My homemade cycle lift table

[chuck hahn]

Doing oil with it all the way up beats the hell out of cement crawling any day. Doing gaskets on the covers or removing them for polishing..no stooping over and stiff back or knees hurting from the floor.

Obviously your a younger fella...give it a few years and youll see why we have them.

I guess its just me but I really can't figure out why you would need one of these. Its seems like it would be too high to really get access to most of the bike.

[Arronduke]

Here is a picture of one I built.
Works great very pleased.

[chuck hahn]

When I can afford it, I will either price out the steel and build a better one or buy a Harbor Freight one. Ive used the Harbor Freight one before and I like it.

[1980GS1000E]

Good job. You saved some coin.

[chuck hahn]

At 3 Ft wide, the bike will be more at the center line of the table and will have ample area to the side to let it on the side stand. Had mine been 3 FT wide I wouldn't have had to make the side stand extention platform.

And yes a standard 8 ft is easy to work with.

[GSJim]

Go the 8 ft...youll see why when you get a bike up on 7 FT. Youll like the extra Ft for having a bit more stopping room when rolling it up. 7 FT is a tad short...least in my opinion.

Eight feet does work with standard lumber and plywood sizes, and I wouldn't have to do as much cutting. I like making my life easier! Would you suggest going wider than 2 ft? I used a couple of 2 foot wide tables at school and didn't have a lot of trouble getting bikes on as long as there was a decent chock at the front and extra hands nearby just in case. Without the chock things could get dicey.

Jim

[chuck hahn]

Go the 8 ft...youll see why when you get a bike up on 7 FT. Youll like the extra Ft for having a bit more stopping room when rolling it up. 7 FT is a tad short...least in my opinion.

[GSJim]

Two feet wide and around 7 feet long seems pretty common for commercial lifts. I was thinking about doing a 2x7 table with folding legs for my garage.

Jim

[chuck hahn]

Since one sheet of the plywood was already ripped in half, I went with the 2 FT wide..but yes I agree that 3 FT would have been much better. Because of the 2FT width I had to make the stand extention which sticks out 10 inches farther than the side 2X6.

Had it been 3 FT wide it would have been a slam dunk s far as roll on, drop side stand, then raise to center stand. I always strap the bike on before attempting any lifting.

[Gorminrider]

Now ,I consider minimal width ~36"(= me straddling bike onto lift, able to deploy kickstand.) This is also enough to "stay" the bike against tipping. Stays would be best as solid struts but tie-downs will work.

length 72" (=roughly bike wheelbase +enough to roll back onto centerstand)

originally tried was ~12" width + a small platform for sidestand but the only pictures anybody will see of this attempt will be taken by ambulance attendants....

[posplayr]

Aye! There's the rub!
I note that chuck "lashed" his bike to the bench
The width of the bench is important for this reason, and ,the ability to deploy the kickstand before setting on the Centrestand. (two mistakes I ran straight into, trying for a narrower, "beam-only",lifting-ramp idea...)

What is your recommended platform dimension?

Chuck what are yours? How far does your extension stick out?

[Gorminrider]

... but I never felt confident lifting the table with the bike on it.....

Aye! There's the rub!
I note that chuck "lashed" his bike to the bench
The width of the bench is important for this reason, and ,the ability to deploy the kickstand before setting on the Centrestand. (two mistakes I ran straight into, trying for a narrower, "beam-only",lifting-ramp idea...)

[posplayr]

The table looks good to me. I had one I put together with some scrap shelves I got from work, but I never felt confident lifting the table with the bike on it. I ended up making a gardening bench for my wife out of it. I get the possible issues with the 2x4 struts possibly splitting, but that would be easily managed by getting a few feet of slotted angle. Put two pieces about 6" long on the narrow sides of the 2x4, straddling the pivot points. Drill through the 2x4 and use a couple of carriage bolts on either side of the pivot points to prevent splitting. Four feet of slotted angle and eight carriage bolts would eliminate that potential problem.

Yes the biggest issue is conceptual

[jpaul]

The table looks good to me. I had one I put together with some scrap shelves I got from work, but I never felt confident lifting the table with the bike on it. I ended up making a gardening bench for my wife out of it. I get the possible issues with the 2x4 struts possibly splitting, but that would be easily managed by getting a few feet of slotted angle. Put two pieces about 6" long on the narrow sides of the 2x4, straddling the pivot points. Drill through the 2x4 and use a couple of carriage bolts on either side of the pivot points to prevent splitting. Four feet of slotted angle and eight carriage bolts would eliminate that potential problem.