Bike Lifts

[Gaucho 555]

Due to my lower limbs crying enough, I am now looking for a bike lift for maintenance, cleaning etc. Any recommendations ?

[Tex 36,817]

Do you want the table lift or just a bike jack? I can recommend Sealey products. Expensive, but good. I definitely can’t recommend the Chinese one from the auction site! 
 

On the racers we use a variant of this..

 

https://www.sealey.co.uk/product/5637191863/motorcycle-portable-folding-workbench-360kg-capacity

 

The downside is it’s not adjustable but that’s not a huge disadvantage actually. You very soon get used to working at a set height. 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Tex

[Grumpy old man 4,673]

Hi, I bought myself one of these about 18 months ago, it's been good. I've had no experience with anything else so can't really compare. 

https://martynsbargains.co.uk/1000lbs-hydraulic-motorbike-lift-ramp-883-p.asp

[Tex 36,817]

9 minutes ago, Grumpy old man said:

Hi, I bought myself one of these about 18 months ago, it's been good. I've had no experience with anything else so can't really compare. 

https://martynsbargains.co.uk/1000lbs-hydraulic-motorbike-lift-ramp-883-p.asp

Yeah, I would watch that one. He says “we have had the odd seal failure in the ram” and when you look he’s sold 263 seal kits!  

 

But at least he sells seal kits. The shyster I bought my cheapo Chinky lift from will only sell you a new ram (£185) and the kicker is - the new ram will be the same piece of shite it came with originally..  

[Trev 18,622]

I've got a 'big blue' from Quasar products, it can be a bit of a faff to arrange the various brackets but lifts both wheels of the ground to any height you could want and allows you to remove suspension at both ends at the  same time. Have so far used it in my AT and Griso and has worked well

 

[Tonyj 6,907]

Abba skylift

[Slowboy 20,426]

I've had an ARE hydraulic lift for years now. Hang the expense, it's the best piece of kit in the garage and makes maintenance so much easier. That lift Trev has is a good bit of kit to. 

And you can sit down on the job. 😎

[Mr Toad 9,022]

14 hours ago, Grumpy old man said:

Hi, I bought myself one of these about 18 months ago, it's been good. I've had no experience with anything else so can't really compare. 

https://martynsbargains.co.uk/1000lbs-hydraulic-motorbike-lift-ramp-883-p.asp

 

Ah yes, Martyns Bargains. They are just up the road from me in Retford, a fantastic place to visit and very reasonbly priced. He seems to stock high end stuff for professional use as well as cheaper stuff for home use and everything from garden tools to car lifts. 

 

I don't think I've ever been over there and not bought something. 

[Tex 36,817]

1 hour ago, slowboy said:

I've had an ARE hydraulic lift for years now. Hang the expense, it's the best piece of kit in the garage and makes maintenance so much easier. That lift Trev has is a good bit of kit to. 

And you can sit down on the job. 😎

Do ARE still make stuff? Tony East has retired to the Isle of Man where he has a lovely house right on the TT course. He opens his collection of classic bikes (it’s huge, seriously huge) to the public during race weeks. Well worth a visit. Entry is free but a collection bucket for local charities always fills up quickly enough.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2020 by Tex

[Tex 36,817]

Charlie, the best advice I can offer is buy quality. You can get a Sealey lift for, say, £500 that will last years. Alternatively, you can buy a cheapo Chinky job for £300 that, five minutes after the warranty expires,  will need a £200 ram replacement..

 

I speak from personal experience here  

[Slowboy 20,426]

57 minutes ago, Tex said:

Do ARE still make stuff? Tony East has retired to the Isle of Man where he has a lovely house right on the TT course. He opens his collection of classic bikes (it’s huge, seriously huge) to the public during race weeks. Well worth a visit. Entry is free but a collection bucket for local charities always fills up quickly enough.

 

No, I've had it about 20 years. Lovely bit of kit, though a bit heavy (it was when we moved house) and it's just simple but brilliant. I was recommended it by our local Honda dealer in Bath, (Bishops of bath) when I lived near there. One of the good old fashioned family ones that had been selling Honda's since the early sixties. Sadly they closed in July last year. Just not enough people buying bikes. 

[rjp996 1,091]

On 5/20/2020 at 21:50, Trev said:

I've got a 'big blue' from Quasar products, it can be a bit of a faff to arrange the various brackets but lifts both wheels of the ground to any height you could want and allows you to remove suspension at both ends at the  same time. Have so far used it in my AT and Griso and has worked well

 

Trev - always wondered how these work - in where is the bike supported on from below given the pipes / exhausts etc ?

 

[Trev 18,622]

1 hour ago, rjp996 said:

 

Trev - always wondered how these work - in where is the bike supported on from below given the pipes / exhausts etc ?

 

It varies from bike to bike so you need to buy the relevant brackets. For instance the AT just sits in the bash plate and I secure using the loops that come as standard and just fit over the foot pegs. When we lifted my lads VFR800 I turned the rails 90 degrees and secured them to the frame rails. They were very helpful when I rang them as I also wanted a set of brackets for my Griso which they already had in stock although I've not used them yet so not sure how well they work. 

 

The only faff is having to change/align the brackets for each bike but once set ti's quick and simple to use.