When checking the "tightness" of the neck bearings, does the bike have to be level, or can I just lift up the front? Will it make a difference when checking the fall away? I only have a scissor lift, so I can only lift up one side of the bike at a time.

 

grab a 59 dollar bike lift at harbor freight, they work pretty good for minor stuff

 

Based on what the service manual says, you should be upright AND level. Essentially you want to try and eliminate any weird external influences from affecting the fall away of your forks (i.e. your throttle and clutch cable tension, weight of accessories on the bars, gravity from weird angles, etc.).

Which reminds me, you should remove any accessories from your bars such as detachable windshields or handlebar bags in order to remove their influence on the fall away. Passing lamps and such do not have to be removed. You should also disconnect your clutch, throttle and idle cables as they may hinder you bars ability to turn as freely as possible thus giving an inaccurate fall away reading.

I use the Craftsman Professional 1500lb Motorcycle/ATV Jack (the yellow and sliver one). I got it on sale for around $169 but it retails for $199. I like it because it is real solid and lifts my bike right up with little effort. It is good and stable and has some decent feature for being a simple floor jack. It can be a little fast on the drop so if you get one, take it real easy lowering your bike till you get a feel for how quickly it lowers. The handle is easily removable via a spring loaded locking pin so that you can get it out of your way. The jack also locks at four different height positions for added safety. My favorite is the lowest height position because on my Crossbones (stock low profile rear suspension) it is just high enough to hold my bike straight (as if I were on it) without actually lifting it off the ground. This is a great way to do quick things like attaching my windshield, adjusting front lights, adjusting throttle and clutch cables, etc. without having to lift the bike all the way off the ground which and then having to strap it down.

I am sure that by other people's standards it might not be the best jack available but for me it was a good investment since I do pretty much all my maintenance and modifications myself. I would recommend it to anyone looking to do their own work on their Softail.

 

hey big sea daddy are you the smart *** it sounds like your mentality .Know person has the right to take another persons name and put on this crap and then you come along and say What !! like you don't know what I am talking about .