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For me it was a toss-up between the J & S and the Pitbull. Both great products. My brother has the J & S and I have the Pitbull. I decided on the Pitbul for a lot of reasons but mostly for the following.
1) A full 25 inch lift height as apposed to the 18 inches on the J & S.
2) Grease zerks on all moving parts.
3) Bigger overall footprint and wheels for added stability moving around the shop.
4) Includes a quick release pull handle which makes it easier to move around when not in use.
5) The owner of Pitbul, Heika Watson, took the time to personally answer all of my questions and never once bashed the competition.
The Pitbul is $80 more than the J & S so I did have to pay for the added benefits. All in all Id say that the J & S or the Pitbul are great choices and you cant go wrong with either one.
I have the Yellow jack from Sears. Jack works perfectly for my needs. $199.99 at Sears and which is usually in stock.
Who has time to drive all over to search for all different types of jacks. I don't want to. When Sears stores are everywhere.
What made up my decision between the two....I have a lowered Deluxe and the yellow jack sits alot lower than the red, also the yellow jack is built better. And yes i took both of them out of the box and compared the two. The red felt flimsy to me. Last but not least i looked at Sears web site and read all the reviews about thier own jacks and even on thier own web site, the red jack scored extremely BAD...So i figured pay a little more and get the better jack.
My HF drops fast too. Any known cure for this. Friend has the same HF and it works perfect.
For the HF yellow jack - push foot release all the way down to slowly lower your bike. I know it sounds backwards, but this is how they designed the jack release to work. I tested this theory yesterday at a local HF store...worked.
Unless you're going to accomplish heavy-duty maint on your scoot, I'd stick w/the cheaper priced lifts/jacks. The $100 - $200 units are plenty good for routine cleaning & maint (i.e. oil change, tire swap, etc.). Don't feel like dumping $400+ on something I use 5-10 times a year. If you don't feel comfortable w/the cheaper units - set some blocks for added security...JMO
I currently using the Red Craftsman from Sears. I used it on my Ultra Classic and now still using it on my Road King Classic. Works great for cleaning the tires and wheels.
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I have the Harbor freight jack and the secret is to mash the pedal down hard. For some reason, those Chinee people put the speed release on the first of the trigger instead of the second part. Put a couple of blocks or something heavy on it and try it. Mine works great as long as I don't try to "ease" down on the release...go ahead and mash that pedal...
Originally Posted by Sandcrab
I have a Harbor Freight and it works fine for most things, but when you go to lower the bike, it drops too fast. So I usually panic and release the foot pedal and it stops it half way down and has to be hurting the frame. I wish it had a valve that you could unscrew a little at a time so it would lower slowly.
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