[John Garner]

Been looking now & then for an inexpensive MC jack, mostly for storage & cleaning. Received a catalog & saw this:

http://www.calcarcover.com/product.aspx?id=54&cid=

and was wondering if anyone knows particulars on if this is a good buy, or if there is something else out there.

Your evaluations are most welcome.

 

[Bartman]

I have the Sears jack. $79.95 and it does everything I need it to do. You will have to buy some safety straps. I got mine from Home Depot.

Bartman

 

[Joe Chindemi]

John .
I had on of the inexpensive lifts . I bought it from Sams Club .
I wasn't very happy with it at all. Some of the guys have bought the Sears lift . You can usually pick them up on sale for under a $100. when they are on sale.
For me though , there is only one lift to buy , that is the Pit Bull . costly at $400 . way beyond what i wanted to spend , but after having the bike
up in the air on the Larin lift , i decided i wanted something better, and more stable than that lift was.
In fact that was the reason for my first trip to Americade , to look at , and then decided to buy the Pit Bull. So much more stable it isn't even funny, I have had the front and rear wheels off of my 1500 and never bothered to even strap the bike down.
Actually could have saved myself $80. or so if i bought the Pit Bull first, instead of buying the Larin , and being dissapointed in it enough to go out and spend the $400 (2-3 weeks later) on the Pit Bull.
Another thing about the Pit Bull , is that it lifts the bike about 6-8 inches higher than most other lifts...........
Joe.

 

[Hedo]

I had one of the inexpensive lifts . .......
I wasn't very happy with it at all. . For me though , there is only one lift to buy , that is the Pit Bull . ..

I agree.........

Bought a Sears lift and took it back after a week. Bought the PitBull and never looked back !!

You can even buy one from the Dawg himself ( and get some oil at the same time!! )

 

[Toyo]

Sears sells 2 different types. The one I got was about $ 20.00 dollars more expensive than the other one. It is yellow and very sturdy. The two lifts have arms that come off if you need a lower setting. I have used mine numerous times without any problems at all. I even use it for work sometimes. Makes a great jack to remove gas tanks out of cars!

 

[robeth]

I have the Sears jack. $79.95 and it does everything I need it to do. You will have to buy some safety straps. I got mine from Home Depot.

Bartman

My Sears jack came with straps. Bartman, are you sure you didn't throw out the straps with the packing material?

I'm happy with my jack. I've used it to change the rear wheel twice. I think it's worth what it costs and have no plans to replace it.

However, if I had the bike up a lot or for a long time, I think I would buy a Pit Bull. Those things are sturdy and allow the bike to be moved around quite easily with a lot of confidence.

Ride (and jack) safely.


Bob E.

 

[Mark Rowell]

I have a friend that has the Pitt Bull jack and he would not consider using anything else. If I still had my GL-1500 I probably would have bought the Pitt Bull because it lifts the bike high enough to get the rear tire off without hanging it off the side of a drop off or other such silly games. With the GL-1800 having a single sided swing arm, having that extra lift height is not an issue.

I bought an El Cheapo Auto Zone M/C jack for around $70 and it works just fine. Yes, I really do have to strap it down if I am going to be yanking on the bike and no, it is not as stable as a Pitt Bull. If you are paranoid about having your bike leap off the jack and smash itself on the garage floor with you under it, then just spend the money on a Pitt Bull. If you are a careful person and not prone to paranoia, save the money and get any M/C jack with more than a 1000# rating and don't worry about what others use.

 

[mmmhoss]

I bought a motorcycle jack at Wal Mart about 6 or 7 years ago that looks just like that and the only thing I have felt good using it for was lifting the transmission when I installed a Termec TKO 500 into my 1988 Corvette.

 

[Bipeflier]

I use the jack mostly for changing tires, etc. or turning the Wing around in the shop during bad weather when I don't want to run outside.

$80 Sears jack works fine for me, but I did add a piece of 2" X 1-1/2" wood that sets on the frame just in front of the center stand. This gives a better fore/aft balance. I rarely even tie it down unless I am going to get rough on it.

 

[zaT111]

John .
I had on of the inexpensive lifts . I bought it from Sams Club .
I wasn't very happy with it at all. Some of the guys have bought the Sears lift . You can usually pick them up on sale for under a $100. when they are on sale.
For me though , there is only one lift to buy , that is the Pit Bull . costly at $400 . way beyond what i wanted to spend , but after having the bike
up in the air on the Larin lift , i decided i wanted something better, and more stable than that lift was.
In fact that was the reason for my first trip to Americade , to look at , and then decided to buy the Pit Bull. So much more stable it isn't even funny, I have had the front and rear wheels off of my 1500 and never bothered to even strap the bike down.
Actually could have saved myself $80. or so if i bought the Pit Bull first, instead of buying the Larin , and being dissapointed in it enough to go out and spend the $400 (2-3 weeks later) on the Pit Bull.
Another thing about the Pit Bull , is that it lifts the bike about 6-8 inches higher than most other lifts...........
Joe.

I agree, only after looking at the sears lifts and simular I did not purchase one of them. I got a little luckier, while at Wing Ding O5 in Fort Wayne, my wonderful bride bought a Pit Bull Lift for me after I started drooling over it. The Pit Bull lift actually raises the Wing about 9-10" higher than the others. Yes it is bigger but MUCH better built.

 

[n9frp]

My Sears works fine. Like Robeth said, the Sears comes with 2 ratchet straps, black, as you can see in the pic below.
Your money....get what suits ya !

 

[John Garner]

Thanks to all who responded.

I just wanted a jack for easy cleaning of the wheels once and a while,
The shop does all major work. So, I'll check out Sears first.

Sounds like if you are into serious work, the Pit Bull is the way to go.