Modern Vespa

Hi all

I am looking to buy a lift table but am confused by all the different options and price points. I have 3 2T Vespa and a GTS so only need a lift that can cope with lighter motorcycles. I have a sore back and the prospect of lying down on the concrete of the garage working on them is really uncomfortable.

I can see options that range from 500 - 2000 dollars but but know what I actually need or what might be a death trap. I don't want to pay top dollar for it as it will be used intensively for next few years but will sit idle after that.

I have seen this one, its plate length will only take 1350mm wheelbase, GTS is 1370mm and 2T Vespa are all under that, it is for up to 350 kg they claim.

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/tottenham/miscellaneous-goods/millers-falls-363kg-air-hydraulic-motorcycle-lift-hoist/1202871021


The next level up seems to be lifts like this one at around 700 dollars. https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/dandenong/other-tools-diy/1000lbs-hydraulic-motorcycle-lift-bike-platform-table-blue-77136/1313797803 a bit more expensive and bigger size and weight capacity.

After that the size, prices and features all go up. I don't have a compressor so only want a hydraulic lift.


Any advice is most welcome, we don't have harbour freight here which seems to be the budget version people mention on the forum.


Rallygeek

I see your not in the USA but if it helps, I had a cheap Harbor Freight motorcycle lift table. I see it goes under the Pittsburgh 1000 pound lift now. I think I paid around $400 with the 20% off coupon when I purchased mine. Great quality for the price overall. Pain in the butt to fill with oil (brace is in the way) so you need a long, small funnel to fill it. When I quit wrenching on my own stuff I sold it for $200. The buyer still uses it in his custom motorcycle shop and has reported zero issues with it.

Fun fact: The box it comes in is HUGE and HEAVY! I picked my lift up from the store with a hearse, as that's the largest vehicle my wife owned at the time. When I sold the lift the buyer and his friend grunted and sweated like pigs loading it into their lifted truck. After they loaded it I threw in my small motorcycle trailer. They were still thrilled to get a free trailer in the deal, but they could have strapped the lift to the trailer instead.

Probably the most economical, basic, MC lift table would be the Harbor Freight unit.

They're operated by a foot pedal to pump it to the desired height, with a second pedal to release the hydraulic pressure to drop it back down.

They're not the kind of lift that a professional MC mechanic would find suitable, but I find mine to be just about perfect for use in servicing medium to (relatively) light machines, though in a pinch, mine has lifted an 800 pound Indian Chief as well as a number of equally heavy bikes, though I don't really recommend doing so as a regular thing.

My HB lift table has honestly served me well for almost ten years without any problems, though it has begun to slowly leak down from it's maximum height, but it has a locking pin that will prevent it from losing more than a couple inches.

The included front MC wheel chock that comes with the lift is junk and should be replaced with the optional HF 'better' wheel chock, though I seldom actually use the chock and just roll the Vespa up on the lift and set it up on the center stand to work on it.

When I bought my HF lift, it was no more than $300, but I think that they're now between $500-$600.

They come in a large flat carton and require some assembly, but it's not a rocket-science-level project to get it up and 'running'.

There are definitely better ones, but mine has been well worth it's price in saved knees and backs, and is ideal for working on a 350 pound Vespa.

I forget what name it was marketed under way back when, but the one I bought in the UK and still have over there is identical to the HF unit. So google about the usual places in your area and find one that looks the same. They work very well, and are a huge blessing if you have even the slightest of back problems.

Just about everyone you ask in the US is going to bring up the Harbor Freight lift. They're cheap, they work well and they've been around a long time. I have one, and we used it daily in our shop for years.
But, if I saw the TWM VP8227AH that's in your first link, I would have gladly paid the difference to raise and lower it with air instead of fifty two pumps with my foot.
That's the one to get.
The other one looks like the Harbor Freight lift with slight design changes.

Tempting ...

... although looking at JBacklund's pics makes me wonder about having a longer one for pulling the engine out ...

I bought one a few weeks ago , you pay what you get , they are all made in China
And sold all over the world
Mine goes up electric/ hydro , and down you need some air , so happy

I hadn't thought of the air hose thing, I dont have a compressor (yet). It is a shorter and narrower lift and I figure I will mainly be using it for classic smallframes and my rally so I think I might go for that one.

Steelbytes - I think the removable ramp can give you a bit more length for engine removal.

They are all heavy by the looks of things. I am going to have to take a van that can take a pallet to pick it up.

Hey that looks good, most I have seen at the cheap end of market are either hydraulic or air.

I like the carpet on your garage floor, kind of classy.

get a small pancake style air compressor, you will find it helps with everything and the multitude of uses.

Then the weight as you drag the engine out is further from the scissor point of the lift and less stable. Problem in reality? Don't know.

SteelBytes said it! I've went past that tipping point once, table almost flipped up on me! I marked the tip points on the top with some yellow spray point lines. I was pulling an engine from a Yamaha Majesty when I discovered the tip point. It does, and will, happen. Learn the tip points while the table is empty and low to the floor is the only "tip" I have.

I use a ProLift pneumatic lift. I prefer the pneumatic lift to hydraulic because my hydraulic lifts have all started to leak after a bit if use. I've been using this pneumatic lift table for about 15 years and I only lube it every couple years. I paid $500 for it, but that was a long time ago. They're double that now, or a little more.

I think an important feature often overlooked is the front wheel chock arrangement. I opted for the pneumatic upgrade on the HF lift 15 years ago even though I didn't have air in my shop. It was and additional $35 (or something similarly insignificant), but it came with upgraded front chocks.

You might consider something like this: https://tradeheroaustralia.com/products/motorcycle-lift-table-hydraulic-and-air

Thanks for that. The cheaper one doesn't have any chocks or levelling on it which is a downside.

When I had the harbor freight the front wheel vise was terrible. I just dropped four holes and put a wheel chock on.

I immediately ditched the front wheel vice that came with my HF lift table and bought this for it, also from HF. I don't actually use it very much, especially for my Vespa, which I set on it's center stand when on the lift.

Several simple but helpful details I found that help when using my HF lift table with my GTS300 are these small rubber doorstops that I position behind the lift's rear wheels before pushing the Vespa (or any of our other bikes) up the steel plate ramp onto the lift. They prevent the lift from rolling forward as the bike starts up the ramp, which at first was a bit of a problem. They cost almost nothing and work to steady the lift when trying to get the bike up on it.

Also, I quickly found that once the GTS was positioned up onto the fully lowered lift, that it was quite awkward, and 'iffy' to put the scooter onto it's center stand or to push it off the stand, while standing next to the lift on the garage floor, so once the bike is positioned, I use this step stool set alongside the lift to equal my height to that of the scooter, making using it's center stand a lot less of a risky procedure.

Great minds. I bought the exact same one:

Eventually I replaced it with this one from DiscountRamps because it had 30 different configurations and I had bikes of all different shapes and sizes coming and going.




I think it only cost $89 at the time, but, for being pretty much guaranteed of a perfect fit that you could count on, even if you smack the heck out of your bike to mimic knocking it over, it was totally worth it.



I'm sure it's more expensive now though But... I honestly use this thing 100s of times a year on my truck's lift. Every couple years I unmount it, sand it, repaint it. Whatever it costs it costs now is probably still worth it to me.



I did a full review of it 5+ years ago. It lives outdoors 24/7 including through many salty Canadian winters. It's an absolute unit and I'm comfortable trusting it to solo load just about anything. Full review here if anyone's curious: https://youmotorcycle.com/black-widow-2-piece-motorcycle-wheel-chock-review.html

Oooh! Nice Sportster!

Not to hijack the table lift thread, but....

The last one I had was a 2015 1200. It was purchased used around '21, and came with a set of Screaming Eagle mufflers(?), which I immediately sold, then bought a like-new pair of stock mufflers for it on eBay for $90, then converted it to mid-controls, and put a set of one-inch longer rear shocks on it to help level the bike and minimize that typical ass-dragging 'look' they all seem to have, not to mention getting a little more shock travel back there to give my spine a little relief, small as it was.

I'm not at all what you could call a 'Harley guy', but I really liked that Sportster....

what the hell are all those 2x4 bolts to the lift for?

Giving the option of duck walking 900 lb bikes on and off the lift with ease by widening the footing a little bit.

It's side lift table extensions but at a fraction of the cost of buying them.

Hey thanks.

Love that you did the opposite of the typical "Sportster bro" mods

- Louder pipes? Nope, quieter
- Forward control extensions? Nope, mids
- Slammed ass? Nope, raised

Complimenti on doing it your own way.

That pic I shared is about 10 years old now. Personally on my most recent Sportster, I upgraded to taller rear shocks too... 13.5" (it came with slammed shocks)... I don't get the slammed shocks either. Makes me think of a dog wiping it's butthole on the carpet. Kept the Screaming Chicken exhausts though

I have the red Harbor Freight one, picked up a couple years ago, serves my scooter needs perfectly. Also good for changing water heaters.

Most of the extensions I've seen are 12" wide on each side of the lift. That's way too wide for my liking. If I have to stand 12" back from the bike, it's going to kill my back reaching out to work on it. Kind of defeats the purpose of a table lift if it adds to my back pain.

I like your narrow 2x4 extensions a lot!

I've used my HF table lift to load bikes into the bed of our Ford F-150 on occasion, but it's a scary proposition to do so.

Get the bike onto the lift table and set it on it's sidestand. Jack it up to it's full height, line it all up
and center it behind the open end-gated pickup, then roll the loaded table forward until it's almost touching the end gate, and hopefully within an inch or so of the end gate's height.

Get a stepladder and set it alongside the table/bike's left side, the back of the ladder touching the end gate. Get up and stand on the ladder's rung that is close to level of the table deck, then from the bike's left side, very carefully raise the bike to vertical and roll it forward off the table, over the lowered end gate, and onto the truck bed all the way forward until the bike's front tire touches the front of the truck bed, set it back onto it's side stand, then proceed to strap the bike down.

It sounds quite involved when reading how to do this, and it is, and it's definitely risky, but desperate times sometimes require desperate measures.

Usually I'll ask permission from one of the local dealers to use their large outdoor loading ramp to get a bike into the pickup if needed, and I can't rent a low, open, trailer from U-Haul, but in a pinch, the table can be used to lift a bike, or other heavy items, onto a truck.

Thanks man! Agreed the ones you can buy can be a PITA to reach far parts on some bikes. Nice if you have an ATV or need a lot of workspace... Pros and cons...

From what I remember the only "tricks" to this table mod were:

- heavy duty Z brackets made for construction
- had to buy a plug in hammer drill cause the cheapo drill I had from my teen years wasn't getting through

Great idea to use the table to help load/unload bikes and heavy items into a truck!

Along the lines of tips and tricks, I mount my vise to the lift table. Bike still goes on/off with the vice in place. My workbench is not great for a vice. The top is too thin. I can also get the vice at the best height for the job by raising/lowering the table.

Might have to "borrow" this. TY for sharing 👍

It's super easy to remove from a table lift if you need to get it out of the way.

Wow - this thread has taken on a life of its own.

So I am concerned about cost of a table. I would prefer to spend it on parts / paint / engine etc. but also don't want to risk my back or the bike with an alternative.

Has anybody done some sort of home made platform. In the garage there is an old solid hardwood door, plenty of framing timber and a trolley jack. I was thinking that a platform 1 - 1 1/2 foot off the ground would give me enough height to sit on a crawler stool and work on it. I realise it's not going to be as flexible as a purpose built lift.

There are several videos on how to build a fixed height table you can use with ramps. You only need about 18" of height to be at a comfortable work level. Revzilla has a simple one on their website.

A friend of mine did just that: built a small platform, 2x4 framing with 5/8 skin, and set that on 4 milk crates. Height off the ground ~16". Worked well for him. No ramp as I recall, just lifted the front end, then the rear onto the deck.

Food for thought, when I looked up motorcycle lifts in Melbourne on Facebook Marketplace I saw used options as cheap as $150 AUD.

maybe with a bit of tweaking of the dimensions
https://fortnine.ca/en/diy-lift

Yea this one is a similar idea but with lighter timber , https://www.dotheton.com/index.php?threads/wood-bike-stand-lift-plans.3564/ I suspect that this is what I will go for but I would want to be able to lock the deck so that it not like trying to set your bike up in a see saw.


adri I am not a facebook marketplace user but had a look at what was available second hand. There weren't any second hand purpose built tables I could see, there are a few converted hospital bed frames which are too wide and long for the space I have. I will keep an eye out over the next few weeks to see what appears.

a note/thought

I did once weight my gts by sticking bathroom scales under the front and a plank of wood of the same-ish thickness under the rear and then swapping this. 2/3 of the weight was on the rear tire (unsurprisingly).

(It's only gone up 10 bucks to 99.99 now.....so one full red cent shy of a Benjamin!)