Hydraulic bike lift

[weedavie_j]

I bought one of those scissor lifts for me bike a few months back and have used it without any problem to remove the back wheel on my nightrain without it overbalancing. and was delighted how stable it was.

Last night I tried to work at the front end and no matter where I positioned the lift, I could not balance the bike to take the weight off the front wheel
Being a softail,the shock absorbers lie horizontal between the bottom rails of the frame and stick down slightly lower than the frame rails
Because of this I can't place the lift in an appropriate place to balance the bike correctly.
I got round this by positioning the lift so as to avoid pressing on the shockies, lifting the bike up as best I could and supporting the front end under the engine casing with a small car jack.
I know there are many versions of these bike lifts but I just wondered if anybody has had the same problems

Wacko

[Noddy]

Weedavie.

I know it sounds like a pain, but the easy way for you to use your the lift so the front wheel comes off the ground is to make a wooden cradle to fit on top of your lift. Make it with half circle cut outs to fit the frame rails so it clears the shocks.
Take a bit of time to make it, once you have it make you will always have it.
I've done it a few times over the years for different bikes on the same lift.

[Music]

Hi Weedavie A thread I posted some time backany use
Music
Re: bike lifts
If any one has not seen my offer its still open. If you are good at DIY.
I built my lift fo £55 plus a day to make and a day to paint. If you would like the plans pm me with your e-mail address or e-mail me at rob.waldron@virgin.net

Music 8)

__________________

[S.T.Chapman]

just a point for clarity,
Im not being picky just trying to give the right advice....

first you say its a hydraulic lift as shown in some of the reply posts, then you call it a sissor jack, which is slightly different and much small (see virtual rally thread on sissor jacks)
http://www.harley-davidson-hangout.c...ad.php?t=44337
a simple enough mistake and nothing ill meant about it, just the answer is different in both cases.
perhaps if it is just a regular hydraulic you could tell which make too.

[weedavie_j]

The lift is a hyd.type that you pump up with your foot but I can't remember the make.It's not unlike the Machine Mart version and similar to Music's home made version (looks good by the way) but I was too lazy at the time to think about making my own.

Making a wooden cradle is probably the way to go but even with the jack lowered right down I've no clearance between it and the bottom rails of the bike frame.I would need an extra pair of hands to manouvre the lift under the bike while sombody holds the bike vertical off the side stand just makes it that bit more awkward.and kinda defeats the purpose.

I don't know if the nightrain's centre of gravity is different from a fat boy for instance but the rake and fork length of mine might be contributing to the fact that it won't balance with the front wheeel offf the deck.

Any more suggestions welcome
Wacko