Lift question

[Wrench]

I have a question for anyone that's used one of the Harbor Freight lifts, pros/cons, good,bad. I think I remember a post where someone said they were a little "tipsy"? They have 2 different models, a "motorcycle", and a "motorcycle/atv" which is 12" longer. My wife thinks that it would make my life easier with one of those vs the regular m/c jack. Hey, I'm all about something new for the garage. Thanks in advance.

[bkuhr]

Not to bad, but down release works backwards from what it should. A light press on the pedal is down FAST! A full hard press(is supposed to be slow) but its already down! Not to bad if you are ready for it, ...

[JDaniel]

If you have one of the Carbon One lift adapters the Harbor Freight motorcycle jack will work great.

[Wrench]

I've got an adapter for my jack and it works great. I THINK she was of the thought that the lift would be higher than the jack, making it easier on an old man with 2 titanium hips. I don't mind getting down on the floor, it's the getting back up that's still a little rough.

[MiCarl]

The first three years I had my shop the HF lift was the only thing I had. I still have it, but for the most part use a better air powered lift. I never had a problem with it being "tippy".

 

The HF lift has a number of challenges with the Venture:

- That trap door has a bar under the back of it. A 2nd Gen Venture is long enough that the bar interferes with pulling the tire off. You have to jack the bike up quite a bit so the tire can go forward to clear the bar. You can just get the wheel off a 1st Gen that is on its center stand.

- On my lift the pressure release on the jack won't let me lift a bike the weight of the Venture without lifting on the passenger grab bar to help it start up. Once it's up a few inches the mechanism has some mechanical advantage and it'll lift fine from there.

- The wheels on the Harbor Freight lift are at the ramp end rather than the vise end. The problem is when you're pushing the bike up the ramp the weight is on the wheels and the lift tends to slide away. On my air lift the wheels are at the vise end so the motorcycle weight helps it stay put. I solved the problem by attaching a block to the floor at the vise end to keep it in place.

- They drilled the lift for the tie down U-bolts at the center of the lift. That won't let you jack up the rear of the motorcycle. They need to be up by the vise. I drilled holes up there for the U-bolts.

 

Like all lift tables it takes a lot of floor space. From that standpoint a jack is much better.

 

There is really only one reason I haven't replaced the HF lift. Mine is the hydraulic with the low vise. That low vise lets me load motorcycles with long fenders, low pipes or bags on backward. I cannot do that with the air lift that has a tall L shaped vise. So, I can do front end work (tires, forks, steering bearings) on bikes that won't go on the air lift backward. Otherwise it only gets used for quick jobs when the air lift is tied up for something major.

 

I've talked here and in other posts about putting motorcycles on lifts backward. That is a skill they had us practice every day in school, with junk bikes and a spotter to help out if one got away. It's something I do fairly regularly so I keep in practice. It's not something I recommend for the occasional user, except for maybe a very light bike. I can load a bike like the Venture backward and tie it down without assistance, but if all possible I wait until an extra set of hands is available. As a general rule, you're going to want help even loading it frontward.

 

So, if your goal is to get the bike up for general maintenance and you have the floor space it's not a bad option. Not very practical for tires.

[cowpuc]

I have and use both the HF Table and the HF Frame Lift.. The table is Air/Over and has always worked great, the Frame Lift is VERY Handy for ANYTHING fork/wheel related and I also use it A LOT on cars/garden tractor/atv's and all purpose jacking - it is really really handy.. I bought the Air Over years ago - using super coupon = 250 bucks.. Before that, I used permanent wooden platforms with removeable sections - hand made = worked awesome for many many years.. The Frame lift was under 150 bucks with the super coupon.. Best investment I ever made!!

Have built several touring bikes on the Table, put down the feet, use clamp and tie downs,, works great.. It is the 1200 LB model.. Using the frame jack on anything without the frame exposed you gotta tinker with blocks or adaptors to lift the bike (Tweeks pipes are already 99% weld and in rough enough shape I just slip it under her and lift).. Once its captured the frame lift is also very solid.. The Frame lift wiggles a lot more with a bike on it than the table does though..

 

PS,,, I keep an eye on the welds on both lifts as well as supporting hardware/bolts, use the safety support pins and rods and try to avoid getting mouse trapped by em when working around them (pretty good idea anytime your working with this stuff).. Its not that I dont trust the manufacturing country (ummmmm,, ok,, I really dont ) but back in 01 when the same group of people showed up at the Dealer Expo in Indianapolis with little pitbikes that had "rotary" trannies (go from 5th gear to 1st gear with one click) they pretty much exposed their engineering "standards" to anyone who really cared... I had a professor in College who had three little words he lived by = "DONT BE DUMB",,, pretty good advice!!! NEVER had an issue - just be a little extra careful is all I am saying

Edited December 17, 2014 by cowpuc

[shmily]

I use a Harbor Freight jack with a Carbon One lift adapter w/stand. What an awesome combination!

[videoarizona]

Not to bad, but down release works backwards from what it should. A light press on the pedal is down FAST! A full hard press(is supposed to be slow) but its already down! Not to bad if you are ready for it, ...

 

 

Brian, I have same jack...doubt I'll ever use it with the Venture. Just don't trust it with that backwards release......

[RedRider]

Have owned and used the HF lift for several years. Would buy again in a heartbeat. It needs some minor mods such as replacing the front wheel chock with the HF ride-on chock (abt $40 IIRC) and adding some tiedown loops. I also built a small wooden box the same height as the lift. Position it under where the kickstand comes down so I can lean the bike over a bit to support it until I get the straps on.

 

Best money spent on shop equipment.