$20 Bike Lift Page 1

Build a
128 HP 95 CID Twin Cam
Performance
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write a good
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TC Performance Cylinder Heads month Tune your own bike and save $$

Build a bike lift for your Harley-Davidson Home

motorcycle for under $20 Table of Contents
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You have decided it is time to perform your own Ask us a Question
maintenance on your bike. You have even
considered making a few engine modifications Modification, Installation,
yourself. Maybe you'll even take the back wheel Maintenance and Tuning
Index will help you find
off to have a new tire installed. After a trip down most of the information you
to your local shop, you're back home with an arm want on one page.
load of parts. You grab a wrench to loosen the Nightrider.com Tuning
drain plug only to realize your going to be crawling around on the floor to do anything. Affiliates are shops that
It's a problem just finding the drain plug, you can forget about removing the rear tire or can build or tune engines.
any other major work. What can you do about this?

It's much easier to work on you bike

when it is on a lift. Routine
maintenance is a snap. More
extensive modifications and repairs Engine Performance
that were impossible to perform How to Build a
before are now possible. Removing TC95 128HP Stage 3
either of the wheels is now simple. EVO 64 HP Stage 1
EVO 74 HP Stage 2
The bike is level, steady and at EVO 82 HP Stage 3
least one of the wheels is in the air. EVO 95 HP Stage 3
You can work like the pro's. 883 to 1200 Upgrade
Shovelhead Modifications
Excuse me! One little problem here. New EFI for EVO and TC
Sophisticated lifts can cost in Performance Gallery
excess of $250 and the least expensive ones are still about $80. That's a pretty good Horsepower Gallery
chunk of the cash you had for the work on the bike. A lot of us are not made of money, Evolution 80
and why spend a bundle on a lift that is only going to be used a couple of times a year. Shovelhead
Sportster
Good point! Twin Cam 88/95
Evolution Unlimited
Motorcycle Performance Guide came up with a pretty simple design for a lift you can Sportster Unlimited
build yourself. It will take a trip to Home Depot for a few items, then about an hour to Drag Strip Gallery
Land Speed Racing
assemble. The cost to you should be less than twenty dollars. Gallery
CV Carburetor
To construct the lift you'll need the following items. Here are the estimated costs. Modifying the CV carb
Tuning a CV carb
Camshafts
Selecting a cam
Install a TC 88/95 cam
Install a Big Twin cam
Install Sportster cams
Camshaft Specifications
Evolution
Shovelhead
Sportster
Twin Cam
Download Cam Specs
Exhaust Systems

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$20 Bike Lift Page 2

EVO Exhaust Testing

(1) 3 ft. long 4" x 8" Douglas fir @ $2.00/linear foot $6.00 TC Exhaust Testing
(1) 4' x 3/4" galv. threaded pipe @ $4.32 $4.32 Khrome Werks AR100 test
Making Drag Pipes Work
(1) 3/4" galvanized pipe flange @ $3.11 $3.11
SHOP TALK
(4) 3" x 5/16" lag bolts @ .50 each $2.00 Shop Manual
Carburetor
Sub-Total $15.43 Carburetor Troubleshooting
Tax 1.20 Do Crank Vents work?
Exhaust
Total $ 16.63 Ignition
Finding Manifold Leaks
Camshafts
The following tools are needed to assemble the lift: Cylinder Heads
Pistons and Cylinders
Pencil & Ruler Clutch
Electric (not battery powered) Drill Belt Drive
Shop Manual Appendix
1" and 1 3/8" Paddle bore drill bit or adjustable hole saw drill attachment $20 Bike Lift
3/16" Wood drill bit Plug Wires
1/2" Socket to tighten lag bolts Spark Plugs
Engine Tuning
Small pipe wrench Nitrous Oxide
For a Sportster lift: Motor Oil
Hand saw to notch the wood to compensate for the exhaust header on the Stutter Box
General Information
Sporty that hangs below the frame WEB Links
OR Buy Books and Manuals
A hammer to nail on a 1"x4" to the 4"x8" Miscellaneous
Performance Calculations
Note: For a Sportster frame you'll need a 28" long piece of 2x4 and some long nails to secure it
Estimate Horsepower
to the 4x8 and 2 - 1" eye bolts. More notes on a making the lift work for Sportsters is listed
Estimate 1/4 Mile Time
below.
Estimate Top Speed
Engine Displacement
There are other possible improvement to the lift listed below. Exhaust Length
Gear Ratios
MPH at RPM
Air Density
Instructions:
1. Locate and mark a point on the 8" wide side of the 4"x8"x3' piece of wood that is
3 1/2" from end and on the centerline of its length.

1. At the marked locating and using the 1 3/8" paddle bore drill bit, drill deep
enough into the wood to allow the raised portion of the flange to fit into the wood
and outer portion of the flange fit tightly against the wood.
Now replace the bit with the 1" bit and continue drilling through the 4"x8". The
smaller hole allow additional support of the pipe while raising and lowering the
bike.
2. Place the Pipe Flange, countersunk, into the hole and mark the four Lag Bolt
hole locations on the wood.

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$20 Bike Lift Page 3

3. Drill each lag bolt hole with the 3/16" bit at a slight angle away from the
centerline of the hole just bored through the wood. Pre-drilling the holes makes
installation of the lag bolts easier and prevent the wood from splitting.
4. Seat the flange in the 1 3/8" hole, then screw the lag bolts down securely
using the socket wrench.
5. Insert the 3/4"x4' galvanized pipe through the bored hole threading it into the
flange and tighten with the pipe wrench.

Congratulations! Your bike lift is done. There are

a few other little things you may want to do on
your bike lift listed below.

To operate your lift, insert the wood directly

under your frame somewhere beneath the
engine. Check that you won't be putting pressure
on something you shouldn't. Insure the ground
beneath your bike is level. If you can with your
left hand, hold your bike upright leaving the
kickstand extended outward. Now push the handle of your new lift rearward and
downward. Your bike is lifted and in an upright position making it easier to work on,
clean and to check the oil.

Notes and Improvements:

Paint the pipe handle red. This might prevent you from accidentally falling over it.

Wrap some duct or electrical tape around the handle end of the same pipe for
comfort.

Stapling or tacking down some old carpet over the lifting edges of the 4" x 8". This
will keep the wood from removing paint from your frame each time you lift your bike.

If you can not find a 4"x8", you can buy a 2"x8" 8 foot long and cut it in half. Put the
two pieces together, forming a 4"x8" and nail them together. Better yet, use 2 1/2"
drywall screws to fasten the two pieces of wood together.

8 inch wide lumber is actually closer to 7 1/2 inches wide. Some bikes may require a
slightly higher or lower lift. You can use 2"x6" lumber for very low bikes, or add a
piece of 1"x4" lumber on the top raise the bike some. With a Sportster, you can cut
the 1"x4" into two pieces, leaving the required notched section for the exhaust pipe.

The pipe will not thread all the way to the bottom of the pipe flange. Don't EVEN try to
thread the flange from the bottom up to save from counter sinking the flange.

Use a 4' long 4" x 8" and put two eye bolts in the wood about 3" from each end so
that they face the ceiling when the bike is on the lift. Now when you put the bike up,
take off your seat and use two nylon pull type tie downs to secure the bike frame
under the seating area to the lift at the eye bolts. Straddle the bike and pull them tight
simultaneously. The bike WILL be very stable. No more worries about the narrow
Sporty frame or the bike's stability while up on the lift.

When drilling the holes to install the pipe and flange, use two different size bits so
that the wood lends some support to the pipe and the flange doesn't take all of the
weight. This improvement is listed in the assembly steps.

Notes for Sportster owners:

The Sportster front exhaust header is lower than the frame tubes. Using the lift as
designed above would cause the 4"x8" lifting surface to put pressure on the exhaust
header. Therefore to lift the Sportster properly you'll need to nail a 1"x4" or 2"x4" to
the lifting surface of the 4"x8". It should be cut 28" long and aligned flush with the
edge where you drilled the hole for the pipe.

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$20 Bike Lift Page 4

Additionally, because the Sportster frame is so narrow, for safety and security you
should purchase two 1" eye-bolts. These would be fastened to the lift so you could
run a strap through them and over the seat to keep the bike from falling on either
side.
Many thanks to Rikko who originally authored this article. He
was kind enough to let the Motorcycle Performance Guide
edit, update and publish his work. It's riders like Rickko that
make the Motorcycle Performance Guide successful.
THANKS!

http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/bikelift.htm 10/22/2005 06:24:55 PM