The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
General Category => Totally Off-Topic Discussions, Rants, Tire & Oil Threads, Etc. => Topic started by: Tony Smith on January 25, 2019, 03:18:36 AM
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I've just turned 61, that makes me younger than some here, but I suspect, older than most.
The biggest impediment I have to my chosen recreation of motorcycling is increasing difficulty in doing maintenance and mechanical work, I simply find it too hard to get down on the ground and work on my bikes. Well actually the work isn't too bad, it is the getting down and getting up part that is getting harder.
So, I decided to shout myself a late Christmas and birthday present.
See below.
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WELL DONE! You're just in luck that I can't get there to use it!
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It will be good to see how it works. I too have a lift but it is different to yours.
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It will be good to see how it works. I too have a lift but it is different to yours.
I have to be elsewhere today, so putting a bike on it has to wait till tomorrow. While I am out I'll buy a pair of deadeyes and bolt them to the floor of the table - the lack of somewhere to tie a bike down is a glaring fail - I trust those silly wheel clamp thingys as far as I could throw them.
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Well actually the work isn't too bad, it is the getting down and getting up part that is getting harder
Yep Tony, I used to get up using the muscles in one leg. Now it's two legs while I steady myself on something that hopefully won't move! In your 60's you lose a "step" every year, in your 70's, seems like it has accelerated to 2 steps every year. ;D
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For the same reason but being Frugal (cheap) I built a table out of 2x6 lumber. 2' x 8' x 16" off the floor. It works good but awkward to use.
I'll probably get a lift in the future. Let us know how you like it. Who makes it? You guys that have a lift, what kind and would you recommend it?
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Tony- looks great, and with no foot pump!
A lift is one of the best investments I've ever made, I just wish I had room for an automotive lift! I have the manually operated Harbor Freight lift, it's great.
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Justin, it does actually have a foot pump. I haven't had time to remove the leaks and get the air part working yet.
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So, it's either manual or air? Cool! Us old farts need maintenance "aids" like this... :P
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Justin, its clever/cheap. I couldn't work out initially how they could supply a dual air/manual pump for the price, my searches elsewhere suggested that true air over oil rams expanded the price out to well over $AU1000, so I did wonder how they could supply one to me at $AU800 delivered to depot.
It's typical clever Chinese thinking - the foot pump and the air side share a common reservoir and apply pressure to the ram via the same port.
The air side seems to me to be nothing more than a small air driven piston engine with an eccentric on the end of the crank that operates the foot pump. Neat idea and dirt cheap to implement and means that the ram only has to have one pump acting on it.
I haven't had a chance to look at the air operation in detail - it didn't work the only time I tried it, but I suspect that was due to excessive air leaks as all the mounting bolts and air line connections are very very loose.
The good thing is that even if I do have to have another air motor mechanism sent to me, the table is perfectly usable without it.
To answer others questions. The table is manufactured in China (what isn't these days) and sold to me by a Australian company specialising in vehicle hoists and materials handling lifts. You can find them at www.happ.com.au The good thing about being manufactured in China is that if you search hard enough you may find the OEM and be able to import direct, or you will find a company in your jurisdiction that is already doing so.
For the record I have an MC-30, I figured that an MC-25 would do everything I needed but HAPP pointed out that they had an MC-30 in a warehouse closer to me and with a lower freight cost and that the MC-30 has the desirable feature of a removable panel so that if you want to take out the rear wheel you do not have to pull the bike rearwards so that the rear wheel overhangs the end of the table. After they applied a generous discount the the price for delivery to their carrier's local freight depot the difference in the price of the two tables was $AU20, bigger is always better - right...
So what did I get?
MC-30 lift table
Accessory frame lift that sits on the table and has two "pads" that go under your frame and apply life - I honestly don't know what I will (or if I ever will) use this for but the guy who shared his quote with me ordered one so I followed suit before I remembered that he owns a number of Harleys and that a frame lift is the preferred way of working on them to change belts or chains.
Anyway, the all up price to depot was $AU800, I picked it up in my trailer and a friend helped me get the box off the trailer and under my house.
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I look forward to seeing pictures of it in use.
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Good to hear Tony. I shall be in the market for one very soon as I am in the process of putting a 6 x 4m workshop/shed out the back. And they are only ten minutes from home. 8-)
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Hi chaps - I thought I might share my lifting table with you all - bought it from Super Cheap Auto here in Oz. Cost about $750 - foot pumping type.
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The absolute best tool I have ever bought in my entire life. I bought it at the start of the re - assembly of the bike - my old body has loved every minute of it's use.
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If you can afford one I highly recommend it - servicing and cleaning is going to be a doddle from now on.
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These are earlier photos - the bike is almost finished now. Just the hot Aussie weather has delayed the final push to the finish.
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There is a tail plate for the rear & the rear slotted plate below the rear wheel lifts out to facilitate rear wheel removal.
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Adrian, did you add the tie-down loops yourself?
I cannot bring myself to trust the front wheel clamp and have bought 6 eyebolts which I will be adding to my lift.
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Hi Tony - those tie down loops came with it - I use all 4 to make sure it doesn't move around.
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I have them tightened so that neither tyre is touching So I don't have a potential pressure spot. I know it's not likely but I like to be cautious.
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I have the same as Adrian. What i have found difficult is getting the bike on the center stand so i ended up using an electric jack to jack it up and push it down by hand, but it was my BSA B50 not the R65.
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Hi Skippy - I did the same with mine once the motor was in the frame - I used a car scissor jack to lift it slightly - it's how I will get the thing off the stand this time too. The straps will sto it falling over even if they are loosened off.
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And that day is almost upon me ;) ;D