advice on shock removal 2005 R1200RT

Hey all,
I have a 2005 R1200RT with ESA. I ordered lowering springs today and I'm over an hour from the closest BMW dealer. I want to take the shocks off, then take them to the dealer to change the springs. I'm looking for tips on being able to get the front wheel high enough to get the front shock off, safely, without the bike falling, and keep the bike safe from falling when I'm done because the shocks may be off for close to a week. One of the things I'm also wondering is if I can put the rear tire back on with the shock off the bike and not need the bike on any type of jack being that the engine acts as a stressed frame member, I'm not comfortable with leaving it on a jack for very long. Mechanically, removing the shocks seems really easy. It's keeping the bike stable and upright is my concern.

No anchor points?

I use a bike lift with many points to tie bike down. If you have no floor anchors, go UP! I have used my garage rafters before, securing bike at handlebars. Not for heavy lifting, just stable. I use the floor jack to lift bike. I use tiedown straps found everywhere. Good luck. Randy

Hey ?? Droptine? (Many of us use real names there - we're a pretty friendly bunch..)

Please take a look at: http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?46055 - I'm sure you can understand why the answer to your question isn't necessarily a universal one, so model/year would be good info to put in the thread title. I'm going to add it to the thread title in the hope that someone who owns the same bike and has BTDT will open the thread and provide an answer. Please do that yourself in any future threads you start in the tech forums. Helps you, helps others who may be looking for the same info later on.

Welcome again - and what'cha name?

I've thought about using the rafters to help for just stabilizing enough to keep it from going anywhere, and like you, use alot of tie downs. I thought of a few other questions about this today.
1. Would it be safe for the swingarm and front end to put the tires back on without the shocks and not have the bike jacked up, just left on the centerstand until I can get the new springs installed on the shocks, then back on the bike? This could be a week or more.(I have a heavy table saw I can strap the front or rear end of the bike to to keep it from tetering in either direction)
2. Is there a problem with lifting the bike with the jack using the engine(all be it just enough to remove the shock), and leaving it that way for a few days to a week? Reason I ask this is because this is the first bike I've had without frame tubes along the bottom where it was never an issue leaving it on a motorcycle jack for however long I had to. Jacking the bike by the engine is new to me, and I'm assuming it is an aluminum engine block, does worry me a bit.


And the kicker is, I sold my motorcycle jack last summer because I thought I'd be unable to use it on this bike anyway. I do have a floor jack, and could probably get a cheap harbor freight wide scissor jack if needed.

deilenberger said:

Hey ?? Droptine? (Many of us use real names there - we're a pretty friendly bunch..)

Please take a look at: http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?46055 - I'm sure you can understand why the answer to your question isn't necessarily a universal one, so model/year would be good info to put in the thread title. I'm going to add it to the thread title in the hope that someone who owns the same bike and has BTDT will open the thread and provide an answer. Please do that yourself in any future threads you start in the tech forums. Helps you, helps others who may be looking for the same info later on.

Welcome again - and what'cha name?

Click to expand...

My name is Mark. I'm not a real full name kind of guy.

you can leave bike on c-stand without shocks, won't hurt a thing, unless you tip it over, or try to take it off c-stand with shocks still gone.
jack under engine is fine, as long as weight is well distributed.
between those 2 choices, i would likely go with c-stnad, and probably have a board of some type under that to give a bit more rise.
best option would be a dedicated mc lift of some variety. i use a H-F m/c parallelogram hydraulic jack, like this one: http://www.bing.com/shopping/torin-...motorcycle+jack&lpq=motorcycle jack&FORM=HURE
otehrs prefer this style: http://balmart.en.alibaba.com/product/360314119-200624563/1000LBS_MOTORCYCLE_LIFT_JACK.html