Motorcycle table/lift/jack? What would you suggest?

[biker_reject]

Thanks for all the plans. Got me thinking again, What ever i do i will need some kind of hoist. I had to ask the wife to help me lift the cb750 engine 3 times today. I need to be able to do that stuff by my self or get some friends to hang around my shop........better start looking for a hoist.

The most used and valuable tool in my garage is a 2-ton hoist I bought from Harbor Freight for $129. I have used it to hoist bikes on and off my truck, and to maneuver a DOHC 750 engine around the entire garage. Those things are way heavy! Anyway, I don't know what I would do without my big orange friend.

 

[theracedude]

back when i raced cars we had a nice folding lift. it was a junky cheapo but it worked great. need to get one again before i bust a nut or my wife busts a ??? well what ever she would bust i bet a folding jack is the cheaper way to go.

 

[biker_reject]

About half way down the page is a pic of how I managed the 750 engine. I removed, and reinstalled it all by my lonesome along with my crane, of course! Harbor Freight is my favorite store next to Sears' tool dept! I hope to buy a lift table from there sometime this summer (fingers crossed).

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=9860.msg87113#msg87113

 

[tommygun]

where did you get your casters?

I don't have a lot of room in my garage and I have to be able to push the bike out of the way when I'm done so the better half and kids don't get upset with me. I built this simple little dolly out of 2x4 one afternoon and it works great.

I put fixed casters on the front and swivelling/locking casters on the rear. It's easy to wheel it out when I want to work and back against the wall when I'm done.

Cheers,
Arnie

 

[Tim]

Man, I missed out on one of those portable standable lifts for $150 yesterday on Kijiji - probably missed it by an hour. Ah well - a wooden table on casters will actually serve me a bit better and cost less anyhow, but man, this would have been nice.

 

[Kanticoy]

Got mine built today. Still left to do is add drawers to the rear sides under the top deck, a sheet of peg board to the front, my power strip, and have fun!

It is made of 100% cedar minus the decking for light weight, long life, and strength. Fully moveable 360* due to casters.

The center section of ply sits on a lip underneath it and pops out so while on the lift, the oil can be drained into a pan on the lower level.

Also threw in some pics of my $30 craigslist tool cart that I modded with pegboard for hanging.

 

[HerrDeacon]

Very nice table. How do you find the wheel chuck with the small vintage tires? I've seen them on sale before but wasn't sure how they'd work with smaller width tires.

 

[sxecafe]

I know this thing has been dead for a bit but I am pretty hyped on all the awesome ideas! Can't wait to get mine together.

 

[JRK5892]

harbor freight has the locking chucks i have htem on all my lifts... cheap and use the 20% off... put tie down rings all over the lift you will need them

 

[sxecafe]

I was thinking of making one of my own, Joe. I have some round stock and other steel around. Just got a bender. IDK. $40 is pretty fucking cheap and prob not worth the hassel. I just want to make some stuff with the new bender.

Are you a one of those preferred members at HF?

 

[biker_reject]

Been planning mine for about a month. The only thing different I am going to do is buy a front wheel vise. Cost is $80 on the low end, which will at least double the cost of the build.

 

[JRK5892]

i have a vice for the front of our lifts as well... i only use them on choppers or wheels above 23'

 

[mothgils]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but I need to build a work table or 2! Kiley or Kit, do you guys have any dimensions you could share?

 

[Kanticoy]

I do Andrew. I'll see if I can dig up my plans.

 

[mothgils]

I do Andrew. I'll see if I can dig up my plans.

That would be fine...just looking for rough dims...mainly LxWxH

 

[Kanticoy]

Oh, well I can tell you that. Mine is 6' long, 2' high and 2.5' wide. You can do it with different dimensions for less cuts in the lumber, but this size is about perfect for use. I actually just moved mine into the new shop the other day. It's getting a Suzuki 2 stroke built on top of it!

 

[Autotek]

My first lift was 2x6 by around 30 high and it hinged upon 2x4 legs. I used a boat trailer hand wench to lift it up and down. It worked great for any bike up to about 400lb but I think I made the legs a bit too long. A better height is about 2 feet, like Kiley suggested. Had I made the legs shorter it would probably lift more and defiantly would be a more comfortable to work from. I am 5'10" and I could not really work on the controls. I was planning to modify it until Harbor Freight has a sale and I bought there hydra lift, which I must say rocks. Here is the wooden lift down...

and up...

 

[mysta2]

Click my blog Andrew (the big ass red banner below) I've got two posts in there specifically on how to build my tables, "Rise up!" and "Bike table 2 (the Revenge)" (might be a couple of pages deep now)

 

[bbqb4racin]

Be careful on table heights greater than 18". I'm 6'1" and wouldn't want it any higher as far as loading and unloading is concerned. 18" of height doesn't sound like much but it's huge! Tables are well worth the effort to build. BTW, I installed the Harbor Frieght wheel chock on the front of mine. Works perfect!

 

[mysta2]

That picture's hurting my head.

And I agree that if I was to redo my tables I might make them a bit shorter. Mine are 24" plus casters (maybe 28" total) The height's great for working on the side of the motor, but a bit tall for the rest of the bike.