Motorcycle Lift

clutchless1 · Jul 10, 2007

Three years ago I purchased the Harbor Freight motorcycle lift. I can honestly say this was a decent investment, not knowing anything about the quality of these lifts from HF Tools at the time. Mine has held up rather well, about the only thing I wish they had when I got mine was the air jack. If you consider the fact not all of these are made the same, this lift does 1000 lbs easily. I would not think about putting a large bike on it though, it's narrow and I would be afraid having the weight high in the air with the lift not mounted directly to the ground, I think it may easily tip over.

I do use this each time I change the oil, It's nice to have everything in front of you. I do a check under the bike to be sure all fasteners are tight and are in place, plus I clean everything I can reach to make sure if there are any leaks, I'd know about them almost as soon as they start. I just added the lowering links, the lift allowed me to lock the front wheel down, raise the rear up and do what needed to be done. The lift also has a plate that can be removed in case you want to drop the rear tire down and remove it without removing anything else.

I have had no problems at all with the lift and it's not hard to push the bike up the small incline to get the bike on the table. For the price of less than $300.00 including shipping, it wasn't a bad deal. I can't speak for the others on the market, but the nly time this lift has let me down (or my bike) is when I hit the down pedal. These lifts sure beat the other ways I used to work on my stuff with, if you can afford it, and you have a place to put it when it's not in use, the lift is worth the money. Oh, get the air powered jack, it wasn't available when I got mine.

Be Safe. C1

Bounce · Jul 10, 2007

i had a HF jack that was great with the wing where it could lift on the frame, but less good when looking at how the plastic wrapped under the fjr. so, once i got the fjr, it set unused for 3 years. i recently sold it for $25 when i got my Handy Lift. talk about hell for stout with a lifetime warranty. it's an air lift with 12" full-length side extensions on both sides (could also work on 4 wheelers if needed). sweet! can't say how it compares to the HF chinese version, but i suspect that the purchase prices account for a lot of the differences in features and build quality.

Zodiac · Jul 10, 2007

Bounce said:
i had a HF jack that was great with the wing where it could lift on the frame, but less good when looking at how the plastic wrapped under the fjr. so, once i got the fjr, it set unused for 3 years. i recently sold it for $25 when i got my Handy Lift. talk about hell for stout with a lifetime warranty. it's an air lift with 12" full-length side extensions on both sides (could also work on 4 wheelers if needed). sweet! can't say how it compares to the HF chinese version, but i suspect that the purchase prices account for a lot of the differences in features and build quality.

How about a pic of the Handy lift!

Zorlac · Dec 7, 2007

FWIW, I picked up a HF lift today for under $200.

The girl at the checkout allowed me to use a 15% off coupon that came in a mailed circular in addition to the one below.

I'm pretty sure she wasn't supposed to as it mentions no double coupons, but what do I know.

Other things on sale at the HF store. until 12/12

clutchless1 · Dec 8, 2007

Zorlac said:
FWIW, I picked up a HF lift today for under $200.The girl at the checkout allowed me to use a 15% off coupon that came in a mailed circular in addition to the one below.

I'm pretty sure she wasn't supposed to as it mentions no double coupons, but what do I know.

Other things on sale at the HF store. until 12/12

About the only thing you need to replace in the future is the tire clamp, the one that comes stock on the lift was a little cheezy and doesn't support the wheel and tire like it should. I found a nicer clamp searching on line right after I got the lift, but I'm sorry I can't remember where I ended up getting it, but they are available from $35.00 to how ever much you want to spend on one.

I think you'll find things are so much easier to get to and do, when you first get it set up you'll be looking for things to do to the bike. I have found myself putting the bike in the air at least once a month cleaning any road crud from under the bike keeping it nice and clean. Yeah there are other lifts out there that are much nicer, but they cost a lot more than this one. I have also found for bikes the weight of the FJR, my Sportster, and Honda 750 this lift is plenty enough to do everything that needs to be done safely. I will say if you work on larger bikes most of the time I would purchase one of a heavier design for safety reasons, one that will handle bikes of all different weights, something I don't have any need for personally, plus this one I have does what I need it to do.

In total for the price and what it is I think you'll be satisfied, life is definately easier when using it that's for sure.