I had a harbor freight jack, worked well enough. Replaced it with a HF lift table, works well enough.

 

Currently have the Harbor Freight jack ... not happy with it; wobbles quite a bit after about 4" off the ground.
Worked okay on some smaller bikes, but lifting my '15 SGS scares me.

Looking to find me a more stronger one!

 

J&s all the way! My 14 sgs is extremely stable on the j&s at the highest lift setting. Have climbed on and sat on the bike numerous times while on the j&s just bc I can

 

I'll look into it a little further, thanks.

 

I have been using the Harbor Freight jack, for 8 years, and found that is is actually lower profile than the sears. And a lot cheaper. I bought it in 2007 for my 1200 Goldwing and used it on every bike I've owned since.

 

I would encourage him toward the J&S. I had one and it was built will top quality steel, plenty thick where it counted, and it didn't twist or rock once the bikes weight was on it.

He can spend less money, and most people do, and get a minimalist jack from Sears, Harbor freight, or some other Chinese ****. At the end of the day, it's always better to buy quality tools. I have seen the Sears jacks fail...not the bottle jack, but the rail steel cracked and bent.

The "you get what you pay for" phrase is certainly relevant when talking motorcycle lifts and jacks.

 

You don't really need a jack with a Jap bike. It comes with a center stand.

 

Ummm, negative. Not all Japanese bikes have center stands. In fact, most do not.

 

I had a bike with a center stand, and yeah, it did help a bit, and I got by without the jack, but still in some instances a jack would have been useful. Center stand got my rear wheel an inch or two off the ground but the front wheel was still in contact with the floor. Also having the bike on the jack makes it very easy to move around my garage. Just rolls right out of the way when I need it to. Easier than pushing the bike around on its own wheels. Would have been nice to have that available even on my ricer which was quite a bit lighter than the Limited.

 

I don't think that board with a pipe stuck thru it could lift the bike high enough to change the rear tire, so it may only be good for cleaning the rear WHEEL.,,