revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Whats the latest and greatest with these then?

I have a few jobs I need to do which involve suspending bikes to various degrees and I am not sure what to get. As an example....

I have a CBR600 (conventional box section swingarm) which I need to remove both wheels from to get tyres. I also want to replace the rear shock and forks. This bike has a centre stand so I could probably fudge my way through if needed.

I also have a Speed Triple with a SSSA that I plan to completely strip/rebuild, right down to getting the frame powder coated. I.e. everything out. No centre stand.

I currently have a paddock stand just for the Speed Triple, it's the kind which slots into the rear wheel hub.

What would be the best/most universal way of picking these bikes up?

ABBA stand innit.

Wot he said

They go in the swingarm pivot right?

I suppose if I am taking the swigarm out I can remove the rest of the bike first so it's light enough to manhandle.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:12 am They go in the swingarm pivot right?

I suppose if I am taking the swigarm out I can remove the rest of the bike first so it's light enough to manhandle.

There's an optional kit that replaces the footrests with ABBA mounts so you can remove the swingarm.

Constands don't mount through swingarm mount. But through frame mount points. So may work better.

I use one similar to this:



I've successfully lifted bikes from a Honda SLR650 to a Norton ES2 via Guzzi V50, Matchless G80 etc. I have had to make timber bases to support the crankcases on some however.

It works well, is easy to stow under the bench when not in use and is reasonably stable with the bike tied down. If space is limited you can also shuffle the whole thing sideways to get access to both sides. Mine was about £80.

Is this a bit too old school?

I've Harris paddock stands for normal stuff,anything else the Abba stand comes out.

Really the Abba can do it all,but I had the Harris stuff from way before it arrived.

The Skylift thing Abba do looks useful,especially if you don't have a ramp/lift.

With Abba stands, when you're doing front end stuff I guess you just put something under the headers, shove a bag of cement on the pillion seat etc?

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 1:25 pm With Abba stands, when you're doing front end stuff I guess you just put something under the headers, shove a bag of cement on the pillion seat etc?

Abba stand front wheel lift kit

2019-06-07_07-31-22 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Genuine ABBA strap too?

yes, comes with the kit.

iansoady wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:59 am I use one similar to this:



I've successfully lifted bikes from a Honda SLR650 to a Norton ES2 via Guzzi V50, Matchless G80 etc. I have had to make timber bases to support the crankcases on some however.

It works well, is easy to stow under the bench when not in use and is reasonably stable with the bike tied down. If space is limited you can also shuffle the whole thing sideways to get access to both sides. Mine was about £80.

What's the weight limit on this lift? I need one for 250kg plus.

I can't remember exactly but well over that.

Parents have bought me an ABBA stand with front lift kit for Crimbo. Cheers peeps.

Should be just about perfect for getting 2 new tyres, new shock and new forks bits onto the CBR.

It depends what you're after or need. I've always suffered from lower backache after working on bikes. I went for the Abba Skylift and no longer have that issue. I use it on three bikes so just need the different adaptors which just slip in place. The Skylift doesn't just give the benefit of having the bike at the height you need it for a task but can go arse up or nose up. Also great for moving a bike around when up and being worked on. I've used this flexibility for a few things. In this case, it was cleaning out the disk bobbins. I totally recommend one. However, I do also have paddock stands as sometimes I just want the bike up for a quick chain lube etc and the Abba does take a bit longer to get sorted.

Another vote for the Abba Skylift here. You can do jobs with the Skylift that would be next to impossible with other stands. As an example, I needed to get the shock off my KTM Duke 690 to fit a different spring so i used the skylift in the 'stoppie' position. The back of the bike wasn't far off the ceiling. It would have been a pig of a job even with the conventional Abba stand, as the shock has to come out from underneath and the rear wheel has to be at maximum compression (I used a ratchet strap through the wheel and round the subframe.) I was able to do the job in complete comfort sat on a stool next to the bike and it took about half an hour to remove and re-fit the shock.

mangocrazy wrote: Fri Jan 01, 2021 2:56 pm Another vote for the Abba Skylift here. You can do jobs with the Skylift that would be next to impossible with other stands. As an example, I needed to get the shock off my KTM Duke 690 to fit a different spring so i used the skylift in the 'stoppie' position. The back of the bike wasn't far off the ceiling. It would have been a pig of a job even with the conventional Abba stand, as the shock has to come out from underneath and the rear wheel has to be at maximum compression (I used a ratchet strap through the wheel and round the subframe.) I was able to do the job in complete comfort sat on a stool next to the bike and it took about half an hour to remove and re-fit the shock.

For shock I just used the grab rails and ratchet straps on the rafters. 10 mins

iansoady wrote: Sun Nov 15, 2020 11:59 am I use one similar to this:



I've successfully lifted bikes from a Honda SLR650 to a Norton ES2 via Guzzi V50, Matchless G80 etc. I have had to make timber bases to support the crankcases on some however.

It works well, is easy to stow under the bench when not in use and is reasonably stable with the bike tied down. If space is limited you can also shuffle the whole thing sideways to get access to both sides. Mine was about £80.

Damn that looks awesome! I've got a front/headstock stand and a normal rear stand. But that one looks awesome!!