how to remove the rear wheel?

[mrbreeze]

my wife bought me a HF Motorcycle Table lift

http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb...8892-8495.html

I am eager to set it up and start using it. I want to be able to remove the wheels and do my own tire changes. Every bike I have ever had before had a centerstand. How do you get the rear wheel off the table so you can drop the rear wheel out?

oh - 2008 Nomad 1600

thanks

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

my wife bought me a HF Motorcycle Table lift

http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb...8892-8495.html

I am eager to set it up and start using it. I want to be able to remove the wheels and do my own tire changes. Every bike I have ever had before had a centerstand. How do you get the rear wheel off the table so you can drop the rear wheel out?

oh - 2008 Nomad 1600

thanks

Obviously you need to raise the wheel a bit in order to drop the table down and support the bike. I have never used a table lift, I use a sliding motorcycle jack.

I would assume a small bottle or scissor jack could be used to lift the bike in order to slide blocks or jackstands under the frame.

[trosco]

Be very careful when lifting what apears to be the back end of the Nomad. A jack under the rear edge of engine or jack stands on the rearward portion of the frame will both actually be very close to the balance point front to back of the bike and you may find the front end coming up unexpectedly. I personally don't believe you can lift a nomad safely unless you are using a full motorcycle jack that the bike is tide down to. The only exception to that I know of is the fellow who used a engine hoist attached to the tops of both rear crash guards to lift the back end.

[Jared]

Most people just use a basic ATV/Motorcycle jack like this with an adapter:

http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-lb...lift-2792.html

http://www.idahojackadapters.com/

[Top Cat]

I saw the dealer remove a front tire by hanging the front of the bike off the table lift.
I seriously doubt you could do that with the rear tire though.

[cnc]

I have seen tables at dealerships that have a center support and a portion of the rear table can be slide out to work on the rear wheel. As you are seeing from the replies most of us just use a bike jack under the frame that lifts the whole bike.

From the pic that I see, a couple of ideas that come to mind. One is cargo straps hung from the ceiling to the rear crash bars. Jack the table up with the bike on it, adjust straps tight, lower the table a bit till the wheel is free and support the frame ahead of the swing arm with blocks of wood for extra security. The other would be to have a removable jacking system that bolts to the table. I'm thinking as Cactus mentioned a scissor jack or 2 small hydraulic jacks mounted on a steel plate and the rams connected by a piece of square tubing or bar stock to form a solid jacking point on the frame.

[MAS Tequila]

What we did in the shop was this, strap the front end down to where the suspension is compressed, just like as if you were towing. Put a bottle or scissor jack under the swingarm and lift.

It will require less lift if you remove the bag supports from the right side.

MT

[ringadingh]

Get a proper bike jack to raise the bike safely, you can usually find them for $60-$70.00 at most places on sale. They will pay for themselves the first time you use it.
If the bike ever falls over doing it another way, you will most likely do a lot more damage than what the jack cost.

[recumbentbob]

Originally Posted by ringadingh

Get a proper bike jack to raise the bike safely, you can usually find them for $60-$70.00 at most places on sale. They will pay for themselves the first time you use it.
If the bike ever falls over doing it another way, you will most likely do a lot more damage than what the jack cost.

That's for sure......
Bob

[dakota7557]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

my wife bought me a HF Motorcycle Table lift

http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb...8892-8495.html

I am eager to set it up and start using it. I want to be able to remove the wheels and do my own tire changes. Every bike I have ever had before had a centerstand. How do you get the rear wheel off the table so you can drop the rear wheel out?

oh - 2008 Nomad 1600

thanks

I have pretty much the same lift (I have the air hookup incl.)...I simply cut a piece of metal that would fit under the frame, put the bike on the table lift, put it in the air and put my 1 ton floor jack under the thick piece of metal (floor jack sitting on the table lift), raise the back end up 1/2 inch, pull the cover and drop the tire. Works for me. Now the front tire is a different beast.

[phot]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

my wife bought me a HF Motorcycle Table lift

http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb...8892-8495.html

I am eager to set it up and start using it. I want to be able to remove the wheels and do my own tire changes. Every bike I have ever had before had a centerstand. How do you get the rear wheel off the table so you can drop the rear wheel out?

oh - 2008 Nomad 1600

thanks

I have one of these Handy Table Lifts which is similar to yours. It has a drop-out panel under what would be the position of the rear wheel when the front is held in the "vice".

http://www.handyindustries.com/produ...-1000-air-lift

I also have this scissor lift which when used in conjunction with the table lift gives me every possible combination of lifting the bike safely. I have ratchet tie-down straps which can be positioned anywhere on the table to ensure nothing can move about. This scissor lift is great to use both when the bike is on the table or on the ground, a great piece of kit.

http://www.handyindustries.com/products/lo-boy

[mrbreeze]

thanks for all the great replies. I put the table together today, which was easy enough. The instructions say to check the oilf before use. I removed the rubber plug, there doesn't appear to be any oil in it. The instructions do not say what type of oil to use. I spent an hour trying to get the rubber plug back in with no luck. grrrrr Does anyone know if there is a trick to this? I am running out of swear words.

I called the 800 # for tech support, got a message to send an email to tech@harborfreight.com. did that and got an auto reply saying I can expect a response within 48 hours.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

thanks for all the great replies. I put the table together today, which was easy enough. The instructions say to check the oilf before use. I removed the rubber plug, there doesn't appear to be any oil in it. The instructions do not say what type of oil to use. I spent an hour trying to get the rubber plug back in with no luck. grrrrr Does anyone know if there is a trick to this? I am running out of swear words.

I called the 800 # for tech support, got a message to send an email to tech@harborfreight.com. did that and got an auto reply saying I can expect a response within 48 hours.

Be careful...those oilf's can cause a lot of grief.

[ringadingh]

Originally Posted by mrbreeze

thanks for all the great replies. I put the table together today, which was easy enough. The instructions say to check the oilf before use. I removed the rubber plug, there doesn't appear to be any oil in it. The instructions do not say what type of oil to use. I spent an hour trying to get the rubber plug back in with no luck. grrrrr Does anyone know if there is a trick to this? I am running out of swear words.

I called the 800 # for tech support, got a message to send an email to tech@harborfreight.com. did that and got an auto reply saying I can expect a response within 48 hours.

I use either hydraulic fluid, or automatic transmission fluid in my jacks.

[cnc]

I'm assuming it is a sort of mushroom type plug? I have had success replacing those by putting a little oil on the part to be inserted and twisting in one direction till it gets seated.