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Propping up the bike with the front wheel off of the ground.

Anyname

Anyname

Active member
I'm going to pull the front wheel and forks off of my R80 mono shock later this week to install Race Tech cartridge emulators. It looks like the most obvious way to hold the front end off of the ground is to put blocks under the front exhaust cross piece. I'd rather block it up using the frame, but that doesn't appear to be possible. Anyone have any insights on propping an airhead up? My other choice was to see if my wife would sit on the back of the bike for a couple of days while I do the install. So far, that idea isn't going anywhere.
 
An inexpensive scissor jack has worked for me on a wide variety of bikes, including several airheads.
 
I wouldnt risk damaging the crossover pipe. Slip a piece of 2 x 4 under each side of the center stand then weigh the back down or load up the side cases.
 
! ACHTUNG !

Make sure you secure the center stand in the down position; you're SOL if it collapses.

seal1.jpg


Read this > http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/forkseal/index.htm

EDIT - add

An inexpensive scissor jack has worked for me on a wide variety of bikes, including several airheads.
Click to expand...

My fav $80 HF lift, even works with my sidecar rig.

ATV-Motorcycle-Lift.jpg
 
The exhaust system wasn't designed to support the weight of the bike. Centerstand, and weight the rear end---and we'll leave further discussion of your spouse alone. Once you have the front wheel off, I'd think the rear end weighting can probably go away until you're ready to put the front wheel back on.
 
You probably won’t need anything once the front wheel is removed, but if in doubt I just toss a bag of water softener salt onto the rear rack. And now, I have tie-down points on both my lift and my garage floor so I don’t have to lug salt.

Best,
DG
 
Yes, with the wheel off there is little or no weight on the front and it will "probably" sit on the rear wheel and center stand, but you still need to have something under the front to guard against a fat Sea Gull landing on it and having a catastrophe. I use the aforementioned scissor jack with a piece of wood between the jack and the oil pan, but whatever you can get under there will help. The prop does not need to be supporting much weight, just snugged up against the bike to prevent any forward rocking movement.
 
akbeemer said:
Yes, with the wheel off there is little or no weight on the front and it will "probably" sit on the rear wheel and center stand, but you still need to have something under the front to guard against a fat Sea Gull landing on it and having a catastrophe. I use the aforementioned scissor jack with a piece of wood between the jack and the oil pan, but whatever you can get under there will help. The prop does not need to be supporting much weight, just snugged up against the bike to prevent any forward rocking movement.
Click to expand...

I used to just tie an Ancra tie down strap from the handlebars up to some high point (beam or hook) in the garage just for good measure!
 
So my final solution was "None of the above". I made a low (2.25") platform that i could drive the bike onto. The back of the bike is strapped down with a ratchet strap. Having it well secured was probably a good idea as the fork tube caps were a bit resistant to being removed and some bike wrestling was involved. Also, even with the wheel and fork tubes missing, it wouldn't take a lot of pressure for the bike to fall forward if it wasn't secured.

I made the platform in two sections so I could remove the front section in case I needed more clearance for front wheel removal. The rear section was 48" long and that provided enough leverage that there was no tendency of the bike to tilt forward.

IMG_0370.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks. I love the bike dearly, but I have to confess that I have definitely spent more on the bike than I could ever sell it for.
 
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