Hi All,

I purchased a Craftsman Pro jack for some upcoming projects. I'm swapping out my tin set and then putting on a chrome swingarm. I'm not sure if I'm jacking the bike up properly, as the jack has a lot more weight on the rear and I'm not sure if it is safe. Is this normal? Ideally I would think I would want to jack up further back where the weight of the bike is but the crossmembers and jiffy stand bracket don't allow me to place the jack any further back.

Thanks for any advice. If this is normal I will move forward, but I don't want to leave the bike on the jack for a day or two if this is a disaster waiting to happen.

That being said, the bike is stable when it's lifted like this. I just don't want the jack to give out on me.

 

The jack looks twisted. I would not be comfortable with it sitting like that.

 

For what ever reason it looks like the jack is not strong enough as the lift platform has not stayed parallel.

 

Something is not right with that jack. After you fix the jack, move the lift point to the rear. Yes, it's common to be a bit heavy on the rear.

 

The jack does look twisted however, I would use tie downs on the front and the back and make sure they are tight. When you remove the rear tire, the weight will shift to the front so you want the tie downs to keep everything steady. Also, you really don't need the bike that high off the ground unless you are doing it for your own ease of access. I personally like keeping things to a minimum.

 

Here is how mine sits on the jack...



On the front side it actually sits on the notch of the Jiffy bracket. On the rear it sits on the cross member. I shim the other side so that it sits level. As she sits here, she is straight up and rock solid, both side to side and front to back.







Nevermind the crud around the rubber pads. I had to re-glue the pads back on to the jack. What you see there is the excess Gorilla Glue that oozed out.

Anyway... You may have to play around a bit to find what works for you and your particular jack. I'd say, by looking at your situation, you need to move it a fair bit more to the rear.