Motorcycle Lift Table...Atlas vs. Handy

I am pleased to announce that my Titan 1000D motorcycle lift arrived yesterday. I was able to have it shipped to a friend's business since he has a loading dock. He and the driver ran a pallet jack under it and loaded it into his warehouse. From there my friend and I manhandled it onto my trailer and from there it was an easy move to my garage and then into my shop. Easier moving it than I feared.

It is a very nice product...the paint (or is it powder coating??) is nicely done and the lift works like a champ with my very small "pancake" air compressor. My only complaint would be that the welds in a couple places are really sloppy/amateurish. But if they hold up, I really don't care.

I think I am going to have to drill new mounting holes for the front vise...it positions the bike too far forward to be able to make use of the rear drop out or the (included) roller plate for the rear wheel to spin on. Shouldn't be difficult to do.

I decided to hold off on the side extensions...I don't intend to use it for a lawnmower or golf cart, so I think I'll be OK without it. If I'm wrong I can always order a set. I'm guessing, but maybe the Atlas extensions would work and those can be had by driving to Greg Smith Equipment in Atlanta.

It is so nice to get the bike up to eye level...I'm seeing some things on my bike for the first time!!

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So much for being patient and waiting for a deal on Craigslist...crap.
 

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Cool, you are going to love having it. Very nice garage by the way. Looks just like mine only mine is dark, crowder, and full of crap. :)
 
Bob, I find when putting the ST up on the center stand, it places the rear wheel directly over the drop out plate, and out of the wheel clamp. Don't really need the front end clamped if placing it on the center stand. YMMV... congratulations on a fine piece of equipment.
 
vinny said:
Bob, I find when putting the ST up on the center stand, it places the rear wheel directly over the drop out plate, and out of the wheel clamp. Don't really need the front end clamped if placing it on the center stand. YMMV... congratulations on a fine piece of equipment.
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Think its safe to put on center stand without the side extensions? As for the Titan lift...I'm impressed with everything except for the welds. Hopefully they are ugly but strong.

Also want to endorse Excel Equipment who I purchased the lift from. They processed my order and shipped quickly. I think about 4 days elapsed between hitting the order button and receiving the goods. And the price was excellent too (my discount paid for the shipping, so essentially it was "free shipping". With no sales tax my total cost was $904.

On another subject...any suggestions with respect to having a jack to use on the table. Is it needed? Any particular style or brand of jack recommended? Or do you just use the bike's center stand?
 
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bobframe said:
Think its safe to put on center stand without the side extensions? As for the Atlas...I'm impressed with everything except for the welds. Hopefully they are ugly but strong.

On another subject...any suggestions with respect to having a jack to use on the table. Is it needed? Any particular style or brand of jack recommended? Or do you just use the bike's center stand?
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If you are concerned about stability while on the center stand, you can add a couple pieces of black pipe through the "holes" that probably exist for the purpose of mounting the side extensions. Then you can strap the bike to secure it as much as you desire. I do this when it's not in the wheel chock.
The quality of the welds on my lift are all good. It may be they had a new guy... If you would like, I can come over and inspect the welds and give you an opinion... after all, its what I did for my entire 28 year career at UPS.
As far as the jack is concerned, I just use a cheap little bottle jack. The ST and the Wing seem to be slightly weighted toward the front when placed on the center stand... doesn't take a lot to raise the front off the deck.
 
What is the safest practice with respect to jacking a bike up on a lift table?

I am concerned about getting the bike jacked up and then having the jack fail. Not concerned about the lift table's mechanism failing because you immediately lock it in place. I'm worried about a jack on top of the table that is being used to further raise the bike.
 
bobframe said:
Thats almost exactly what I am considering. Question for me is how can this jack be "locked" into place so that it can't fail once your bike is perched on it. Thoughts?
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If you elevate the jack to the same height each time, cut a 2x4 to that length, and insert it between the bottom and top plates.
 
2x4s work great for bracing/jack stands. I keep a bunch laying around for this. If you use a screw type jack it isn't likely to go down like a hydraulic can. I have had several bikes up on the lift with both wheels off just relying on the center stand, 2x4 cribbing and tie downs. When I strap bikes down I am typically working on STs so I use the crash bars under the tip over wings. I also have 4 eye bolts through the deck for a tie down location. These are forward and behind the tie down point on the bike. So this lets me put it on the center stand, then tie down pulling back on the bike so there is no way it can move forward and drop it off the center stand. The tie down point on the lift is 8"-10" behind the tie down point on the bike while on the lift and on CS. So it isn't totally pulling back but just slightly. Just enough that it isn't going anywhere. The distance is different a bit depending on if we are talking ST1100 or ST1300. You might be able to use black pipe though the existing holes for the extensions like mentioned but they may be too far or too far back. As far as the forward pulling tie down point. I mainly use that when on the lift using the wheel vice and not on CS which is pretty rare. It is used for oil changes mainly.

My not be an issue for you in GA but I also store one of the bikes on the lift for the winter. Last couple years the 1300 has been on it. It is nice because I can wheel the lift around with the bike lowered on the lift to push it back out of the way. The lift takes up a certain amount of floor space and by stacking a bike on it don't have the lift and 2 bikes taking up floor space. If that makes sense. Then as it gets closer to spring, I wheel the lift out of storage position to where I work on it for spring maint. That is also why the 1300 is on there. I ride that the most and it is the bike that I run heated gear on early in the spring when it is still cold in the mornings but I start riding.
 
I have two of those Ranger jacks - they work great. Actually in the picture I posted (post 26) that is what the frame is sitting on.

No 'locking' mechanism is needed since it is basically a screw jack
 
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Bob, I would be a little concerned with the "metal to metal" contact of the lift and the ranger jack. IF the bike is not strapped down, then it could slide due to little friction between the two. A piece of rubber about the consistency of an inner tube placed between the jack and the lift would make me feel better about supporting the bike upon the jack while on the lift.
 
Vinny,

Appreciate the suggestion. Do you ever have a bike up on the lift without strapping it down?

Also, when would you use a jack vs. just put the bike on its center stand?
 
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