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Author Topic: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?  (Read 5785 times)

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Offline noobie dave

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Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« on: January 30, 2010, 02:59:26 PM »
This question seems stupid and elementary to me, but I can't seem to find any decent answer anywhere on the web.

Can you use a regular floor jack on a bike?  I'm assuming "yes", as in it's possible, but I'm wondering if there's some sort of major disadvantage or danger.

Are there any adaptors that work better for bikes?  I've seen adaptors that are elongated which might be better than the normal round saddle (http://www.toolsusa.com/asp/item_detail.asp?T1=FME+JKS+7524&GENB=&UID=)

I'm just wondering because I'd rather get a floor jack that would work on my bike and my cars rather than both a floor jack AND a bike jack.
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Offline Johnie

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2010, 03:02:45 PM »
Have you looked at motorcyle jacks. They have a bigger bed and tie downs to reduce the possibility of spilling the bike over. The car jacks have a pretty narrow lift point and it is easy to tip a bike over using one of those.
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Offline noobie dave

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2010, 03:04:32 PM »
Yeah I assumed as much.  I was wondering if some sort of bar adaptor (like the one I linked) wouldn't be wide enough to be stable.

I guess you're right though, the wider saddle on a motorcycle jack would be best.
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Offline Terry in Australia

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2010, 03:04:52 PM »
Dave, a floor jack is fine for supporting a bike if you're going to say, take the front end off while the bike is on it's centre stand or is otherwise supported, but be aware that the bike won't be able to "balance" unsupported on a floor jack, so it'll just fall right off. Cheers, Terry. ;D
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Offline country joe

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2010, 03:08:34 PM »
 I would stay away from trying to use a car jack for a motorcycle. Any jack, unless it has safety stops, is not intended for supporting weight on the hydraulic cylinder. I have tried something like this before for to work on a Yamaha dirt bike I had, and the results were not good (Hey I was 17 at the time). just remember safety is always first in the garage.                                                         
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Offline Johnie

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2010, 03:28:17 PM »
Quote from: country joe on January 30, 2010, 03:08:34 PM
I would stay away from trying to use a car jack for a motorcycle. Any jack, unless it has safety stops, is not intended for supporting weight on the hydraulic cylinder. I have tried something like this before for to work on a Yamaha dirt bike I had, and the results were not good (Hey I was 17 at the time). just remember safety is always first in the garage.                                                         

Country Joe...2 posts...welcome to the boards!!!
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Offline YogiBear

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2010, 03:30:19 PM »
Ive used one before like Terry stated, I used the center stand as well. I would not try it with just the jack alone. I just got a motorcycle jack for Christmas, but before that I had a bike propped up on the center stand and a little bottle jack that came with my Jeep. The bike we were working on, got stripped down to the engine, frame and harness and that setup worked pretty good.
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Offline Don R

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2010, 04:56:11 PM »
Did you see that early episode of American Chopper where the chopper fell off the bike table? That would say it all.
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Offline OldSchool_IsCool

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #8 on: January 30, 2010, 05:23:52 PM »
What Terry said.  My front wheel is off right now.  I got it off by myself by putting the bike on center (centre) stand and used a bottle jack on one of the motor mounts to lift the front wheel off the ground.  With the front wheel off, the rear becomes the heavy side, but I kept the bottle jack in place so that the bike is resting on 4 points instead of three.
« Last Edit: January 30, 2010, 07:15:58 PM by OldSchool_IsCool »
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Offline Old Scrambler

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #9 on: January 30, 2010, 06:03:04 PM »
I've been using bottle and floor jacks for years........for lifting and inch or so more than needed.........I place large wooden blocks under the motor and then remove the jack.  If I am going to wrench on the bike while on the blocks I hang a safety strap (tied-down) from the ceiling and attach to bike with soft-ties.  Haven't lost one yet.
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Offline Freaky1

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2010, 09:06:46 PM »
I used a floor jack with a modified plate to get my bike up, but that was only so I could get on jack stands. With my setup there was no way to access the underside of the bike.
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Offline cb350twin

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2010, 10:32:42 PM »
Hey, someone on here posted those first two pictures a long time ago. I thought it was a pretty good idea for an adaptor. So if it was your idea come get your credit!  ;)

The last two photos are what I did to jack up my bike I used a block of wood and a normal car jack and jacked up the oil pan. Then using a jack stand and other stuff to use as a jack stand. Might not look very stable, but surprisingly it was.. Still had to be careful though as always.
« Last Edit: January 30, 2010, 10:37:20 PM by cb350twin »
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Offline The_Crippler

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Re: Use a normal floor jack for a bike?
« Reply #12 on: January 30, 2010, 11:42:19 PM »
I use a bike jack similar to what cb350twin has in the first few pics.  Got one fairly cheap at Harbor Freight, (Harbor Freight - when it absolutely, positively has to maybe work right now) and it has been fantastic.  It is a little wonky with my Vulcan, but my CB settles right on to it with no problems, and it jacks up to a very goo height to work on.
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