What I would look for when buying a new one is width. An extra few inches make it easier. Sure you can say bike is 12" and lift is 14, all you need. True. But it is easier to center, not having to worry about it.

 

Handy Motorcycle Lifts.
This video is worth a watch. A public service announcement.

 

They don't make lifts any longer. Also the Hydraulic bottle jack in the lift is Chinese. The rest is made in the USA.

 

Some good points in the video, and I have always considered Handy to be the standard for lifts. I ended up going with a K&L lift for some specific reasons, but Handy was the measuring stick I used in my comparisons...


Sorry for the rest of my response/opinions, but I AM a cynical person..

Handy's response to that situation was exceptional, no doubt.... but it was also a very smart business move..

I have to believe they knew exactly who they were dealing with, in terms of his his influence & social media profile. To go out of their way to help HIM, was both a shrewd marketing move (the above video as proof), and also a little bit of a cost reducing reaction. Even though it was a self-induce failure due to improper lifting of a table well out of warranty and with many years of service, better (cheaper) to handle it between private parties than to do that research and answer those questions in court during a lawsuit...

Also, IMHO.... I got to say, there sure was a LOT of drama in that video... Followed by repetitive hyperbole...

I'm glad Kevin lives a life where truly dangerous situations are so rare in his experience, that an unloaded lift table collapse shook him up so badly. However, he really laid on "how lucky" he was a little thick for my taste...

 

I'm sure he got a new free lift out of it.

 

He admitted in the video they sent him a new one "for evaluation"...