Building ..rickko's.. Bike Lift

<head> <title>Build a Motorcycle Lift (non-frames version)</title> </head> <blockquote> <center> <table> <caption align=top>To enlarge photo's click on text beneath them</caption> <tr> <td><img src="lift1a.gif" height="80" width="80" hspace="20"><br><center><a href="lift1a.jpg"><font size=-3>Parts</font></a></center></td> <td><img src="lift2a.gif" height="80" width="80" hspace="20"><br><center><a href="lift2a.gif"><font size=-3>Drawing</font></a></center></td> <td><img src="lift3a.gif" height="80" width="80" hspace="20"><br><center><a href="lift3a.gif" ><font size=-3>Front</font></a></center></td> <td><img src="lift4a.gif" height="80" width="80" hspace="20"><br><center><a href="lift4a.gif" ><font size=-3>Front</font></a></center></td> </tr> </table> <P> <table> <caption align=top>Sportster Adaptation</caption> <tr><td><img src="l1a.jpg" height="80" width="80"></tr></td> <tr><td align=left><a href="l1a.jpg"><font size=-3>Sportster 2x4 shim</font></a></tr></td> <tr><td><img src="l2a.jpg" height="80" width="80"></tr></td> <tr><td align=left><a href="l2a.jpg"><font size=-3>Right Side Tiedown</font></a></tr></td> <tr><td><img src="l3a.jpg" height="80" width="80"></tr></td> <tr><td align=left><a href="l3a.jpg"><font size=-3>Left Side Tiedown</font></a></tr></td> </table> </center> <P> <hr> <center><b>Building your own Bike Lift</b></center> <p> Courtesy of <a href="mailto:rick@bikeXrider.com"><img src="license7.gif" width=62 height=39 hspace=3 align=absmiddle></a>  <p> The "rickko lift" history. As I noticed my tires slowly wearing down from the thousands of miles they'd covered I began thinking about buying a lift to support my Softail FXSTC. <P> I knew the time was nearing when I'd have to replace my front and rear tires. Known for my frugality I wanted to remove the wheels myself to save the labor costs associated with a shop doing the removal and installation. That meant I needed to find a way to get its wheels off the ground at home. <p> I was also getting tired of crouching into a small ball on the left side of my bike everytime I cleaned it. I wished my bike could stand free in an upright position (like some well known non-American made motorcycles). <P> The sophisticated lifts I saw advertised in motorcycle rags cost in excess of $400 and the inexpensive ones, about $80. Still to expensive I thought. <P> I decided to experiment a little and build one myself. After talking to friends and seeing examples of other homemade lifts, I think I came up with a pretty simple design. <P> Building this lift will take about 1/2 hour of time shopping at <em>Home Depot</em>; then 15 minutes to assemble. Best of all, it should end up costing you less than twenty dollars US! <P> Here is the shopping list: (If you already have some of them laying around your garage you'll $ave even more!) These are <em>Home Depot's</em> prices as of 4/28/97. <P> <table> <tr> <td>(1) 3 ft. long 4" x 8" Douglas fir</td> <td>@ $2.00/linear foot </td> <td align=right>$6.00</td> </tr> <tr> <td>(1) 4' x 3/4" galv. threaded pipe</td> <td>@ $4.32</td> <td align=right>$4.32</td> </tr> <tr> <td>(1) 3/4" galvanized pipe flange</td> <td>@ $3.11</td> <td align=right>$3.11</td> </tr> <tr> <td>(4) 3 1/2" x 5/16" lag bolts</td> <td>@ .50 each</td> <td align=right><u>$2.00</u></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td align=right>Sub-Total</td> <td align=right>$15.43</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td align=right>CA Tax</td> <td align=right><u>1.20</u></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td align=right><b>Total</B></td> <td align=right><B>$ 16.63</B></td> </tr> </table> <h5> Note 1: After building the lift I found the pipe flange from <em>Home Depot</em> is from Taiwan and a little brittle. It cracked after the first few. I suggest trying to find a stronger one at a local hardware store or implement one of the other design modifications mentioned in the emails below. What I did was to bolt an L-bracket to woon on the side of the lever that gets pressure when lifting the bike (pushing down on the lever) and weld the other half of the bracket to the lever (pipe). <p> Note 2: For a Sportster frame you'll need a few more items: A 28" long piece of 2x4; four long nails to secure it to the 4" x 8" and 2 1" eye bolts. <P> Note 3: Read Ray Coyote's email near the bottom as they relate to FXD frames. </h5> <P> You'll need the following tools to assemble your lift: <UL> <LI>Pencil & Ruler <LI>Electric (not battery powered) Drill <LI>1 3/8" Paddle bore drill bit (Will cost about $5 at HomeDepot) <LI>3/16" Wood drill bit<LI>1/2" Socket to tighten lag bolts <LI>Small pipe wrench <li>Hand saw to notch the wood to compensate for the exhaust header on the Sporty that hangs below the frame or <li>A hammer to nail the 2x4 to the 4" x 8" if building this for a Sportster frame. </UL> <P><P> Instructions: <OL> <LI>Locate and mark a point on the 8" wide side of the 4"x8"x3' piece of wood that is 3 1/2 " from end and on the centerline of its length (See <a href="lift2a.gif">Assembly Drawing</a>). <LI>Using the paddle bore drill bit, drill a hole through the 4" thickness of the wood centered at the point marked above. <LI>Place the pipe flange, countersunk, into the hole and mark the four Lag Bolt hole locations on the wood. <LI>To ease screwing in the Lag Bolts, pre-drill each lag bolt hole with the 3/16" bit ensuring you are drilling at a good 20 to 30 degree angle away from the centerline of the hole just bored through the wood. Drilling at this angle eliminates the pointy end of the lag bolt from emerging through the other side of the wood when fastening the flange to the wood. <LI>Re-seat the flange in the 1 3/8" hole, then screw the lag bolts in securely with the socket wrench. <li>Insert the 4' galvanized pipe through the bored hole threading it into the flange and tighten with the pipe wrench. </ol> <p><p> Your done! You may want to paint the pipe red or orange so it stands out and alerting you not to accidently trip on it. Another suggestion is to wrap some duct or electrical tape around the handle end of the same pipe for comfort and maybe, stapling or tacking down some old carpet over the lifting edges of the 4" x 8" will keep the wood from removing paint from your frame each time you lift your beautiful ole scoot. <p> To operate your lift, insert the wood directly under your frame somewhere beneath the engine. Check that you won't be putting pressure on something you shouldn't and insure the ground beneath your bike is level). If you can, with your left hand hold your bike upright leaving the kickstand extended outward. Now push the handle of your new lift rearward and downward. Wah-laa! Your bike is lifted and in an upright position making it easier to work on, clean and to check the oil (smile, Softail owners). <p> <u>Notes for Sportster owners</u>. The Sportster front exhaust header is lower than the frame tubes. Using the lift as designed above would cause the 4"x8" lifting surface to put pressure on the exhaust header. Therefore to lift the Sportster properly you'll need to nail a 1"x4" or 2"x4" to the lifting surface of the 4"x8". It should be cut 28" long and aligned flush with the edge where you drilled the hole for the pipe. Read Robert Kemper email below. <p> Additionally, because the Sportster frame is so narrow, for safety and security you should purchase two 1" eye-bolts. These would be fastened to the lift so you could run a strap through them and over the seat to keep the bike from falling on either side. Both Robert & Dave talk about this in their email below. <p> If you live outside the US or you can't find a 4x8 you might want to read how Bryan Revling, Ray Coyte, or Par Willen from Sweden, assembled their lifts. There comments might be helpful. <P> COMMENT FROM ROBERT KEMPER: <p> <pre> From: <a href="mailto:akemper@esn.net">Robert Kemper</a> Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 00:41:53 -0400 -If you end up buying a 2"X8"X8' to cut in half for the lift because the store doesn't have 4"X8"s, buy 2 1/2" lag screws not 3 1/2". -The 8" isn't 8". So, you may have to add a piece of 1"X4" to the top (then you get to trim that). This is good because you won't have to cut a notch. I used a 1"X4" that went 4" past mid-line (28" on a 4' board). - The pipe is not designed to thread all the way to the bottom of the pipe flange. Fortunately, I asked someone who knew that and I didn't foolishly try to return a "defective" flange to the store. Don't EVEN try to thread it from the bottom up to save from counter sinking the flange. -Only ..rickko.. can build a lift in 15 minutes. Real time including trips to store, borrowing tools from neighbors, etc.- 6 hours. -Eye bolts are a nice addition to tie the bike down, but when you place the lift so that it catches those rail looking sections on the bottom of the chassis, the bike feels solid as a rock! EXCELLENT LIFT! </pre> <p> COMMENT FROM DAVE GARRETSON: <p><pre> From: Dave Garretson Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 18:18:48 EDT Subject: lift improvements Just wanted to send a few improvements to you that I had made to your lift that you have posted on the net. If you are building this lift for a Sportster recommend the following improvements: 1) use a 4' long 4" x 8" and put two eye bolts in the wood about 3" from each end so that they face the ceiling when the bike is on the lift. Now when you put the bike up, take off your seat and use two nylon pull type tie downs to secure the bike frame under the seating area to the lift at the eye bolts. Straddle the bike and pull them tight simultaneously and viola the bike WILL be stable no more worry about the narrow sporty frame and the bike's stability while up on the lift. 2) When drilling through the wood to install the pipe and flange, use two different size bits so that the wood lends some support to the pipe and the flange doesn't take all of the weight. I did this and used the same flange you did; however, my pipe flange has yet to break or crack. </pre> <p> COMMENT FROM TERRY BAYNE <p><pre> From: <a href="mailto:gnome@advicom.net">Terry Bayne</a> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 07:48:21 -0800 Saw the posts about ..rickko's.. lift and thought I would mention the mods I made. First gotta say thanks to ..rickko..! I built one about a year ago and use it at least twice a month, if not more often. When I built mine, I had seen the posts about the flange cracking....so I spent a few minutes looking at things before I did the drilling....... What I ended up doing was two things.....first I drilled the hole in the lift to be the same size as the outside diameter of the pipe - tight enough that it had to be tapped into place. Then I countersunk the flange on the other side (drilling out the existing hole just enough to allow the flange to fit.) This arrangement allows the pipe and the wood of the lift to take most of the stress, not the flange. </pre> <p> COMMENT FROM BRYAN REVLING (Bagger application) <p><pre> From: <a href="mailto:revdog@iname.com">Bryan Revling</a> Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 First a big Thanks to ..rickko.. for inventing this thing and sharing it. Made a couple of changes to the original plan / instructions. I Couldn't find 4"x8"x anything anywhere so I cut a 2"x8"x8' in half and screwed the 4' pieces together with a hand full of #10x 2 1/2" wood screws. Next, (1) drilled a 1/4" pilot hole where the pipe is going to go (happened to have a very long 1/4" drill bit). Made drilling the counter sink hole and main hole easier and makes sure they line up (drilled em from opposite sides). (2) Took Dave Garretson & Terry Bayne's suggestion and made the main hole the same as the O.D. of the pipe. BTW a 1" paddle bit did the trick. (3) Put a cap on the handle end of the pipe (gives it a finished look) and tapped it thru with a rubber mallet. (4) Covered the side the bike rests on with runner carpet. Though three feet long would probably be ok, with the bags to clear I like having the extra foot. Took about an hour to build and around $25 at Menards (less tools). Putting the bike on the stand feels much like putting a bike on a center stand except you have way more leverage. If your a lefty like me it will probably feel more natural, you're still using your right arm to lift but since you have so much more leverage it less of an issue. Bang for the buck! The satisfaction of doing it yourself and it just fuckin' WORKS. Couldn't recommend it more. Thanks again ..rickko.., Dave, and Terry. Bryan Revling aka RevDog </PRE> <P> COMMENT FROM DANIEL PITTINGER: <p><pre> From: <a href="mailto:djp2580@ircc.net">Daniel J. Pittinger</a> Date: Sun, 05 Dec 1999 11:56:50 -0500 Subject: Motorcycle lift construction alternative Being from central PA I know what a 4 X 8 is. Having lived in FL almost 10 years, they still look at me like I'm from Mars when I ask for such a thing. What carpenters do when they make headers (lintels) for doors and windows is what I did. A 2 X 4 is really 1 1/2 X 3 1/2 and the walls are, therefore, 3 1/2" thick. Two pcs. of 2 X 8 would only be 3" thick (1 1/2 + 1 1/2) so I used a piece of 1/2" plywood between my 2 pcs. of 2 X 8. This gave me 3 1/2" thickness instead of 3" and also greater strength. I used wood glue on both sides of the 1/2" plywood which was cut to about 7 3/8" X 36", and screwed the whole mess together with 3" long trumpet-head screws (like they use on pressure- treated decks) from both sides through the 2 X 8 pieces. I drilled a pilot hole for the pipe and being CHEAP and already having a 1 1/4" wood bit used it to countersink the flange. This took some "wallowing" as it really is undersized for what I was doing. The 1 3/8" bit you recommend would be easier but the fit would not be quite as tight. From the other side I drilled with a 1" wood bit for the pipe handle. This was tight but that's what round files and liquid soap are for. I did not lag screw the flange but drilled through and bolted it on (and in) with 4" long hex head bolts, 5/16" diameter. Had to ream the flange holes a tad. Just use a 5/16" drill bit. Used the 1" wood bit to counterbore where the bolts would come through, and put flat washers and then lock washers on the bolts in the shallow counterbore holes, then put the nuts on and tightened it down. Using 4 1/2" long bolts would have eliminated the counterboring but I did not have bolts that long (and was tired of running after more stuff!). Next I ran a 5" long 3/4" galvanived pipe nipple with a coupling on its other end through the wood and tightened it really tight into the flange with a pipe wrench. Why? Well, I screw the 4' long handle into the coupling, but not as tight as the coupling is on the nipple or the nipple is into the flange, and can remove the handle after use for easier storage and so (being a clumsy ass) I don't trip over it when the bike is up on the lift. Also, this way I don't loosen the tight pipe nipple to wood fit by disturbing that by unscrewing and screwing on the pipe where it goes throught the wood into the flange. Screwed on the Sportster shim and put a piece of old carpet over it and secured the carpet with 4 roofing nails in each corner of the carpet which is folded down over the shim onto the front and rear faces of the 2 X 8's. No sense having steel nail heads where they might contact the frame which would negate the reason for the carpet in the first place. Roofing nails have big heads to hold the carpet better. That's it! ===== </PRE> <P> COMMENT FROM PAR WILLEN: <p><pre> Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2000 15:14:13 +0200 From: <a href="mailto:pwillen@swipnet.se">Par Willen</a> Subject: The wooden bikelift... Hello Rick, Sweden calling. I built the bikelift a while back and have literally used it every day the bike's been in the garage since then. I had most of the stuff lying around so the total cost of the project came out to a whopping 8 dollars. I made one change to your design that came to be simply because I had a couple of pieces of 4x4 lying around instead of the 8x4 in the text. Which turned out a boon. I laid them out together so they made for the 8x4 piece, drilled and bolted them together with four pretty large wood screws (we call them "french wood screws" over here. Serious units, they come in all sizes from OK to humongous and take a regular hex socket wrench to screw in). What's the big deal? Well, if you drill the hole for the pipe right where the two 4x4s meet, you won't need any threaded flange or anything. The bolts will hold the wood together with no cracking, breaking, or any need for a flange. When I lift, I am more concerned about the pipe bending than the wood breaking. "Used it every day"? Yes, I have a lowered FXR and the height of the lift when on its' side, so to speak, plus the carpet I tacked on there for frame protection makes for a perfect centerstand when in the shop without having to lift the bike. I roll the bike into the small shop I have, kick the lift in under the bike which keeps it upright and is a major space saver for any garage. Thanks again PiPPi </pre> <P> COMMENT FROM GREG ELLISON <p><pre> Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 01:30:59 EST From: <a href="mailto:Profusitive@cs.com">Greg Ellison</a> Subject: The ..rickko.. lift Hi Rick, Thanks for your website for the bike lift plan. That was most helpful. I read it all carefully including the modifications others did too. I built one last weekend incorporating my own mods. It only cost me about $20 bucks and a half day of assembly and painting. I modified mine so I too can remove the handle for easy storage. Here is how I did it. I laminated 3 boards together; two 2x8's with a 1/2" ply between. Then I put a 5-inch piece of 3/4" pipe inside the hole and screwed it into the floor flange that I countersank into the boards. I then screwed a nipple onto the other end, then the handle into it so it is removeable. I spray painted the whole mess black and put a nice taped handle grip on. Then I stapled our old porch mat to where it lifts the bike frame for the finishing touch. What a great idea! I'm sure it will come in handy lots of times. The lift works great; gets my back wheel off the ground. Now I can get under my fender easier to rewire and relocate my turn signals. The G-man </pre> <p> COMMENT FROM RAY COYTE <p><pre> Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 04:34:06 -0600 From: <a href="mailto:ray.coyte@gb.unisys.com">Ray Coyte</a> Subject: RICKKO LIFT Rickko, Excellent lift - it works - its simple - its crude - and its cheap (just like me). Note for Dyna users..... The dimensions of this lift will raise the rear of an unmodified FXD so that the rear wheel is 2 inches clear of the floor. FXD users will need to position the lift snug up against the rear wheel before they start to press down on the handle. I recommend that a 2" notch is cut out from the wood where it touches the wheel. This will move the lift slightly further rearward and will ensure that the bikes weight does not rest on either the sidestand rubber bumber and damage it - or rest on the tranny sump. Finally, in the UK I struggled to find 4x8 timber so I used a two 4x4 fence posts and bolted them together. Equally I couldn't find a suitable pipe so I used a scaffolding pole with a flattened end. The flattened end was clamped between the two pieces of 4x4. Well done Rickko </pre> <p> COMMENT FROM JASON NEWBY <p><pre> Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:19:51 -0700 From: <a href="mailto:<jenewby@bresnan.net>">Jason Newby</a> Subject: Bike Lift Thanks for sharing your plans. This works so slick on my 05' 883L. Instead of a 4' X 3/4" pipe handle, I used a 3' X 1 1/4" pipe for the handle (mostly because that is the size of flange I found). I then added a 90 degree elbow connector and another 2' x 1 1/4" pipe to the handle. I connected the 2' piece to the 3' piece using the 90 degree elbow. The handle now resembles a capital L , with the long part being threaded into the pipe flange on the 4x8, and the short part pointing forward parallel to the bike when the lift is lowered, and then pointing up when the lift is raised. This enables me to straddle the bike while raising and lowering it. Handle position before lifting bike: ---O | <<<<<<<< front of bike | | | 4x8 Handle position after lifting bike: | <<<<<<<< front of bike 4 | x -------O 8 The short part really makes it easier/safer to grasp the handle and lower the bike. It added a little more expense, but well worth the reduction in the "Oh Crap!" factor when using the lift. Thanks again. Jason </pre> <p> Email your related comments, questions, or improvements to: <a href="mailto:rick@bikeXrider.com">rick@bikeXrider.com (Remove "X")</a> or to any of the above contributors as applicable. <P> </blockquote> </body>