How to lift with my bike with a HF motorcycle lift.

Hi everyone,

First post by a total newbie here: new to motorcycles, new to the NC700 forum, etc.... Got my NC700XD in mid-January. NOT new to doing my own maintenance, mods, and repairs on various vehicles.

ANYWAY, bought this from Harbor Freight and assembled it over the weekend:



It was only after doing so that I decided to take a look to see where the lift points would be. The only one that looked clearly safe is where the center stand is mounted. I guess I could lift only at that point if I had to using straps to balance the thing, but was wondering how you guys would handle it?

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the forum!
In almost 40 years of riding I have never used a lift, but I saw no responses and thought I'd give my $.02 worth. It seems like the lift you bought is not really designed for our bike. I could be wrong, it's happened once I think (could be wrong! lol). Your lift looks to be better suited for a typical motorcycle frame. ie: One having the 2 lower tubes that straddle, and actually hang below, the motor. Is there a particular reason you want to use a lift to get the bike off the ground? It seems a centerstand or pitbull type would be easier and work for most situations.

+1 those lifts are designed for full framed bikes ( most harleys, vtxs are a couple). Ours uses the frame as a stressed member. If you want to use that lift you are going to have to design some sort of bracket to fit the bike (so your lifting on the frame not the engine or exhaust). That being said why do you need the entire bike in the air? A centerstand will get the rear off the ground. Place a sandbag on the passenger seat and the front is off the ground

searsboy said:

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the forum!
In almost 40 years of riding I have never used a lift, but I saw no responses and thought I'd give my $.02 worth. It seems like the lift you bought is not really designed for our bike. I could be wrong, it's happened once I think (could be wrong! lol). Your lift looks to be better suited for a typical motorcycle frame. ie: One having the 2 lower tubes that straddle, and actually hang below, the motor. Is there a particular reason you want to use a lift to get the bike off the ground? It seems a centerstand or pitbull type would be easier and work for most situations.

Click to expand...

DOH! I just figured there would be times when I'd need to get it up off the ground. To maybe do stuff like the of suspension mods Lee the beemer guy does, etc.... It kinda beats me to death in some situations. I do already have the center stand and knew I could weight the back of the bike to get the front tire up. When I saw the HF lift was on sale I snagged one. No big deal, I'll find something to do with it. Now that you guys mention it, all the reviews for the lift were from guys with big, heavy bikes and ATVs.... Appreciate the info -- looks like I got a lot learn!

Ha! I just bought the same exact lift yesterday from Harbor Freight. It was $59 so I had to grab it! Too bad I'm reading this thread a day too late. Have you figured out a way to make it useful?

I have the same stand, used it for work on my Shadow.
Be sure to read all the warnings!!! The release pedal is counter intuitive - if you stomp on it, the load will come down soft and easy, but if you press light and slow, all resistance is released and the load comes crashing down!
Scared the Bejeesus out me (wasn't smart enough to read all the instructions first!) but luckily I didn't have my bike on it til I figured out the nuance.

I have an 8 year old Sears lift just like the HF which I used on my Sportster. Was hoping to use it on the NC, but never tried because I didn't know what to use as lifting point. I'm headed for either a center stand or a pit bull ( or both ).

bring it back to the store. you might want to exchange it for $30 stand

Motorcycle Swingarm Rear Stand

but like i said in other thread-it's not the easiest stand to use. it's maybe ok for off road bikes,but using it on NC- it's a pain in a**. could be very scary ,if you never raised bike used those stands.