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| Parts. 3 pressure treated 2x4's, 4 strap
braces (Home Depot / Simpson LSTA9), 1 45 degree brace
(Home Depot / Simpson A33), galvanized course thread deck
screws, and a couple strips of rubber for the tops of the
uprights. |
| Cut the two upright
pieces 13 inches long, with about a 12 degree angle on one
end. The other end is cut square. The uprights will actually
measure 13" at the high end of the angle, and about 12"
at the low end. |
| Cut the arms
of the lift about 44 inches long. (The longer
they are, the easier it will be to lift the bike.) |
| Cut a piece of 5/8" decking lumber
to 11 3/4" long. This will provide a brace behind the
uprights that will not interfere with tire removal. |
| Cut a piece of 2x4 to 11 3/4" long.
This will provide a central brace. |
| Cut a piece of 2x4 to 11 3/4" long.
This will be the back end of the lift. |
| Optional. You can see best in
the top picture that there are grab handles. Cut these at
whatever length is best for you, (mine is 15" on the
side, and the one on the end is about 14 3/4") |
| Assembly. Lay out the
pieces in the form they'll eventually take. |
| The two arms will stand on their edges. |
| The uprights stand 1" back from the
end of the arms, and inside. (This
puts them at 10 1/2" on center, which will place the
swingarm ends dead center when the bike is lifted.) |
| The 5/8" decking brace is 14 3/4"
from the arm (upright) ends, and lays flat
inside the arms so as to not interfere with tire removal. |
| The center 2x4 brace is 24 1/4" from
the arm (upright) ends, and inside the arms. |
| The end 2x4 brace is fitted inside the
arms. |
| NOTE: You'll avoid splitting the ends of the 2x4
arms if you pre-drill for the end brace. |
| Starting from the back and working forward: |
| Screw the end brace to the arms |
| You now have a huge "U" shape.
Measure diagonally from the front end of one arm to the back
end of the opposite arm to make sure the, and then reverse,
to make sure everything is square - not "racked." |
| Screw the center brace to the arms |
| Screw the 5/8" decking brace to the
arms |
| Screw the uprights to
the arms. (I used 4 screws on one side, and 2 on the other) |
| Reference the middle picture. Attach the
straps, one on each side, to the uprights and the arms with
one screw in the end of the strap. Once both
ends are secured with screws, put more screws further in,
which will tighten up the strap. (I think all this is
necessary because it's these uprights that first do the lifting,
and then support the bike, you can't be too careful.) |
| The middle and lower pictures show strips
of metal on the back, lower end of the upright angle. Cut
the 45 degree bracket in half, and screw one each to the back
of the upright, 1/4" above the 2x4. They should be bent
slightly forward to miss the end bolts, (if you cut the bracket
dead-center in the bend will be all set as is.) These prevent
the bike from sliding too far back, (which isn't likely.) |
| Glue and tack the rubber strips to the
tops of the 2x4 uprights. |
| NOTE: You can place a 2x4 block under the kickstand
to get the bike as evenly upright as possible. Then, position
the lift uprights about halfway under the swingarm ends and
push down the back of the lift. This is a very fast and easy
way to get the chain oiled! |
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| I realized that if there was vigerous work to be done on
the bike while on this lift, it probably wouldn't be as stable
as it should be. To improve the situation, I screwed a heavy-duty
eyebolt (shown above) on both sides
of the lift where the "arm" meets the upright support. |
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| As shown above, I just run ratchet ties from the eyebolts
to the bottom of the passenger grab handle. You can even put
a weight on the end of the lift, if you want. |
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