I've moved this over from 'My Airhead Needs Help' at the suggestion of @8166. He makes a valid point that the subject is (was) hidden in a post about clutch adjustment. I also posted this query on another list and received mostly negative comments on the use of this lift. Stability being the major concern. Those comments have given me cause to look in to the method of "attaching" the bike to the lift. Note that I am not giving up on the idea - mostly because I live in a condo and the lift has to be stored in the available locker.
I had a good look at the current method of supporting the bike for maintenance: parking it on its centre stand. This is not the worlds best system either. The footprint of the centre stand is relatively small and the bike is pretty much 'balanced' fore and aft. It sits on its stand and the rear tire touches the ground but it takes only a few pounds to rock it over onto the front tire.
Based on comments made, I'm now looking at fabicating an attachment system that supports the bike on top of the lift by using the bikes lower frame tubes as the point(s) of contact. I will arrange to clamp these tubes to a structure solidly mounted on the top rails of the lift. This should greatly improve the stability as the footprint of the lift is several orders of magnitude greater than the footprint of the centre stand. So much so, that I'm convinced it will be possible to remove parts like the entire rear wheel and swing arm assemblies without worrying about the bike tipping over in either plane.
I'm completely ignoring the regular maintenance items like oil changes as this process does not need the lift at all. I'm going to have to get in to major maintenance (hopefully this fall) like transmission removal, driveshaft inspection, spline inspections, and rear drive inspections. To do this I'm going to have to leave the bike on the stand for long periods, unattended, in a semi-public garage. When complete, I will make drawings available to any interested party.
BTW - The bike is a 1990 R100GS.
Meanwhile, comments on the process are welcomed as I am new to the BMW and I'm sure there's lots of good advice lurking out there in Airhead-Land.
I have edited and removed the following lines from the previous post to this forum:
I bought a motorcycle lift that I can keep in the locker. Got a real deal on this gadget on the "Used Victoria" website. Former owner had a Honda Valkyrie (sp?).
This lift is a neat little panto graph unit that is powered by a small hydraulic bottle-jack. The platform that the bike has to sit on consists of two 1-1/2 inch wide X 12 inch long rubber faced rails about 12 inches apart. I'm hoping there's no reason not to support the entire weight of the motorcycle on the skid plate (which is bolted to the oil pan).
Link: www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/motomaster-mo...00-lbs-0091015p.html
Comments on this method of raising the bike for maintenance would be appreciated.
Common sense isn't very common, any more.
In your case being non-professional, with limited work space, and working in a semi-public work area, that's a good lift for making larger jobs easier. You'll appreciate having it, even for very simple jobs.
Here's the down-sides to small lifts like this...
• Since the bike is basically teeter-tottering on its central underbelly, any disturbance to the outboard weight (such as removal of one wheel) will have a tendency to throw the bike into an unbalanced condition that may make the entire bike lurch suddenly and fall off the lift. I worked in a dealership with a similar type lift and actually had this happen to me. It's pretty dang scary to say the least !! You got to know this going in because the "obvious" use for the lift is wheel removal. And since the lift's foot print is smaller than the bike, and the lift is not bolted to the floor, attaching the bike to the lift adds no safety at all.
• Secondly, you'll need to also set up a portable table to set your parts a tools on, or resign yourself to bending over with every maintenance step.
For anyone reading this thread and considering the purchase of a home lift, if you have the space to dedicate, the far better solution is the 3x6 ft platform lift, but even with these some mods are needed to make it fully functional. I purchased my present unit at Harbor Freight several years ago while they were on sale for about $300. The platform lift has several advantages...
• Since the platform lift affords a work surface, all the tools and parts coming off the bike stay with the bike at any height.
• Any part or tool that falls from the bike stays on the lift, thereby saving you hours of time on your hands and knees searching for lost parts and tools.
• By adding a 4x4 and screw eyes to the forward end, the bike can be secured with tie-down-straps as if it was on a m/c trailer. The bike is then securely held vertical, with or without the the bike being on its center stand. When you need to work on the front end you merely back the bike onto the lift and secure the rear.
• Because the lift has a footprint larger than the bike. everything is much more stable.
• Because the lift has a solid sheet of metal under the bike, additional jacks and stacks of wooden blocks can be placed on the table top and used to raise specific portions of the bike in complete safety. This is ideal when moving the gearbox to the rear for spline lube work.
• Finally, for really big jobs when extra horizontal bench top work space is going to be needed, the platform lift can become that extra work bench space.
Here are some photos to help explain...
Detail of the wheel chock and screw eyes
https://goo.gl/photos/L9JU4x6sf4e7Wq8H8
Photo showing bikes in various service conditions from bare frame on up
https://goo.gl/photos/nwAtRSm2261ApbSM6
Platform lift being used as a work bench
https://goo.gl/photos/axcnWt2MyvyP3nyH6
Hope this helps. 🙂
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
I have a similar lift from Harbor Freight. Obviously a 3 x 6 ft lift would be a better choice, but given the space limitations my lift works just fine. You may need to add some wooden spacers on the jack so that the bike isn't tipsy. Some tie downs from the bike to the loops on the jack will help stabilize it. I have found it to work well for my needs. I used this lift with bikes ranging from a R1150GSA, Moto Guzzi California Special Sport, R90/s, R100GS, R65, haven't found one bike I couldn't get to fit with appropriate block supports.
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