Hope I understand your question correctly. I have worked on motorcycles professionally off and on since 1966, and the VERY BEST system I have ever used to secure a motorcycle does not employ a chock at all, but instead a setup much like tying the bike onto a railed trailer. And this is the system I use today on my personal home shop lift.
I have one of the Harbor Freight flat top lifts and this is how I altered that lift...
Lift Photo Here
Now this photo shows a small wheel chock, but it is not required, and it is never used. If I get any spare time I'm going to remove it because it only gets in the way.
The object is to pull the front wheel down against a 4x4 using the 2 screw eyes and 2 "tie down straps" running at an angle up to the bars or triple tree. The object is to slightly compress the fork springs, and when that is achieved the bike becomes rock solid on the lift.
That will do what you want and it's very easy to use. And because the front end is pulled down, working on the rear wheel is especially easy. To work on the front end, simply back the bike onto the lift and compress the rear shocks with tie downs.
Hope this helps.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Howdy folks,
I couldn't figure out the best section to post this question but I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations on a good wheel chock for a trailer and/or bike lift? I need one for my trailer and I'm thinking of buying a cheap lift but it needs a good chock on it. The strange contraption it actually comes with looks more like what you'd find on a medieval torture table. I have tried two different chocks so far but they were built for fat tired Harleys and Indians and wouldn't really hold up my 1976 R90/6. I want something that will be stable, solid, and hold the bike upright fairly securely so I can tie it down by myself for trailering it safely or wrenching on it in the lift.
I live in the mountains of rural Colorado so I need to be able to order on Amazon or something like that.
Thanks in advance!
More photos...
Now here's an especially good photo because fully 1/2 of the bike is disassembled and missing, but the bike is still rock solid on the lift...
2001 R1100S clutch job
1913 Indian without a front tire !
Vincent Rapide being held by the same method. Note NO wheel chock required.
You always want your Vincents secure, because you can buy a nice house for what one of those costs.
Hope this helps.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
Thanks Wobbly! That’s the exact same lift I am buying. My only real reason for the chock was to make it easier for me to load my 90/6 in a trailer or place it on the lift by myself.
I have heard it’s fine to attach the tie down straps to the handle bars for some easy front fork compression when on a lift temporarily but bad to trailer a bike that way and better to tie down lower on the fork closer to the front wheel on each side. Thought the chock might aid in stability there too.
I am a new bike owner/rider so I appreciate your help and love the photos for visual reference. The Vincent is beautiful by the way. Just gorgeous.
Thanks again for the advice!
John
Well, there's a lot of mis-information and pure advertising bunk out there. I saw the chocks you were talking about advertised years ago, but haven't seen them around lately.
Your Harbor Freight lift is going to want you to use the "tie down system", but the points they provide are off to the side and don't work good. (The stock positions are good for tying down the rear of the bike when you back it on, but not the usual frontal loading.) If a BMW were mounted as they suggest, then you'd loose access to front brake calipers and valve adjustment would become very difficult. Anything under the front engine cover (brushes, timing chain, etc) would be in accessible.
As you can clearly see in THIS PHOTO, the straps form a triangle by attaching close-in, near the crown of the forks and then spreading out to the extreme limit of the lift's width. It's that large triangle, and the constant pressure upward caused by the fork springs, that make the mounting so secure. On a bike like my RS where I can't hook around the bars due to the fairing, I use those 9" loops to go around the triple tree. (Like these straps on Amazon)
There's no damage to any part of the bike. You're only compressing the fork springs about 1-1/2 to 2"... nothing it doesn't experience on a daily ride. Sure, I guess you could winch it down to 8" of fork compression (and hurt something), but it's simply not needed.
If you go back to the first photos, you'll see that I used doubled up 2x4's in place of a 4x4. The 6 inch screw eyes actually attach the wood to the lift, while also providing the outboard attach points. Works great. And in the 40+ years I've used these type lifts, I've never lost a bike.
Hope this helps.
Owning an old Airhead is easy.
Keeping an old Airhead running great is the true test.
My other bikes have spools for a paddock stand, so we use that on the back and added eyes on the lift to tie down the front. Putting a strap on the center stand if you are using it is a good idea.
For van and trailer we use the Condor Pit Stop. https://www.condor-lift.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=53 They have other models.
There is a much cheaper steel version from Harbor Freight if you are budget constrained.
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