You know that moment when.....

[Itsme]

.....you realise it's all about to go wrong!

I had a busy day yesterday; I went for a walk around a local country park, then visited my son before coming home to play with Hilary's 4 year old grandaughter (who is one of those children who is like a spider - moves fast and you never know where she is) and then going with Hilary to collect her new (to her) Citroen Berlingo,

When I got back I decided to fir the new headlight I bought as part of the Mighty Midget's re-fit. To fit the new headlight brackets I had to remove the old ones which on a GN250 means removing the fork tubes to get the brackets off. I could have cut through them but decided to remove them in one piece as they might come in handy one day.

I only have one of those scissor type table lifts that go under the engine and on the GN the pipes run under the engine making for an uneven lift surface. I was rushing and tired from my busy day and I bet you know what is coming next. Yep, it fell off the lift and ended up on its side on the garage floor. Luckily I had the tank off and the battery is a gel type so as the Mighty Midget is fairly minimal no real harm was done, but it taught me a lesson. In future I shall wait until I am in less of a rush before starting a job!

Ian

[Moto63]

Unlucky but lucky Ian by the sounds of it. It reminded me of the time a mate of mine “strapped” his Honda blackbird into his 6ft gardening trailer to take to the local Honda dealership for whatever reason (which I forget) the first roundabout he came to the bike exited said trailer and ended up sliding down the road. Moral of the story is, like you say. Take the time to make sure it’s correctly in place, wether it be in the garage or on the back of a trailer.
Glad that there was no real harm done to the MM. Unlike my mates blackbird 🤦
Cheers, Michael

[iansoady]

I use one of those lifts (which is incredibly useful) and am always very aware of this possibility as seen from the number of straps I'm using. The Grumph is sitting on the engine plates which are only a few inches apart.

The other potential problem is that it can be a bit tippy fore and aft especially with one wheel removed. I'm tempted by a proper ramp type but (a) they're far too expensive and (b) they take up a lot of floor space. Yes you can park a bike on one but I'd then end up shuffling everything around.

[themoudie]

MMMM! Morning Ian, Michael and Ian,

Not a stammer, just pondering, whilst a blue sun tries to shine through the stratospheric water vapours of Agnes!

I thought about a workbench, but decided on a "EazyRizer" that I use for wheel changes and other major servicing.

Link: EazyRizer_RED_bikelift

It's no cheap! Price has risen a wack since purchasing mine12 to 15 years ago, when first coming onto the market; but I use it on both the twin shock and monoshock SRX's, the Honda Bros and the Ducati single. I usually stand the bike in a cheap M&P wheel chock (was £30) and then assemble the lift around the bike, afore lifting the bike out of the chock. Taking the bike off the lift involves reversing the process. So far, with 280 - 400lb (125 - 180Kg) bikes, there have been no stability problems and when fitting wheels the height can be adjusted so that everything aligns afore sliding the axles into place, along with all those brake parts that usually bind or fall on the floor because you don't have that 4th hand!  The only hiccup is that when lowering the bike, sometimes the arm drops a couple of mm, rather than lowering, due to the gap in the thread of the lift spindle and a bit of stiction on the support pillar.

The notion of hanging it on the wall, as suggested, is just that, as I have no wall space in the workshop, so it just gets slid to the side, with the feet/arm lowered, under a bench, chair or bike.

Good health, Bill

[Ian]

Ian (Itsme) sorry to hear of your experience and glad that not too much damage occurred. I too have the same lift as Bill. And yes I'm very wary of using it. It hasn't let me down as yet but I still do an "iansoady" and attach as many straps as I can to double up the factor of safety.
Btw, the SRX has an asymmetric frame which requires extra care and sometimes the odd wedge or two when lifting, if I'm not using the lift's footrest setup.

[Steve H]

Btw, the SRX has an asymmetric frame which requires extra care and sometimes the odd wedge or two when lifting, if I'm not using the lift's footrest setup.

I built a frame which bolts to the footrest mounts and the front engine mounts which then gives a flat surface to lift on. Bit of a faff to fit but once on very stable

[Itsme]

Thank you for all of your suggestions and good wishes gentlemen. I've only myself to blame and no real harm was done so now I am able to chuckle at my own stupidity.

Ian

[Ian]

Btw, the SRX has an asymmetric frame which requires extra care and sometimes the odd wedge or two when lifting, if I'm not using the lift's footrest setup.

I built a frame which bolts to the footrest mounts and the front engine mounts which then gives a flat surface to lift on. Bit of a faff to fit but once on very stable

.

You'll have to email me details Steve....🙄

[Steve H]

Btw, the SRX has an asymmetric frame which requires extra care and sometimes the odd wedge or two when lifting, if I'm not using the lift's footrest setup.

I built a frame which bolts to the footrest mounts and the front engine mounts which then gives a flat surface to lift on. Bit of a faff to fit but once on very stable

.

You'll have to email me details Steve....🙄

I'll have a look to see if I can find it

[iansoady]

I made a frame out of wood to lift my Guzzi V50 using my bike lift. It had to support the sump then pick up on the frame rails while missing various dangly bits......

I'm a great fan of wood which is a good job as I seem to have tone of the stuff.