Motorcycle lift DIY School project.

[Kok]

After half a year at metal-working/welding school, I fabricobbled this cute little thing together as my final project.
It's based on these plans i found online for inspiration: http://www.instructables.com/id/motorlift/
I have a complete set of very detailed plans of my version, since this was part of the assigment. So if anyone should be interested, I'll gladly share them.

I obviously still need to mount a tabletop of sorts and maybe something like a support thingy for the front wheel, like you typically see on these kinda lifts.
(EDIT) I also need to construct a way to secure the lift, as to not only rely on the jack alone.
But I just wanted to share my progress, now that I got it home and could snap a few fotos. Guess I could keep this post updated along the way to a completed build.


- Here it is in it's full erectness.



- And here in a not as "excited" state.


- 

[ShowBizWolf]

Very very nice!! I like it. YES keep this updated as you make more progress

[cbrfxr67]

Looks great.  Nice lines and heavy duty.  I guess if that jack craps out you could replace the ram in it and be good.  Not too much pita

[Kok]

Very very nice!! I like it. YES keep this updated as you make more progress

I'll be sure to keep it updated then  

Looks great.  Nice lines and heavy duty.  I guess if that jack craps out you could replace the ram in it and be good.  Not too much pita

Thanks, ya that should be possible. I just hope it's gonna last a decent while though.  And by my (very rough and likely not proper calculations) the load should be within it's limits (2000 KG)
But I'm no enginerd (yet). So if someone qualified to do the calculations wanna give it a proper go, please feel free. Myself and my teachers weren't able to tackle it,
since it's like some 2 or more axis torque calculations. ( I think )..... So ya.... Erhm hehe

[mr72]

Should have had you build one of these only slightly larger for my Miata. Man that would've made my life easier.

Looks great!

[peteGS]

That's pretty damn cool 

Something like this has been on a wish list for me for a very long time, and having half a garage for my bikes now means I actually have enough room to put one in.

A couple of safety points of concern though... you seem to be missing some way of locking it when it's up, so you're relying 100% on that jack which is a bit scary. Also, did you put some steel pipe in for the bolts to go through rather than just put the bolt directly through the arms? I think any sideways force or even over-tightening the bolts might tend to compress the hollow steel and compromise the strength.

Definitely keep us updated, and I only mention the above to make sure it doesn't cause you or your bike major grief (I'm not an engineer in any way shape or form, just observation).

Your welding looks great too, I wish mine was about 10% as good as that

[Kok]

That's pretty damn cool 

......you seem to be missing some way of locking it when it's up, so you're relying 100% on that jack which is a bit scary. Also, did you put some steel pipe in for the bolts to go through rather than just put the bolt directly through the arms? I think any sideways force or even over-tightening the bolts might tend to compress the hollow steel and compromise the strength.
.......

Again, thanks for the kind words.

You're definitely right, I just failed to mention the missing features for securing the lift in my original post. I absolutely do plan to design and construct something to secure things in place.

As for the bolts, there's no bushings or reinforcement for now. However the pipe is 3 mm walled cold rolled steel, so arguably a bit overkill for the load. The arms are also welded shut in both ends, strengthening them a fair bit. But I do admit, it's a bit iffy, but for now I'm just gonna keep an eye on it and hope for the best.

Your concerns and input are very much appreciated though 

[peteGS]

Ah! 3mm thick is more than I thought, should be pretty tough I reckon 

Good stuff, looking forward to the updates!

[KHnTX]

Very cool.  Wish I could weld that nice.