Here's a $100 Tool Every Biker Should Own

[ThomWV]

Less than $100 actually.

If you own a motorcycle and plan to own a motorcycle well into the future you owe yourself a motorcycle jack. Sears makes three different models of the things, one that cost about $170 and another that cost about $140, the least expensive one about $90. The expensive one uses lots of aluminum parts and is much lighter than the less expensive red steel version. I have never seen the silver one so can't comment on it. The expensive one is yellow, the less expensive one is red. I have the red one, not because of the cost but because it is actually a little bit more stable than the more expensive yellow one.

These jacks are just plain wonderful. You should have one if for no other purpose than cleaning your wheels but they are essential for any work that requires (front) wheel removal, like simple brake pad replacement for instance.

For those who aren't aware of it the quality of Sears' tools has gone straight to hell in the last 10 years or so. Its a shame, at one time they were about the best deal around on quality tools. They sold very good stuff and backed it up, all of it, with lifetime warranties. That is no longer the case but this is one tool they sell that is still worth the money.

I could not find a picture that I could paste in so here's a link to the one I bought. These things are available from several sources, including places like Northern Tool, which I never use.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_12605?keyword=atv+jack&gobutton.x=15&gobutton.y=4

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. A low-tech alternative

If the bike has a center-stand, most tasks like brake-pad replacement or wheel-cleaning are pretty easy. Occasionally I want the whole bike lifted, so (with a friend) it gets put on a milk crate.

Of course, if the bike is a big road cruiser, over 700 lbs, do not try a milk crate. (mine is about 450 lbs, and milk crates are strong enough).

That Sears red stand does look like a big improvement over milk crates. It might be on my list of things to get, after a cycle cover and some decent boots.

Thanks for the link.

:hi:

[ThomWV]

2. Ever see it done with a car jack?

You can lift one wheel off the ground on most bikes with a car jack. I've seen it done but I won't do it myself. You use the car jack as the third leg to support the bike with one wheel and the side stand being the other two legs. Basically you put the jack on the opposite side of the bike as the side stand and then move it back for forward to lift one wheel off the ground. Dangerous as hell.

I bought the red jack when I was lowering the rear of my bike. I had to take the shocks off (located under the bike on a Softail HD) of the bike to disassemble them and replace an internal part. The the bike had to be completely supported with the rear wheel off the ground but I still had to have access to the area under and behind the engine. The jack worked wonderfully and I got in the habit of using it to hold the bike vertical when I did anything on it.

For whatever its worth my bike weighs 687 pounds dry and I feel completely comfortable sitting on the bike when its up on this jack. Having said that however I have to admit that for much of my life I was a great proponent of the milk crate suppport system. What I found so useful about it was that in a pinch the very same crates could stand in as home furniture, book storage, stepping stools, and dam fine turtle cages.

[guitar man]

3. that's cool

I've got to get one of those :thumbsup:

I've been useing one of these (with a sling)




and one of these

[Robb]

4. The center stand on the KTM

...about lifts the bike into the rafters anyhow. :D But these days I'm standing up after bending over a little slower, I can see how having it higher would make me happy.

[SeattleVet]

5. We got the yellow (aluminum) one

and we've gotten good use out of it. I decided to pay the extra for the much lighter weight. Makes it a lot easier to get it from where we store it to where we have to work on the bikes.

We've had my wife's bike (Suzuki Savage/LS650) up a few times to do various things - yesterday we put it up and pulled the wheels to take to the shop to get some new tires put on.

I am going to modify it to add 2 things - a proper lifting adapter for my Moto Guzzi Stone (so I'm not lifting it by the oil sump), and I am going to add tiedown eyebolt tiepoints to the moving area, so that we can tie the bike down to the lift BEFORE we raise it up off the ground. I don't like doing the tiedown after we have it up.