takes about 60 pumps of the pedal.

 

One of the big drawbacks is that there is a support at the rear edge of the table that runs under the trap door. So when the trap door is pulled the wheel has to go straight down (or even forward a bit) rather than swinging out the rear.

 

I know I've had a 2nd gen on the lift, but I can't remember doing tires. I don't recall it being so far rearward that I wouldn't be able to do a tire. I have tires sitting there waiting for a 2nd gen to come in so if I can't I'm going to be in trouble. I have done 1st gen tires on it.

 

The front wheel stop is adjustable and I have mine in the farthest forward position. If it's not all the way forward you're not going to get a large bike on.

 

The holes for the tie down U bolts are at the center of the table. If you tie one down there you're not going to change tires. I re-drilled for the U bolts up by the clamp.

 

At $300 I think it's a good value (I think I had a coupon +20% and got mine for closer to $200). At $500 I'd pop the extra $175 for THIS.

 

Hey, please report back and let us know if the trap door works for removing the wheels on the RSV.

Posted

I'd never use a Scissor-Style Lift with our Bikes. Ok, it works, as we all know, but it's just me and my personal Fear of seeing a Bike lying on the Ground. The higher you elevate the Table, the smaller the Base on the Ground gets ....

 

I also have a HF Style Table-Lift, probably coming from the same Factory in China and i served me well for more than 4 Years. Then a remaing Filing from the Center Bore inside the Cylinder got loose and not only ruined the Seal but also left a good Gash in the Cylinder Wall. I put the Cylinder (Steel Tube) on the Lathe and enlarged the Bore, made up a new and better Seal, honed the Cylinder and now i'm looking froward to get another 10 Years out of it. The original Seal was Kind of a bad Joke. Looked dangerous for teh mechanically inclined, but seemed to work just fine, probably would have worked for a loooong Time if it weren't been for the loose Filing.

Posted
Hey, please report back and let us know if the trap door works for removing the wheels on the RSV.

 

Will do. He's a fair weather rider. At the rate we're going it'll be a couple months.......

Posted
Thanks. I think I'll stop by a store today and look through some of the magazines and see if I can find it.

 

I got a 20% coupon in Popular Mechanics.

 

This from another site : "They Have the coupon in the back of a motorcycle magazine at borders book store. the coupon is for 299 bike lift and a 44 dollar wheel chock (reg price 90 bucks)"

Also : "Cycle Source Magazine has them all the time... "

 

Try Cycle World magazine too. From other bike forums some say the coupon expired 4/1/11, or 4/4/11.

 

From a Harley site - "Hot Bike Baggers HF usually has a full page ad with the coupon on it"... and another : " May '11 issue of Hot Bike Bagger Pg 77 coupon expires 7/22/11"

 

That should do it for you !

Posted

ok everyone that may want one. I just read on a HD forum and found this.

 

Coupon Code for the lift: $279.99

18888719 good till 4/28/11

It does work online I have tried it. The guy also mentioned that if you go online and go all the way to the page where you enter the code and print that out and carry it into the store that they should honor the coupon code.

 

Has anyone figured out if this lift will work for the GEN 2 RSV?

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Today I used the Harbor freight lift to change the rear tire on an RSV. There was no problem dropping the wheel through the trap door. The rear was only jacked up enough to get the trap door out, I had to raise the bike some to get the door back in with the extra meat on the new tire. The wheel stop and vise were in their farthest forward positions.

 

Putting a heavy bike on a lift backward is really a two man job. Since my helper didn't come in today I put it on a jack to do the front tire. I don't see any reason why dropping the front through the lift would be any harder than the rear. Generally I don't use the trap door for front tires because raising the bike an extra 2 inches will usually let the tire roll out under the fender. I find that easier than screwing with the door.

 

I did have an issue with the lift initially not raising the motorcycle, the pressure relief valve on the jack kept popping. I turned the relief valve to its maximum setting (it was only about 1/8 turn from max) and it still wouldn't lift the motorcycle. Removing the helmet from the trunk got the weight down to where it would rise.

 

I've had that same motorcycle on the lift before without a problem. He either has more weight on it than before or the spring in the relief valve has weakened a bit. My reference shows the curb weight of an RSV at 900 lbs., so it doesn't need a lot of extra stuff to push it to the 1000 lb. limit.

 

I'd been planning to add a second lift this year and since the Harbor Freight lift also failed to lift a '96 GoldWing a couple weeks ago I decided to move now. I've added one of THESE to my shop. I haven't used it yet.

  • 5 months later...
Posted

I got this lift with the $299 harbor freight coupon like some of you were discussing. Since the front wheel chock was crappy, Got this better HF self-holding wheel chock for $39 sale price and mounted it as to extend the bike forward and center the rear tire over removable plate. Then got two sizes of square tube for my "removable footboards" mounting brackets and some left over deck planks to bolt on 'em. Add a few tie downs and a low profile bike jack and no more tired back and knees ! Hey, I can even drive the riding mower up on it.

Posted

I have a table lift would not take anything for it, best thing since sliced bread.

Use it regularly, is exceptionally good for cleaning and polishing the bike.

 

Gregg

 

Don when you buy anything from harbor freight, give them you address and they will send you the coupons in the mail, as long as you buy something every few months,

Posted

Don,

 

I have the HF air/hydraulic lift and if I were buying again I would not buy a HF unit. The lift is sturdy enough but it is not possible to remove the rear tire without jacking the rear of bike extremely high, nearly to the point of being unsafe. Due to the long wheelbase of the RSV the tire will not drop directly down through the trap door. Once you remove the door panel there is a bar across the back that prevents the tire from dropping. So you have to raise the rear of the bike so the tire can roll forward to drop through the opening. Since I change about 3 sets of tires a year (mine and friends) I really whish I had spent more and bought a lift with a true drop tail. Something like this

 

http://www.derekweaver.com/update/Pro-Cycle_Droptail_Motorcycle_Lifts_Product.aspx?id=2

 

After having used my lift for a few years I regret being so cheap and not spending the extra $300 to$400 to get a better lift. The HF lift is fine if you don't plan on servicing the rear wheel.

 

Dennis

Posted (edited)

Dennis, If you notice in my post, I cured the rear tire drop problem by mounting a longer front wheel chock assembly that lets you move the bike forward and center rear tire over opening. Works great.

Chock is adjustable lengthwise and the uprights are removable when you jack up front for front tire removal. You can also use the crappy chock to temporarily bolt down and stabilize the rear tire during a front tire removal.

 

David

Edited by midnight maddog

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