Harbor Freight lift review

[f6john]

I bought this lift site unseen other than a picture since there wasn’t one on display.



I figured I would have the bike on a lift for a good while and I wanted maximum stability and I hoped the wide base of this unit would fill the bill.





The lift will raise the bike 30” off the floor almost double the height of the most common jacks being used which I thought would be of great benefit too. The lift had no problem lifting the bike and at full lift you could access the bike sitting or standing with ease. I should have taken pics with the bike on the lift to show this along with the issues I didn’t like.

#1. The arms that do the lifting were so wide that the lift adapter I got from MarkT barely reached the two edges of the lift arms. I initially thoughts that their width would add to stability but other issues negated that idea.

#2. The lift came with two wheels that only contact the ground when tilted backwards. Works great for mobility around the garage but the two arms that set on the floor and support everything won’t go under the bike while tilted so placement is difficult especially given the limited range of placement in order to line up with the lift adapter.

#3. Once under the bike and you think you have it where you need it, you realize that the lift arms swing in an arc, so you have to reposition the lift as you pump the jack to make sure the lift arms engage the lift adapter where you need them. Difficult since you have no wheels to help in the process.

#4. Once you have the bike in the air, the first thing I noticed was that the bike was not level side to side. This was just a design flaw for lack of a better explanation and there was no option for fine tuning. I guess you could develop some shims to rectify the problem.

#5. Finally with the bike all the way up and the provided safety pin in place you realize that all the stability you have is from the two parallel arm linkages from the jack to the lift arms and the whole bike would/ could sway with the clearances in the design.

So for $220.00 it was far from what I had hoped for. It works and is usable but it’s deficiencies were enough for me to return it to the store. I still haven’t replaced it with anything but will probably go with the floor jack design.

[Bret SD]

I got the HF lift with the floor jack design for $80 on sale, while not perfect it works pretty well and has a fairly small storage footprint in the garage.

One strange quirk is when using the floor pedal to lower the lift you have to slam it down for the lift to descend slowly, if you partially depress the pedal the bike drops like a rock.. No bueno but I got used to it. :?

[old2soon]

I got the HF lift with the floor jack design for $80 on sale, while not perfect it works pretty well and has a fairly small storage footprint in the garage.

One strange quirk is when using the floor pedal to lower the lift you have to slam it down for the lift to descend slowly, if you partially depress the pedal the bike drops like a rock.. No bueno but I got used to it. :?

                Similar and as I bought it awhile back it are bright yellow. I DO how ever tie the bikes to the lift with H/F 1" ratchet straps as removing either wheel Do cause some balance issues. BUT I've had the lift long enough that I Know Precisely Where to put it for Best Results.  Did NOT pay very much for it BUT I've gotten Value fer the bucks spent!  RIDE SAFE.

[sandy]

HF’s better MC lift is very strong and works much better. It’s about $180, sometimes on sale.

[Bret SD]

I got the HF lift with the floor jack design for $80 on sale, while not perfect it works pretty well and has a fairly small storage footprint in the garage.

One strange quirk is when using the floor pedal to lower the lift you have to slam it down for the lift to descend slowly, if you partially depress the pedal the bike drops like a rock.. No bueno but I got used to it. :?

                Similar and as I bought it awhile back it are bright yellow. I DO how ever tie the bikes to the lift with H/F 1" ratchet straps as removing either wheel Do cause some balance issues. BUT I've had the lift long enough that I Know Precisely Where to put it for Best Results.  Did NOT pay very much for it BUT I've gotten Value fer the bucks spent!  RIDE SAFE.

I usually lift mine up and put padded jack stands under the crash bars, then a floor jack under the back wheel, from there I support according to the work I'm doing. I'm happy with the cheap POS 

[Bighead]

I have seen that one at HF lately but when I bought mine that model wasnt in store I bought the yellow one that Dennis mentioned think I paid $79 for it and have had zero issues and there are wheels on the ground. Had my IS sitting on it for about a month while having painted parts repainted ZERO problems with it lining up with adapter.  Stand the bike up and slide jack under and pump it up. Very stable I use it frequently and never an issue.

[3fan4life]

A friend of mine has the same one that you do.

It works well enough but it never feels very stable to me.

I have one of the old yellow ones in the other style and like it much better.

I'd like to get one of the aluminum ones, but they never put it on a good enough sale to make me pull the trigger.

[h13man]

I variant this variat HF jack. Made the wooden adaptor (nicely) but jacked up it seem to be ass heavy otherwise same foot pedal release sucked as others have mentioned. I probably going back to my engine hoist set. Much safer and stable IMO when doing this procedure by one self. Used for 14 yrs. on my ZR7, 1100 Spirit, Vulcan, and Valk.