Take a look at the bolt grades in the cheaper lifts and you may want to upgrade them to a grade 8 from the poor quality that comes in them.
The upgrade will run about $32 for the grade 8 but worth it should one fail of the lesser grade bolts IMO.
Harley Davidson lift
- Thread starter Tadaaa
- Start date
Take a look at the bolt grades in the cheaper lifts and you may want to upgrade them to a grade 8 from the poor quality that comes in them.
The upgrade will run about $32 for the grade 8 but worth it should one fail of the lesser grade bolts IMO.
I'd be leary to put a $20,000 plus bike up on that! I have a J&S Jack and yes I paid over $300 for it. But it works as advertised and I feel confident everytime my bike is in the air it's not going to fall off.
http://www.jsjacks.com/
http://www.jsjacks.com/
ww1flyingace
Member
I think the OP was asking about the HD lift specifically. The one that has a hand crank and screw lift as apposed to a hydraulic pump.
Harley-Davidson USA | Accessories And Apparel | Genuine Motor Accessories
As for the other jacks, I personally will not put my $26k bike on a $80 lift. Pitbull or J&S only.
Id feel pretty stupid if my bike got dumped because of a $2 cheap grade bolt or $10 hydraulic pump that failed.
Do you realize that the higher you go, the more stable the jack becomes? At lower heights, the arms are supporting the weight horizontally, putting the weight out at the end of a lever. When you raise it all the way, the arms are almost vertical, and the load is put on them though the axis of the arm.
Think about it this way.
Put a 3 foot pole over the edge of a cliff, and stand on the far end of it. It will flex to some degree. Now stand the pole on end and stand on the top of it. No flex.
Also, most bike jacks are made so the bike tilts to the kickstand side when the jack is lowered, and the higher you go, the more the jack levels out in relationship to the ground.
Harley-Davidson USA | Accessories And Apparel | Genuine Motor Accessories
As for the other jacks, I personally will not put my $26k bike on a $80 lift. Pitbull or J&S only.
Id feel pretty stupid if my bike got dumped because of a $2 cheap grade bolt or $10 hydraulic pump that failed.
Do you realize that the higher you go, the more stable the jack becomes? At lower heights, the arms are supporting the weight horizontally, putting the weight out at the end of a lever. When you raise it all the way, the arms are almost vertical, and the load is put on them though the axis of the arm.
Think about it this way.
Put a 3 foot pole over the edge of a cliff, and stand on the far end of it. It will flex to some degree. Now stand the pole on end and stand on the top of it. No flex.
Also, most bike jacks are made so the bike tilts to the kickstand side when the jack is lowered, and the higher you go, the more the jack levels out in relationship to the ground.
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TLMitchell
Member
I've got one. After seeing me teetering with narrower footprint lifts and swearing at bottle jacks and cheap bolts Santa brought me one of these. Mucho improvement over the el-cheapo lifts both in stability and making small, incremental adjustments to height. Don't count on the rubber runners staying on after the first use. The double-sided tape that holds 'em on is woefully deficient.
If Santa hadn't have intervened I definitely would've gotten a J&S. Pitbulls are first rate as well. Ain't no sense cheaping out when it comes to avoiding trying to get a motorcycle off yer carcass if things go wrong.
TL
zyepod
Active Member
I want one of these bad... Question... How do you change your oil on this? Or can you. Looks like the stand is where you would put the drip pan.
Breeze3at
Experienced Member
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You're right. I still get down on my knees to change oil on the Dyna and Eglide. I mostly like it because I can sit on a chair/stool for most of the other maint. and repairs. Each year it takes me longer to work the kinks out after I've been sitting crosslegged or kneeling. I like my adj. height chair as much as the lift!
I have the J&S jack also. It is very stable just like advertised. I have not changed oil with it yet but you should be able to reach the drain bolts quite easily. They also sell a pan to direct the fluids away but I made one that looks like it will work fairly well. Happy shopping.
Smokintoad
Member
Thats my question also. Do these jacks line up with the drain plugs on FLs? Would a scissor style jack work better for oil changes than the bigger jacks?