supporting the front end

i have a few things i want to do that include getting the front wheel off the ground and removing it..(polishing work, springs and oil,front fender replacement)..does anyone know of a front lift that works under the bottom of the triple tree and would allow me wheel removal while it s up?..anything from the roof of garage is out as it is way high and finished. dont want incur the wife's wrath..i can get an engine hoist and straps and i have a rear
stand, but i think there might be a better way...
this is a resourcefull bunch on here...i m open to ideas.....thanks in advance....keith

With rear end lifted and being firmly held
in place, may use a standard floor jack or
bottle jack to lift the front end whereby entire
bike is up off the floor.

My method is to bore a shallow hole in a short
piece of 2x4 to fit snugly around the oil
filter bolt. Then jack up against the 2x4
which is held in place by the hole fitment.
It is very stable and may be left like that
for as long as desired.

Having the bike entirely up off the floor allows
easily removing both wheels simultaneously
for tire changes, or other work.

Caution -- whenever front of bike is lifted
with front wheel removed, be sure to supplement
the floor or bottle jack with a stationary
back-up support to avoid having the bike's
front end collapse and fall to the floor
in event the jack should lose pressure.

There are of course several different readily available
commercial brands of front end stands that extend from
the garage floor to underneath the triple tree, whereby
the front end may be lifted and held suspended.

Good Luck!

if you pull your header off aquire 3 of those plastic milk crates .put 2 side by side and on directly centered behind them with some old towels or rugs on top to protect paint on frame.get a couple friends to help you set bike on top with motor sitting on top of front 2 crates and rear crate under trans now you can pull anything off the bike you want including both wheels and suspension.ive assembled lots of bikes this way over the years

From the cheap seats.a sissor jack under the frame in front of the r/h rider peg will lift the ft wheel far enough to allow it's removal w/bike on its side stand. once ft wheel and fender are removed, it also allows forks to be removed. it's 3 point stand is equal to it's typical repose when parked. beware of hydrolic jacks which may leak down, or brace accordingly.G

gane wrote:

From the cheap seats.a sissor jack under the frame in front of the r/h rider peg will lift the ft wheel far enough to allow it's removal w/bike on its side stand. once ft wheel and fender are removed, it also allows forks to be removed. it's 3 point stand is equal to it's typical repose when parked. beware of hydrolic jacks which may leak down, or brace accordingly.G

Yes -- and same for lifting rear wheel off the ground by jacking up right rear of bike when bike is on sidestand.

Of course everything's slanted, so it's sort of like working in a Fun-House. :laugh:

I had 3 sand bags laying around from last winter. I just set my bike up on the center stand and place enough bags on the back end to raise the front off the ground. Works great.

Can you tell I don't have any jacks? Was the best thing I could think of at the time. :laugh:

All I do is place a jack on each side of the bike, more back towards the rear swing arm axle bolt.

NOTE: If your only removing the rim/tire, you only need to raise a couple of inches... and the above mentioned is not required.

If removing the entire front end...
Then I loosen/remove the neck bolt, handle bars with controls/cabling anything that is going to prevent the front end raise (removing the top triple tree and forks etc...).

Then with a floor jack under middle engine I raise it up no more than a foot or so and the front drops and swings out towards the front real nicely.

If you have a third jack, then support under the motor as well for a 3 point support system while you work on your project.

OMR

If you have engine guards, I've jacked the front up using a car jack and a block of wood with someone helping balance the bike, then use bricks with a board on top (to minimize scratches) under each engine guard to support the bike.

After my accident I had to remove my front end for repairs and it had to stay that way for a couple months. I put the bike on the center stand and jacked up under frame with a floor jack but did not trust leaving it. I have an A frame ladder so I straddled the front end with it and then used tie downs to let bike hank from the ladder. It worked great.

a couple bits of wood and 2 excellent British post office boxes:silly:

thanks for the ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best and fastest way I found to get your bike up in the air pronto...

While working on the bike, I call my wife over inform and inform her butt seems to be getting a little big... Crap dude, she picks up the whole bike with one hand no problem... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Only downfall to this method, it's hard to change the tire with a motorcycle sticking out my ass. :ohmy: :blink: :pinch:

OMR