Bike Lifts,Ramps etc

[scottyuk]

I've got a Skylift. Used on my gsxr1000, 1290GT and the old Blackbird.

Solid as you like. You must have seen Abba and their 'busa with people climbing over it. There really is no concern on strength and stability.

It seems everyone who buys one wishes they'd got one earlier.

I do also use paddock stands sometimes as putting the bike on the stand is a bit of a faff. It's normally outweighed by the benefits when working on the bike but for really simple things like chain cleaning/lubing it's a bit much.

[GuzziPaul]

Being a tightwad I recycled the massive bubble wrap from the the bike lift, wrapped it in loads of brown parcel tape and made a poor mans LiLo to lay on in the garage.

Cash poor, brown parcel tape rich

I do have four layers of foam silver duct taped (flasher than brown parcel tape) together to use as a low level seat if working outside, chain oiling etc. Also a 100year old four leg stool, inherited from my wifes grandma which has drill holes and saw marks from where it has been used as a portable work bench and one leg held together with a string lashing. Its about 30cm high and just right to sit on when doing the valve checks on the Guzzi.

[mangocrazy]

Another vote for the Skylift. As others have said it's very solid in operation and has the huge advantage that the whole plot can be moved around your spacious workshop with ease, or - as in my case, punted around a tiny shed so I can get at other stuff. I've used it to work on a KTM Duke 690, an Aprilia Falco and an ancient VFR750 with equal ease. It really came into its own when removing the shock on my Duke 690. The only realistic way of getting at it was to raise the bike up in the stoppie position and attack it from underneath. Pretty much everything was done from the comfort of a padded stool as opposed to crawling around on hands and knees on a cold floor. Without the skylift the job would have been a nightmare. With it, it was a piece of the proverbial.

One thing I did do as soon as I got it, prior to initial assembly, was to take the main box section upright portion and get additional holes drilled at 50mm intervals so I had a selection of heights to mechanically lock it in place. The hydraulic ram is sufficiently over-specified that it doesn't really sag in use, but I prefer the belt and braces approach.

I really wouldn't be without it now.