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Lifting the front end for fork work

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814 views 24 replies 7 participants last post by  rcannon409  
#1 ·
Time for the Good Husband (me) to be changing the Missus' front fork oil on her beloved '17 N1K.
I've changed the front tire a couple of times by using a Pitbull rear stand and jacking up the front end via a jack under the engine crankcase and/or the header collector weld area.
Call me chicken, but that setup scares the daylights out of me. It's pretty tippy. I like to do this kind of work on the Harbor Freight lift she bought me because I can tie the bike, whichever it is, down pretty securely. But my bikes have centerstands (Blackbird and FJR) so it's not that big a deal.
But the 1000 is easily the scariest to lift the front end on of any bike I've ever worked on, so I'm thinking of either a) breaking down and buying a headstand lift with money I'd rather spend on Blackbird tires, or using my eight-foot heavy-duty 300lb-rated contractor stepladder, or just going with the crankcase jack again and live in terror.
Seeking suggestions.
I see on Amazon a "MOTO4U" headlift stand for a hundred bucks that looks as though it might work, despite not being a Pitbull. Any experience with that product?
Thanks in advance. Gratuitous snapshot added for visual appeal.
Bill

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Discussion starter · #6 ·
I'd like to be able to use the garage's ceiling joists to do an overhead setup, but our garage is a bit unusual. It's a 12' ceiling height, which makes working with it less easy, but the structure is commercial-type steel trusses as the building was originally built with a dual-use permit. Pretty strange from this old carpenter/contractor's experience.
So punching holes in the drywall ceiling to pass a wire rope or chain through the lower chord of a truss (as compared to running a large eyebolt) isn't a good idea, as it's a rental.
I like the board under the rear stand thing. I'll have to look into that.
I really like the central stands such as the Abba or Constand but I'm not too keen about spending the money on that just now.
Appreciate the replies.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
ML, I have one of those but wasn't able to figure out a good way to use it for this purpose.
Maybe I'll have to go give it another try.
 
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