Loading your bike onto a lift

[Frulk_imp]

Very nicely done!

[GaryMNM_imp]

I don't have the H-F Lift but I do experience the similar uneasy feeling. My Direct Lift actually has heavy duty, good quality removable sides, very space consuming, very heavy. They are great when in place while riding up, easing down and providing that additional work surface for tools, etc.

Due to space I usually have them removed. My quick remedy is to use a couple car ramps along the sides which provide you the stepping ramps needed as you ride up and down and for at least the length of the ramps once you're up and for dismount/mount. I already had these on hand so no additional out of pocket expense.

Similar to these:


I also keep a square block of 2x4 up on the lift to plug under the side stand to prop up while positioning in the chock, tying down etc. The key thing there is to have your tie down straps, in their eyelets ready to secure.

My other two bikes are much heavier and offer up an even higher level of uneasiness. So far so good, no incidents and no spotters for several years.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Quail, prob not telling you anything you don't know but on the web there's a whole cottage industry that's sprung up surrounding the HB Lift. All kinds of home made mods to make it more user friendly and safe. I ride and push bikes on the lift fairly frequently with no issue and have no problem staying in contact with the lift when riding a bike on it. For me the bigger issue is I'd like the see the platform a little wider for dismounting. How tall are you? That could be part of it. There's no getting around the fact that at close to 550 pounds getting the CB up on a lift is somewhat of a hazardous proposition either way. That being the case it's best to have your mother in law do it if that's an option. If not then try one of the mods.

It's bad enough when a bike falls over at ground level. It's much worse if it falls from an elevated stand. If I am understanding the OP, he is concerned because there is a brief moment in time where, if something went awry, he and the bike would topple some distance. That "uneasiness" is your brain telling you something.

I take it the main reason for wanting the bike up high is to avoid bending the back and knees, and I for sure get that. Old injuries, stuff just hurts where it didn't used to hurt. I'm a small critter and use two race stands on all my bikes for maintenance. I crawl around on the garage floor but it works out all right and seems to help keep me in shape.

I dropped a bike a year ago, the first time in over thirty years, putting it on the mainstand. I got in a little bit of a hurry, figured I'd done it lotsa times, no problem.

Big problem, two grand worth of damage to my car. Bike came out of it fine, though.

When we get to be sixtiesh things just don't work quite the same, even our minds are not as sharp as when we were young; we gotta be sharp enough to find a better way to do stuff with less risk.

Get those spotters or assist ramps, says I.

[gmike_imp]

GaryMNM, that is perfect, even with the sideboards there was just a moment when my legs were in the air. Using your car ramp idea adds a whole lot of safety and confidence. Thank you very much.

ULvetanna, I hear you. I have to think things like this over carefully. For me with 72 years on the clock things can get out of shape quicker than they used to. Also bikes are heavier, a lot heavier than they used to be. In fact the 1st time I attempted to put the bike on the stand I put a helmet on, to many things to fall into.

Mike

[quail_imp]

I have learn one easy trick when loading the bike on the lift. My concrete garage floor was power troweled to a shining slick surface. Easy to clean but just as easy to watch your lift go forward as you attempt to drive on. I cut a strip of carpet about 8 foot long 12 inches wide, and put 3 foot of it on the lift and drive up the carpet strip. Set the center stand and roll up the carpet strip. As you can guess the front wheel has to keep rolling forward on the carpet and can not stop turning and push the lift. I never work on the bare floor anymore. Carpet stores toss huge new scraps out into their dumpsters everyday.

I prefer a nice close knit Berber carpet. That 2 inch florescent shag reminds me of my 59 VW bug headliner. I get lost in the memories and then nothing else gets done.

[Guth_imp]

I've never thought about riding my bikes up on to the lift. If I were to do so, I"m sure that I would have visions of Evel Knievel running through my mind — you know how he would ride up to the very top of the ramp and then stop to look down over whatever he was going to be jumping over.

Of course in my case, I'd be staring at a bunch of oil containers, cans of chain lube, and assorted bike parts on the shelves lining the garage wall. Not quite such a glamorous image as a bunch of cars or the fountains at Caesers Palace, but then I usually manage to survive my wrenching episodes without breaking half of the bones in my body, so it's a good trade-off.

In all seriousness, I've only ever pushed the bike up on to the lift. I simply walk alongside the bike and get up enough speed to easily coast up the little ramp onto the lift table itself. Then I roll it right into the wheel vise. I think the key for me is having the wheel vise. While my lift isn't from Harbor Freight, I believe that some HF units come with a vice. If not, you can purchase them separately and install them yourself. I leave the vise open just enough to easily fit the width of the front tire. Once I've rolled the bike into the vise, I can easily balance it with one hand while I tighten the vise up with the other hand. This has worked out well for me.