Raising The Front Wheel Off The Ground

[Shadowfax]

>Shadow - with the centerstand, you don't need the rear stand. I have the front stand from Handy and it works just fine to get the front wheel off of the ground. Makes wheel cleaning much easier.

Randy, my other bikes don't have c-stands and I'm thinking about pulling the FJRs for weight and ground clearance anyway.

 

[bikerschim]

My solution is two eye bolts bolted through a 2x6, bolt the assembly to the celing of the motorcycle garage stall with lag bolts in at least four celing joists. Hook up a block & tackle and attach to nylon climbing straps wrapped around the forward member of the frame, hoist away. I'll see if I can get some photos, then I gotta figure out how to post photos here.... for now no photos.

 

[Groo]

I made the same 2x4+ that is shown in FJRPierre's link... worked well on my recent front end work.... used it due to my inexperience and trepidation with damaging the headers....

 

[FJRocket]

I finally used a scrap 2x4 on a floor jack directly under the 4 pipes, just in front of the union of the ex man to the pipes. The centerstand was on a 1/2 in thick board. Raised the front wheel off the ground until the rear wheel touched and stabilized on the ground. That allowed for front wheel removal without having to remove the fender or jostling the wheel. It just dropped out and rolled out from under. Very nice.

 

[timk]

As I have some really large (3x12) floor joists, I bored a hole in one,put a length of chain thru and bolted it. Comealong and soft ties arount the base of the handlebars. ( MC is placed a few inches foreward of the chain, and on centerstand to pull it slightly backward and up.

 

[Bluebullet]

I hired Yoda and he just levitates the whole thing and the tire while I work on learning the Force.

 

[wheatonFJR]

As I have some really large (3x12) floor joists, I bored a hole in one,put a length of chain thru and bolted it. Comealong and soft ties arount the base of the handlebars. ( MC is placed a few inches foreward of the chain, and on centerstand to pull it slightly backward and up.

:bigeyes: :bigeyes:

I know that there isn't much load to lift up the front wheel when it's on a center stand. But man!

Definitely not a good idea to make a practice out of drilling holes in floor joists...

Mark/wheaton, S.E.

 

[Bounce]

You can also use the "Sky Hook"

 

[FJRottie]

Has anyone lifted the entire bike off the ground with wood and a jack/lift ?

 

[radman]

Has anyone lifted the entire bike off the ground with wood and a jack/lift ?

The Feej is blessed with a frame that uses the engine as a stressed member. These present unique challenges in lift and support endeavours, as the last thing one wants to do is exceed the weight support capability of an engine casting. Woops! Look at the actual main frame of a feej-here, lemme help...

There. You'll notice there aren't a whole lot of conventional lifting points available. I plan on creating a bolt up cradle of sorts to enable a quick fastening and raising of the bike, if I ever get around to it. I have been using the 2X4 under the header for front lifting, and the water pipe framed support for ass lifting when the centerstand has to be removed. Aquisition of the HS Header has given me pause in continuing this method of raising the front-I don't doubt the header is strong enough, but the exhaust system center supports (the ones at the centerstand) are no longer there, so the bike would be supported by the header and then the muffler clamps, with the extension pipes in tension-not a good plan. All in all, a whole new set of challenges for lifting the bike.

 

[Geezer]

Definitely not a good idea to make a practice out of drilling holes in floor joists...

There is really no problem with drilling holes in joists. You will not weaken the joists by drilling through them as long as you don't drill too near an edge.

 

[markjenn]

I don't think you need to go too crazy worrying about the strength of the frame. You do want to use some kind of straps that distribute the load, but I doubt any special fixture is necessary.

Most of us (and dealers) jack under the headers successfully. But don't ever kid yourself that the force is insignificant - look at the lever arm of all the front end weight being pushed up from a point that is only a foot or so in front of the swingarm. I wouldn'be surprised if the total force pushing up is 500+ lbs. Fortunately the stock headers are very flat at the jack point, so you're distributing the load across the pipes. I'd be VERY careful if you're using non-OEM headers. I may build the little 2x4 jig to jack against the engine sump - clever suggestion.

- Mark

 

[markjenn]

Definitely not a good idea to make a practice out of drilling holes in floor joists...

There is really no problem with drilling holes in joists. You will not weaken the joists by drilling through them as long as you don't drill too near an edge.

A small hole for something like a eyehook to hang a light fixture? No big deal. But you want a fairly substantial hole to start hanging your motorcycle fomr the rafters.

I personally would not be thrilled about drilling a large hole in the bottom edge of a floor joist, especially if there was living space above. The bottom edge of a joist is in tension and you're basically taking a pretty big hunk out of part of the joist that is carrying the majority of the load.

If you have access to the sides of the joist, you can drill with relative impunity from the sides through the center. (The bottom of the joist is in tension, the top is in compression, and the center has almost no load.) So a great plan would be to drill sideways at the center and then fasten some kind of u-bracket hanging from a bolt in the center.

Now having said all this, a typical house has huge factors of safety and you could probably remove a floor joist without affecting the structure integrity of the house. But I hate floor squeaks and if you have alteratives, I'd look for them.

- Mark

 

[wheatonFJR]

... a typical house has huge factors of safety and you could probably remove a floor joist without affecting the structure integrity of the house.

The factor of safety in a particular rafter could be high or it could be the minimum allowed by the building code (before the hole/notch is cut)... each situation is different.

I wouldn't recommend that method of supporting the mcy to others without the caveat that you might get bit in the hindquarters.

That being said, I haven't heard of too many failures due to this.

However, I would still use a jack or stand or any of the other wonderful suggestions given by your fellow forum buddies...

Mark/wheaton, S.E.