I think the key words in your good experience are"this lift has served me well for at least 15 years and countless project". Evidently, they no longer build them that way. You have to track down an oldeer, used one these days.

Jim G

 

I am looking at the HD jack and it has the arms that lock also. It cannot collapse if the hydraulic unit fails. I am not saying it is reliable but I am saying it won’t collapse if it fails. This unit of mine is not a Pitbull or one of the other highly regarded units. My buddy that gave it to me paid something like $99 for it. I think it came from Harbor Freight or Costco.

Just looking at the HD unit in the picture you posted, I would have no hesitation trusting it to jack up my bikes. I always strap my bikes and take my time. When lowering, I go down a few inches at a time and stop. Finally, when both wheels are barely touching the ground, i am very careful to ave a good on the bars. You could also have your wife step on the valve to lower the final few inches while you go to the other side and slowly lower on the kickstand. All of this is no worse than jacking a car or truck. For any heavy work with safety concerns, I always take my time and think things through.

i had a Softail Deluxe on this jack an entire weekend while I removed the rear wheel, changed the swingarm to a chrome one, tapped the transmissions cover and mounted a Shotgun Shock air ride system. Not once did I feel unsafe or at risk. I did support the front of the bike but had no issues whatsoever.

 

I got lucky. Once I figured out how to access sale ads beyond my limited area, I found a used Big Blue lift for sale at an affordable price. Shipping a lift is not simple, but the seller is willing to disassemble the lift and ship to me in 1,2 or even 3 boxes, whatever makes it the easiest and offers the best protection against damage in transit.

I am looking forward to receiving and using this lift. No lift is "risk-free, but the Big Blue seems safer than some of the others. And it takes up very little space when not in use.

Jim G

 

Just as a FYI:

1. No matter what kind of lift you have whether a lift table or jack, do not leave the bike on it with the hydraulics under pressure.
2. Use the locking arms or bars to relieve the pressure of the hydraulic ram or cylinder, this will level the bike and provide more stability with the jack type.
3. Leaving the bike jacked up for long periods of time, with the weight on the hydraulics can cause the hydraulics to fail and then you are stuck with the bike in the air and no way to get it down when the locking arms finally lock into place.
4. I have seen this a couple of time in the industrial setting and a friend that left his bike jacked up over the winter and found out when he tried to pump up the jack to lower it. The oil leaked past the seals and we had a hell of a time bleeding and refilling the cylinder to get pressure back.

 

Yes, given the adverse leverage described in a prior posting above, leaving one of the cheap "1500 lb" hydraulic jacks under load for days, weeks, or months obviously leaves that cylinder under increedible pressure against its seals.

Jim G

 

The leverage is absolutely typical of any lift or arm or vice grip. It's not unique or horrible, it just is.

 

My Bike Master lift worked fine, with limitations, for 30+ years. I bought the J&S jack because is just more capable than my previous jack.

 

The other important thing that varies among jack type motorcycle lifts is the MINIMUM height setting, which established the MINIMUM GROUND CLEARANCE of the motorcycle that can be lifted with it. I have found within the past few days that most of those jack lifts cannot be used on a motorcycle with less than 5 inches of ground clearance. Plus, that ground clearance is NOT the published ground clearance for the motorcycle!

This is because our Harley's of course all LEAN when on the sidestand, which results in lower ground clearance under the lefthand frame tube. On my Breakout, the 4.5" published ground clearance actually becomes 3.75" on the lefthand frame tube.

I found only a single digit number of jack models that could go that low. The HD / OTC one does. Both of the non-jack type lifts, the Big Blue and the TMG, also go as low as 3".

Something to keep in mind.

Of course you can tilt the bike up before sliding the jack under the frame, but that can be a little difficult, and of course also creates some risk of losing control of the bike while manipulating the handlebar and the llift simultaneously.

One cure is to use a front wheel chock, so that the bike is never actually leaned. However, with that approach, a lot of bike front ends like to flop over to one side when not prevented from doing so by ground friciton or a chock, because of the fork geometry. So, when lowering the bike, you could have your hand full needing to center, and hold, the front wheel "staright" while simultaneously reaching the jack "release" pedal to let the jack lower itself. On a fast-dropping lift, like the HD / OTC, that might be really difficult to control.

Jim G

 

You're making sound much more difficult than it actually is.

You run the jack under the high side. Lean the bike towards you, and with your foot or hand, slide the jack the rest of the way under.
That's all there is to it. Neither hard to do, nor dangerous, nor exciting.

Same thing in reverse when you're done.

 

That's why I built my own jack to meet my specific requirements. Collapsed height is roughly 3.5". I can roll it in from either side. I prefer rolling it in from the low (jiffy stand) side so I can stand on that side when lowering to make sure the jiffy stand is engaged/locked at touchdown. When lowering, my left hand is on the left hand grip. I can reach down with my right hand to feather the pressure release valve for a smooth controlled decent.