Author Topic: Motorbike Lift Bench  (Read 20360 times)

Offline one_rod

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Motorbike Lift Bench
« on: November 17, 2016, 05:11:38 PM »
A "serious" project from me for a change, rather than the usual stuff 'n nonsense.

I've always done my own maintenance and servicing on my motorbike. However, as time goes by my knees and back seem to get less and less keen on the idea.
So one of those nifty hydraulic bike benches began to look quite attractive. Thought about buying one, of course, but decided that would be just plain silly. Like you do...

No, it's obviously time to kick through the scrap pile and fire up the welder.

Base frame. A straightforward enough bit of fabrication. Some of this steel has been stored outdoors. Grind the rust off the areas to be welded. I'll deal with the rest later.


Parallel motion arms. Not working to a drawing, or even a rough sketch. Got picture in my head of how it will work, but basically making it up as I go along.


Pivot detail. Reinforced with 16 x 2 hydraulic tube, welded in place. Gives a nice fit on the M12 pivot bolts. The base is 50 x 50 box section, the arms are 40 x 40. So the tube projects 5mm either side to take up the play.


Clamps. The metal-bodgers best friend. Not even thinking about welding moving parts up at this stage. Too much head-scratching and pondering to do. Arms swing quite nicely, though...


More updates to follow. As and when.

"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline charadam

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2016, 05:46:31 PM »
I am liking this.

Would you please give dimensions when you have worked them out?

Offline kayzed1

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #2 on: November 17, 2016, 07:42:50 PM »
I bought a bike lift when i retired from work for the same reasons, to many years on my knees.
i have just fitted a new clutch to the Lads GSF600, i have an old Douglas Vespa on it at the moment
bringing it back to life for a mate, it was his Dads ( 1959 )  150ls2..  What i was getting at is....
I think in the 8years i have had the lift i have only ever raised it half a dozen times i'm sure :doh:
I still go down on my knees :doh:  so whats that all about!!!

Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2016, 10:02:26 AM »
Hi One Rod

Great project. I need one as well... back and knees knackered.

How is the lift going to work?

Eric
Science is fun.

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Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2016, 12:21:13 PM »

Would you please give dimensions when you have worked them out?


The bench top is going to be about 450mm wide by 2m long.

To be honest, one of the real reasons for making my own was because the available ones were a bit wide. My shop isn't that big, and these things are a real space hog anyway.

It will be just a bit wider than the footprint of my bike's main stand, so that will be enough.
"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline kayzed1

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2016, 02:28:09 PM »

Would you please give dimensions when you have worked them out?


The bench top is going to be about 450mm wide by 2m long.

To be honest, one of the real reasons for making my own was because the available ones were a bit wide. My shop isn't that big, and these things are a real space hog anyway.

It will be just a bit wider than the footprint of my bike's main stand, so that will be enough.

I see in your name....   one-ROD  and the  space HOG... does that mean the bike has a V in it's name  as in HOG  VE   ROD? i rode one once..
almost pulled my arms out of the sockets :bugeye:

Offline CHA5

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2016, 03:48:32 AM »
I bought one of this design 15yrs ago & rate it as the 2nd best thing I ever bought :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000lb-Hydraulic-Bike-Motorcycle-motorbike-Workshop-Lift-Bench-workbench-XL-Red-/380300709360

When not in use mine is stored standing upright against the shop wall.

A few mates have built their own & there are plenty of free plans & build logs to guide you. One thing that I consider essential with these is a means of locking the table rigid. When your pride & joy is up there it can make you very nervous when it starts rocking back & forth every time you lay on the hands !

My ultimate self build would be flush with the shop floor & either air or electric push button lift.

Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #7 on: November 20, 2016, 02:24:36 PM »
Hi One Rod

How is the lift going to work?

Eric

By the remorseless power of hydraulics.    :thumbup:

Plan A was to use a trolley jack, as I thought that would keep things simple.
However, because the lift arm on the jack and the PM arms on the bench are different lengths, making it work properly leaves you with a couple of design choices.

First is to allow the jack to do what trolley jacks do, roll backwards and forwards as it raises and lowers, to compensate for the different radii of motion.  This means having a solid base or some kind of trackway in the base frame, capable of taking the full load. It also seemed to mean that the fully-lowered height was more than I was happy with.

The other choice was to remove the wheels and weld the jack chassis into the base frame, with the lift arm pivot exactly concentric with one of the PM pivots. All good unless the jack ever failed and needed fixing. The only way would be to cut the whole thing apart.

I guess neither problem would be insurmountable, with enough ingenuity. But it still seemed to be making things more complicated, not less. Besides, by then I'd found this on Ebay.


8 tonne lift capacity and an impressive ram extension.
Seems as though it might simplify things considerably. Still left me with one really puzzling question, though.
How do the Chinese manage to make this thing, ship it half way around the planet, and drop it on my doorstep, all for £24.99?   :scratch:

"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline Will_D

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #8 on: November 20, 2016, 03:31:12 PM »
Can you post us a link please - that looks very useful?
Engineer and Chemist to the NHC.ie
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Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #9 on: November 20, 2016, 03:57:44 PM »
"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline Will_D

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2016, 04:27:28 PM »
That was quick, Many Thanks
Engineer and Chemist to the NHC.ie
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Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #11 on: November 23, 2016, 05:34:01 PM »
Made a little more progress.

Bottom ram pivot. This will get some bracing around it before we're done.


This is where it will live...probably.


Top ram pivot. Tacked into place, ready for a quick test.
[/url]

First try. Quick pump up. With the ram at full extension, the PM arms will still be on the safe side of vertical.Saves me having to build some kind of dead-stop in. In this position the table height will be approx. 760mm . About right, then.


Tried the other PM arm, but because of the revised design it's cross brace fouls the ram body. There may be a way round it, if not I'll cut it out and carry on.
"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2016, 04:50:34 PM »
A little more progress...

Top Frame. This will get plated over, obviously.


All together.  Clamped up, just to test the geometry and clearances. One or two minor tweaks needed, but it all seems to work.




Top ram pivot. Time to bite the bullet, and start replacing some of the tack welds with the real thing. Hope none of it needs changing now.


So that's where it stands at the moment.
It's -7C in my shop tonight. Had enough of welding with numb fingers for now.


"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline krv3000

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #13 on: December 05, 2016, 05:26:51 PM »
brill

Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #14 on: December 08, 2016, 12:12:10 AM »
Looking at the design of the piston anchor on your frame and wondering if it would be better welded on the inner surface of the cross member so that the strain is taken by the cross member and the side plates instead of the just the welding of the side plates. Just a thought!  :coffee:

Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #15 on: December 08, 2016, 03:12:02 PM »
Looking at the design of the piston anchor on your frame and wondering if it would be better welded on the inner surface of the cross member so that the strain is taken by the cross member and the side plates instead of the just the welding of the side plates. Just a thought!  :coffee:

If I'm understanding you question correctly, then it works like this. (I think  :scratch:)

In the fully-down position, the ram body pivot, the piston pivot and the bottom pivot of the arm would be almost in a straight line. So when you started to lift, a large proportion of the ram force would go into simply trying to bend the cross member instead of lifting the load.

By offsetting the top pivot in that way it "breaks the angle" and turns the pushing force from the ram into a turning moment around the arm's bottom pivot. The alternative would be to stop the table going low enough to line up the three points, which makes it a little more difficult to get a heavy bike on board.

You're right in what you are saying, about it being less than ideal from a structural point of view at that point, but it was a compromise I'm willing to make to get the loading height as low as possible.

Hope that all makes sense?
"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline vintageandclassicrepairs

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #16 on: December 08, 2016, 05:11:15 PM »
Hi,
Quote
If I'm understanding you question correctly, then it works like this. (I think  :scratch:)

In the fully-down position, the ram body pivot, the piston pivot and the bottom pivot of the arm would be almost in a straight line. So when you started to lift, a large proportion of the ram force would go into simply trying to bend the cross member instead of lifting the load.

By offsetting the top pivot in that way it "breaks the angle" and turns the pushing force from the ram into a turning moment around the arm's bottom pivot. The alternative would be to stop the table going low enough to line up the three points, which makes it a little more difficult to get a heavy bike on board.

You're right in what you are saying, about it being less than ideal from a structural point of view at that point, but it was a compromise I'm willing to make to get the loading height as low as possible.

I think that while the lift may work as it is, it will struggle or fail when a bikes weight is on it
Adding a set of  maybe 2in. pieces between top and bottom platforms would help
The working angle of the ram means that lift per pump stroke is at its maximum when the lift is in the down position
With a a ramp on the end of the lift a couple of more inches will not hurt too much
It would be wise to also fit a mechanical lock to prevent the lift platform resting on the hydraulic ram when in the raised position
I made my own "scissors" type lift and used a trolley jack to operate it, I keep meaning to go and redesign the lifting mechanism and use something like an acme screw ???
My second bike bench is made from an old hospital bed , hydraulics already in place   :scratch:

2 cents worth
John

Offline SwarfnStuff

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #17 on: December 09, 2016, 12:56:20 AM »
John
Ha, Very appropriate "My second bike bench is made from an old hospital bed , hydraulics already in place".   
    After all, these lifts are for "sick" bikes are they not? At least one needing some (medical)   :lol: intervention.
John B
Converting good metal into swarf sometimes ending up with something useful. ;-)

Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #18 on: December 10, 2016, 05:06:12 AM »
Oh very good SwarfnStuff :Doh:

Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #19 on: February 06, 2017, 04:58:26 PM »
So, after the Christmas hiatus, a bout of Royal Flu (or whatever they are calling the latest mucus-fest) and some unreasonable overtime demands at work, life's finally getting back to normal.

Time to resume my headlong plunge into the world of hillbilly fabrication...

Outrigger / stabilisers


Pretty sure that after I've tripped over them twenty times I'll remember they are there.


Anti-Fallback Mechanism.
Drilled some holes. Like you do.



Guess that if this doesn't work, I could always take up spear fishing.


Drill, weld, grind, weld, drill, grind...
[/url]

Can see where this is going now.


Overview.
Starting to look like it might be something? One day.







"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline awemawson

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #20 on: February 06, 2017, 05:06:55 PM »
Nice one - I reckon that you are going up in the world with this project  :lol:
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline micktoon

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #21 on: February 06, 2017, 05:45:51 PM »
Looks like a cracking good job to me One Rod, Nice and heavy duty , should last you a life time and more  :thumbup: :thumbup:

  Cheers Mick

Offline krv3000

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #22 on: February 06, 2017, 05:49:35 PM »
brill

Offline Brass_Machine

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #23 on: February 06, 2017, 11:09:11 PM »
Looking good!
Science is fun.

We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.

Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #24 on: May 20, 2017, 06:07:23 PM »
OK, so this project has progressed somewhat more rapidly than my updates would suggest. Sorry about that. Managed to get some quality time in the shop, and made some noise and some sparks...


Nut-serts, rivinuts, whatever you want to call them.


Bearings and cross-shaft.


Rough mock up of what will be the foot-pedal pump up mechanism. Simple enough, but has to cope with the fact that the ram moves through an arc as the thing lifts. And the fact that I'm bodging this up as I go along, so everything has to be adjustable and easily altered as I figure out what will work and what won't.


Lowering handle, also has enough play not to jam as the thing goes up and down. Can I say that, as an engineer, this is perhaps not my proudest moment. But what the heck, it works...


Pump pedal return spring. Actually a side stand spring picked up at an auto jumble ages ago. Knew it would come in useful one day.


And the foot-pedal lever itself.
"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #25 on: May 25, 2017, 05:50:15 AM »
Getting there and looking good. Now it’s time to get the wire wheel out before the surfaces get to full of welds and things.  :coffee:

Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #26 on: June 20, 2017, 05:11:26 PM »
So, there's the finished mechanism.


Time to come down off the trestles, some temporary foot-plates under the jacks and the top deck resting in place.


The big moment arrives, time for a load test.
Not risking my precious motorbike to the thing just yet. So searched the shop for some random pieces of assorted heavyness.
The welder weighs about 60kg, the big leg vice about the same. So with the other bits and bobs it should be getting close to the mass of my Suzuki.


And all of it wafted into the air with ridiculous ease.


Too much ease if anything. That foot pedal can easily be half the current length. Doesn't need as much leverage as first though. The lowering control needs some re-design too.

Onwards and upwards...
"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline Fredbare

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #27 on: June 21, 2017, 11:57:21 AM »
Well done and thanks for sharing.

John

Offline krv3000

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #28 on: June 23, 2017, 06:32:34 PM »
hi and a job well dun

Offline vtsteam

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #29 on: June 23, 2017, 10:09:29 PM »
Excellent, man!  :bow: :bow: :beer:
I love it when a Plan B comes together!
Steve
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Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #30 on: July 25, 2017, 04:25:28 PM »
So, a little more progress.

As previously mentioned, the pump-up lever was much too long, and as I had the angle grinder out it seemed the ideal chance to make it removable too. Having it sticking out like that would be a definite trip hazard when loading bikes on the bench.
Cut the cross shaft and made this slightly-tapered square boss on the end.


Then put this square tube on the lever end of the shaft.


Shortened the lever itself, and this is how it all fits together. Holds on firmly enough for vigorous pumping, but comes off with a gentle pull.


Improved the lowering release too. And decided to make that removable as well.


The connection between the lever and the shaft is hollow (obviously) and the blob of weld holds a pin which engages with the slot you can see in the previous photo. The Zebedee spring holds the improvised clevis into the lowering valve, but allows enough compliance as the ram moves through it's arc. And, yes, I'd run out of tread plate so had to make my own...


So that's about it, as far as fabrication goes. Time to strip down, tidy a few welds and start painting.
"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline howsitwork?

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #31 on: July 26, 2017, 06:08:10 PM »
Very nice and a good project write up as well. Please let us see the end result in all it's glory one rod!

Ian

Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #32 on: September 25, 2017, 05:34:54 PM »
So, painting.
Hate it.
For me it's always the  least favourite part of any job.

I will, however say a quick word for this stuff.
20170731_182055 by Mick, on Flickr

Based, apparently on Phosphoric Acid, it converts rust back into metallic iron, keys and passivates  the surface ready for the proper paint. Eye-wateringly expensive, but saves a lot of time with the wire brush / emery paper etc.

Goes on as a thin, milky emulsion. A little goes an awfully long way. Turns blue as it's working.
20170731_185127 by Mick, on Flickr

Then to black as it's finished.
20170731_195513 by Mick, on Flickr


One coat of zinc-rich primer and two of good quality machinery enamel. My shop is a damp old place and untreated steel will rust before your eyes. Boring but necessary.
Strangely, paint is turning out  to be the most expensive part of this whole project.

Time to start bolting it all back together.
20170910_110111 by Mick, on Flickr

Top plate on to be drilled, ready for bolting in place.
20170916_201803 by Mick, on Flickr

And yet more bloody paint.
20170923_134400 by Mick, on Flickr

Nearly there...
"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline one_rod

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #33 on: November 01, 2017, 06:52:42 PM »
This will probably be the final progress post in this thread.

Drilled the top plate for some square U-bolts.
20171023_205749 by Mick, on Flickr

Why square?
Well this thing takes up too much damn space in my small shop, so when it's not being used for bikes, its going to have to double as a general work / assembly bench. Square bolts drop down almost flat with the top. Minimum obstruction for other work.
20171023_205718 by Mick, on Flickr

I bought one of those handy “roll-in” wheel chocks too. Suppose I could have built my own, but these things are so cheap it simply wasn't worth the trouble. Bolted through the support frame, just in case, but easy enough to remove if needed.
20171023_205654 by Mick, on Flickr

Loading ramp.
Was going to be a nifty fold-away affair in steel plate. Only I've run out of plate, and was in a rush to get the thing tried out. So built a temporary one from 18mm ply and 3 x 2 timber. I'll probably still be using it in five years time, like a lot of “temporary” things in my shop.
20171026_133306 by Mick, on Flickr

Lash-down points. Only used the front two, as I wasn't actually going to be working on the bike, just lifting it up and putting it down again. Safe enough.
20171030_155359 by Mick, on Flickr

And there she is. 200 kg of Suzuki's finest, at a convenient working height, quick as you like.
 20171030_155319 by Mick, on Flickr


So that's it, finished.
Thanks to everyone who's followed along, taken an interest and commented.
"A season ticket for the one way ride..."

Offline Spurry

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #34 on: November 01, 2017, 07:05:09 PM »
Brilliant job. Very good pix and write-up. Thanks for sharing.  :thumbup:
Pete

Offline SwarfnStuff

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #35 on: November 02, 2017, 01:23:28 AM »
I agree, great job and write up.
    Nice to hear that someone else has temporary fixes that miraculously seem to miss out on obtaining one of those round-tuits.
  Stay upright!

John B
Converting good metal into swarf sometimes ending up with something useful. ;-)

Offline tom osselton

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #36 on: November 02, 2017, 03:55:32 PM »
Looks really good but the straps look not far off from vertical from a safety aspect would it be more stable if the anchors were out another 6 / 8 inches at least? You figure in the truck they are on a much greater angle when used!

Offline Stilldrillin

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #37 on: November 02, 2017, 04:58:21 PM »
Very nicely done, and shown, Rod.  :clap:

I've enjoyed, following along......  :thumbup:
David.

Still drilling holes... Sometimes, in the right place!

Still modifying bits of metal... Occasionally, making an improvement!

Offline russ57

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #38 on: November 04, 2017, 06:21:13 AM »
Looks really good but the straps look not far off from vertical from a safety aspect would it be more stable if the anchors were out another 6 / 8 inches at least? You figure in the truck they are on a much greater angle when used!
Hopefully the cornering forces are lower on the bench...

-russ


Offline krv3000

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #39 on: November 04, 2017, 06:36:47 PM »
a job well dun

Offline Biggles

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Re: Motorbike Lift Bench
« Reply #40 on: November 09, 2017, 11:55:52 PM »
Very well done. Thanks for sharing.  :nrocks: