Yea, I'm definitely uneasy as to whether my lift will come in on time from Handy, or at all. The day after I ordered I did receive an email from them saying my Sam 1200 will ship in "3-4" weeks (I assume will take a week to get to me from their factory). Of course, "first world problems" so I won't go ape **** or anything, but I spent a pretty penny on it and hope I get something for my $$.

 

Good luck to you. I'll be following to hear about your experience.

 

This pandemic, and the rules imposed by various state/local governments, has put some roadblocks/detours in the normal course of business....

Handy is a stand up company, been around like 50 years, and has a good product... I am confident they will send you the lift you paid for... however they may have to delay the shipping due to the current business climate...

 

I'll take my Handy any day.

 

So an update….

Ordered on March 26th and I checked in with customer service via email. They are now telling me it will be another "2-3 weeks" to ship (and likely another week or two to get to me). Hoping they are being straight with me. They said they are having an issue with the low boy scissor lift part I added to the order and thus holding things up. I asked them to ship the main lift and vise separately if they could, sooner rather than later.

Not freaking out or anything and being patient due to Covid. Just a lot of money paid up front….

Just sharing in case others are considering a Handy lift. They might be having some Covid related manufacturing issues.

 

I hate to pour any gasoline on the fire, but I think I had mine in the garage a week after ordering it from them. I guess be patient. They're trying to bundle that pallet so if you ordered everything and ask to separate it, that'll cost them a good deal as that scissor jack isn't light.

It'll be worth the wait, hate to hear that it's taking longer than you thought

 

They should check their website.

 

Lift is here!

I ordered it on March 26, so a little over 5 weeks to get it delivered. I suspect the delay is Covid related. A quick overview of the process, and initial impressions.

Why: My warranty expired and I've been investing in a number of upgrades to the bike. My main service contact at the HD dealership no longer works at the dealer, and they price gouge regardless so just that time to service the bike myself and do what I can to save some $. I'm getting a little older (48), so crouching and moving around on my knees is less comfortable. I only looked at USA made lifts, and Handy is pretty widely recognized as being top tier. Thus the Handy lift (got it in blue - can't remember if that increased the price).

Ordering: I ordered directly from the Janco/Handy website. The website is kinda dated and has an 90s feel to it, but it did the job. Received an immediate confirmation. $1,456.00 for the lift, $206 for the cycle vice and $331 for the lowboy scissor jack. Interesting enough, they did not add sales tax (I'm in Washington so typically I expect it even when buying from out of state companies). Not complaining though. Didn't really price shop. A big purchase so wanted to deal with the manufacturer directly.

Shipping and Customer service. I followed up on a ship date a few times. Handy was very responsive, often emailing back same day or the next day. So a positive there. Was hoping to get the lift sooner, but not really complaining as I understand that it is a little tougher. I ordered the scissor jack and vice after my lift order via email only. They just added the price to my card. I chose the drop option at an additional $30 fee. Well worth the money as the lift is @$@#$@#$ heavy. Everything packaged well, no dents and the guy who dropped it off right into my garage with a power lift. He did leave the wooden pallets which is a pain as I have to get rid of them on my next dump run, but first world problems I guess.

Putting it together. Did I say this thing is @$#@$@# heavy? Ideally two people would put it together. My GF was at the dog park and I was eager, so I just put it together myself. The instructions are laughably bad, but it is fairly intuitive so not a big deal. Took a lot of effort just to get it in position because it is so heavy. I put it on a plywood sheet as I just installed some Racedeck tile flooring and wasn't quite ready to test it to the limits now. The lift is only 2 feet wide so doesn't take a massive amount of space. Careful when you maneuver it as you can accidentally put the lift on the air compressor cord.

Fit and finish. I can't imagine a lift being better made. Even the detachable ramp is heavy (25 pounds probably). The steel is solid, paint job is clean, and just put together well. Makes you happy to buy a quality American made product.

Performance, issues, concerns. If you have a touring bike, IMHO you need two people to get your bike up on the lift, which could be a big turnoff for some. Took me about 2 seconds to realize that the lift sits kinda high off the ground, and no way could I just roll/walk my Road Glide (w/o tour pack) up the ramp. My garage is probably angled slightly, but no way I could get it up there myself.

Like an idiot I did something stupid - I rode my bike up the lift. Not the first time I did something stupid, and won't be the last. I was able to do it - I duck walked it up, my legs hugging the derby cover and other side. I probably grew a few white hairs and I was constantly telling myself how stupid I was for doing it. Lift was stable but little room for error. Once in the vice I carefully got off the bike, using a shelving unit to balance myself. With one hand I kept the bike straight and I tightened the vice with my other hand. DO NOT DO THIS. Again, I was stupid and impatient, and won't do it again until I can put in some self made side ramps for balance (which are rock solid). Vice is solid and worked well. I tied down with heavy duty (1000lb rated) SmartStraps around the forks (one complaint is the lift needs more tie down options).

It appears to have one gremlin. The air hose end appears to leak, like it is missing an o-ring or something. See pic below. I'm using a 2.6 gallon porter air compressor, and while firing it up I could hear the leak out of the tip of the hose attached to the handy. I tried tightening it but no dice, still could hear and feel air. Is this normal? I was still able to raise the bike, but the lift goes down slowly unless you latch it properly. I'm gonna call Handy tomorrow and inquire.

The safety latching system works really well (even with my air issue). Bike goes up and down smoothly with confidence. My garage is only 10 feet high so I'll only be using the first two latch set points. You can make your bike go up extremely high.

BTW the lift does not have holes configured for the HD chalk. Not a big deal for me as I'm using the Handy vise, but I checked the chalk. I suppose I could have drilled holes in the lift to accommodate my chalk.

All in all very happy, though concerned about the leaking tip on the air hose. Hoping an easy fix or maybe I'll need to Magyver it. Pics below.




The left black hose is the one attached to the lift. Air is coming out between the thin brass and the large brass (rotating the hose doesn't tighten or loosen). Maybe missing an o-ring or something but air is definitely coming out (but not enough to not allow me to use the lift).


Let me know if you have any questions as I'm happy to answer. I'd recommend this lift to anyone who doesn't mind needing two people to put up a touring bike on it.

 

Glad to hear it finally arrived, I think you're going to be pleased.

I bolt my Wheeldock to the nose of the lift when I want to use it and yes, just drilled holes. No big deal.

I also cannot push mine up. I can get it up about 3/4 of the way, there is a small dip in front of my garage door which adds about another 1" or so to the height of the lift, so I'm running out of "oomph" by the time I get the rear wheel started on the ramp. I wouldn't ride it up without extensions or else at some point you'll be asking one of us to come over and get it up off it's compromised side. What I do instead though is just put it in gear and walk it up under its own power from the side. Has worked well so far.

Handy will have to answer the question about the fitting. Put a little soapy water around the fitting to see where it's leaking, take a pic or video and post it. Hard to tell.

I didn't have too much trouble getting it out of my truck but did use my Pitbull to help. Yes, it's a heavy lift. Did you cancel the part of the order for the dolly? You'll see now that with the lift empty and raised you can move it anywhere in the garage you want.

Only thing better would be to cut out the garage floor so the lift is recessed. I'm not going to, but that would be nice to have.

 

You're going to wonder how you ever got away without a lift table..... Congrats...!!

Now, when you get tired of trying to hold the straps, while you put the hooks in the slots on the table and then tighten them.... while strapping your bike to the table.. I have a recommendation for you...

Since I mounted a pair of Cargo Buckles on the front of my lift table.. it is an easy, one hand job to strap the bike to the table.... very convenient... Below is their web site, but I found a place that sold them at a discount via an internet search... it was several years ago, so I don't remember the vendor name...

https://www.immioutdoors.com/products/cargobuckle/