When perusing the message boards I often come across someone asking how to lift their Goldwing safely with their bike jack.  I decided to build this page to demonstrate how easy and handy it is. 

I'm sure that there are several ways to jack your bike safely and I'm also sure that everybody has an opinion on where you should and shouldn't position your jack under your bike.  That being said I am going to show you what I do.   

Take a short piece of 2x4 and place it under your sidestand like shown.  This will allow the jack to slide under the bike.

Now this part is very important!  Unless you are jacking your bike outside be sure to fold your antenna's down.  Forgetting to do this can be embarrasing and maybe costly.

Slide the jack in from the right side of the bike and position it so the lift pads will be just aft of the exhaust manifold heat shield.  Some people lift on the heat shield.  Maybe thats ok but I don't for fear of cracking the heat shield.  The  exhaust manifolds are just about even with the lower engine casing so when the jack goes up it will lift primarily on the engine block.  The aft pad will be under the bike centerstand.

Once you get the jack situated start jacking.  The bike is still on its sidestand at this point so as the jack pads contact the bottom of the bike the bike will first began to come off the sidestand and right itself then it will begin to rise.  This is a scary and anxious time for any neo bike jacker.  The back of the bike will begin to rise off the ground first but the front tire will come off immediately after.  Once the front wheel is an inch off the ground go ahead and wiggle the bike a bit to see how sturdy it is.  You will probably find that it very stable.  Continue to jack until you have the bike at the desired height.

Well thats pretty much it.  Now your Goldwing sits safely on the jack 2 ft above your garage floor. 

One final thing you should do is tie your bike down once you have it up in the air.  I have performed many tasks on my bike without it being secured because it feels so solid up on its lift but now I always use tiedowns.  It just seems the smart thing to do. 

When its time to lower your bike first pump the jack up a few inches and release the mechanical lock then slowly start lowering the bike. 

While lowering your bike stop the very instant

Remember * Warning * Caution

your bike tires touch the ground and go around to the left side and make sure your side stand is down and the 2x4 aligned to be underneath your kickstand so when the jack clears the undercarriage of your bike it can rest back over on its sidestand on the 2x4.

I hope this has been helpful for some of you with your fear and trepidation of raising your beloved bike off the ground.  At this point I only have two more things to say. 

 

First, if while reading over this article you didn't giggle when reading the part about checking the air pressure in the wheels of your jack or worse yet you went out and got your tire gauge and went to check the pressure in your wheels, you should immediately box up your jack and return it.  You have no business trying to jack your motorcycle.  That was just my offbeat sense of humor shining through. 

 

Second, I hope you realize that I cannot be responsible for any problems malfunctions or damage that may occur  to you or your equipment just because you read this article.  I offer this only as friendly advice.  Good luck.