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Out with the old, in with the new (lift)


JZH

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Well, about sixteen years after I bought it, I'm selling my bike lift.  I put it on eBay on Sunday and I've already got a bid over the minimum price (and dozens of "watchers"), so I expect it will sell.  It's been so long since I bought it I don't remember how much I paid for it, but all I care about is that it (a) is out of my way, and (b) allows me to buy an ABBA Sky Lift to replace it.  Yes, it has served me well, and supported many of my bikes at one time or another, but it's just too big to allow me to function in my garage, now that I've stuffed it with assorted power tools and machinery.  

 

I still remember the day I brought her home...

 

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Well, okay, I don't remember much about that day--but I do have photos!

 

Here's her first triumphant lift:

 

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My venerable RC36 has spent half her life on that lift (in various stages of undress)...

 

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But she's also lifted everything from my RS250...

 

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...to my ST1300--oof!

 

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But as I say, it's time to move on, and to make room for one of these:

 

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(No, not a VTEC.)

 

The ABBA Sky Lift will be a great, space-saving help with my maintenance and modification tasks, and will save me a lot of space in my tiny garage as well.  I will let you know when I finally get one and start using it (for lifting my project RC36, naturally).

 

So long, old friend!

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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...And with all that extra space, you'll have room for more bikes. I don't suppose you considered a bigger garage.  🙂

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"More bikes?  That's a good, that's a good idea.  I like that one..."

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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This one is for sale....  I make u special price!!!

 

 

 

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"for old times' sake"

50,000km, so this one did not go BOOM when new.....

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I can think of so many reasons why that smaller stand would be useful for most people. 

 

I can also not comprehend getting rid of my lift table. So much so that I've done the opposite... I bought a second!

 

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I just poured the foundation for a new 20'x22' shop, should be ready for move in in about 5 or 6 weeks. Was definitely thinking of getting a lift, any brand/model recommendations?

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The Skylift is pretty cool, but just not versatile enough if you have more than one bike.

 

I have the HF lift, and it works okay for the price: about $200 some years ago. But I would be looking at a lift that

has air operated hydraulic lift if I had the money. Just depends on how much money you want to spend. They all do

the same thing, some are a little more stable than others.

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6 hours ago, vfrcapn said:

I just poured the foundation for a new 20'x22' shop, should be ready for move in in about 5 or 6 weeks. Was definitely thinking of getting a lift, any brand/model recommendations?

 

Mine are air over hydraulic and run ~$950 with delivery, or more if you decide to get the side extensions. If you think you might use the sides, then bundle them when you buy the lift as they're a lot cheaper that way. The lift comes with the wheel vise and the extremely handy jack.

 

I bought both of mine from TCML. But since you're on the west coast you might get better service from Aplus.  https://www.apluslift.com/

 

I bought my first one around 2005-06, second one last year. Both were shipped to business addresses - key to saving $ on freight. 

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20 hours ago, FJ12Ryder said:

The Skylift is pretty cool, but just not versatile enough if you have more than one bike.

 

I have the HF lift, and it works okay for the price: about $200 some years ago. But I would be looking at a lift that

has air operated hydraulic lift if I had the money. Just depends on how much money you want to spend. They all do

the same thing, some are a little more stable than others.

Not true, I’ve bought my Skylift with the kit that fits over 300 different bikes. I’ve used it on both my VFRs (01&09), my 95 Ducati 900SS, a CBR1000 and modern era Ducati. All told I paid about the same price I would have if I bought the Kendal Lift that folds up vertically. Something that I was considering at one time.

 

Being that space is at a premium and not having the ability to keep my car parked in guest spots overnight (HOA rules require home owners to use the garage or car ports), I needed the ability to keep the bike on the stand and move it out of the way in the event I cannot finish my project in one day. Or in the case of a recent project, which took several weekends to complete, the Skylift has been the saving grace for me.

 

In all honesty, if I had the room, I’d probably have one of each type of stand, as there are some benefits with both.

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I bought a sky lift a few months back. It's a fantastic bit of kit and as previously stated allows you to move the bike around the garage to free up space. I got mine direct from abba as an ex display/demo unit but it's as good as new.IMG_20190419_182313.jpg

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

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Alas, if I had a "normal" garage I would not have sold the lift at all, but I only have a long, narrow 1-car garage/workshop, so every square inch counts.  The main problem is that I cannot get my other bikes out of the side door with the lift in place.  It has to be turned onto its side (and obviously, any bike on it has to come off it!)

 

I've also had an Abba stand for years, with various bobbins to fit all of my bikes (except the SXV--the rear brake blocks access to the swing arm bolt, so I will have to make an adapter of some sort), so I probably won't even need any more fitting kits.  

 

That said, I will miss the old girl.  The auction closed last night.

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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I'm probably not the right person to ask, but if I ever got a big garage I would not hesitate to buy another one.  But I wouldn't buy a cheapo lift.  Good ones are expensive...

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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A lot depends on how often you plan to use the lift. There's not a lot of sense in spending $800-$1000 for a lift you'll use

a couple times a year. For occasional usage a "cheapo lift" will do the job just fine. I still have my cheapo lift from HF and

it still works just fine, and lifts everything from my VFR to my step-son's Street Glide. It cost me less than $250, and I can

buy necessary stuff like beer and gas with the money I saved. :beer:

 

Having an air-over-hydraulic would be the best reason to upgrade IMO.

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