floor jack

[Duffy]

I don't know about anyone else but it is confusing to me. Pics would be nice Chief

I bought an adapter for my Nomad from a guy on the  KawaNOW forum .

I used a picture and made one of these for my Classic (made one for a friends 1600 Nomad also).  It also fits the 1500 Drifter.

[Hoppy]

Here are two pics of my adapters to allow me to safely lift my 800. They are made of 2X4 with an equal length of 1X4 screwed to it. This gives enough depth to easily miss all of the Zerk fittings and oil pan and yet slide my jack under the bike. I should also mention that I roll my bike up onto two (one for front tire and one for back tire) pieces of 2X12, each about a foot long.
The piece with the notch (needed to clear the frame) is for the left side and is 14" long. The small elongated notch fits into the tab hanging down from the rail and prevents the 2X4 from slipping off of the frame rail. The little notch is 1" from the end and 1 1/4" long. The big notch is 2 1/8" long and is 2 7/8" from the end. The eyelets are 6" and 11" from the end. The other 2X4 has a little notch which is 7/8" from the end and is 1 1/4" long. The eyelets are 6 1/2" and 13 1/2" from the end.
The other photo shows the center line on the bottom of the boards. This center line helps me place my jack ends exactly where they must be placed to ensure the jack is centered.
The rubber bands go over the frame rails and hold the 2X4s tightly against the frame rails. The zip ties on the end of the rubber bands allow me to easily slip them over the frame rails.
It may sound a bit uhandy to put these on and raise the bike, but it actually only takes a couple of minutes to put them on and raise the bike.

[Gas Grecco]

Thanks to all for the helpful hints , will be modifying to dual exhaust over the winter months

[TC]

 I don't know about anyone else but it is confusing to me. Pics would be nice Chief

I bought an adapter for my Nomad from a guy on the  KawaNOW forum .

[TripWire]

I know I am not hitting the zerk fittings.  I place the jack just in front of the first zerk fitting.  As far as the oil pan goes I will have to check, maybe I have been living on the wild side.  I think the bike is resting on the frame rails and possible to oil pan too.  My jack stand is just a smig wider than the frame rails and it takes me a minute or two to line it up.  One up it's stable enough when that I don't need to use straps when washing the bike (the only way to keep whitewalls clean).  So I am guess you can damage the oilpan if you lift it wrong.  I have my bike on the lift alomost everyother week (whitewalls!) so If I am doing it wrong let me know before I mess sonethign up.

Also - once my current tires wear out I think I am done with whitewalls.  They look great but they are a pain to keep clean and if I paint the bike next winter they will not go with the paint job.  Planning on going for the military look.

[Hoppy]

Hey Tripwire,
Just curious about your Craftsman jack. Are you lifting the bike by having the jack touching the engine oil pan or does your jack rest on the frame rails. ARe you using some type of adaptor?
I have a Harbor Freight jack and I have to use two sections of 2X4 that have been modified to they attach to each frame rail (one on each side of the bike which is an 800). Then I slide the jack under the bike and lift the bike. The 2X4 rails prevent the jack from coming into contact with the engine oil pan or the suspension Zerk fittings.
My jack rails are only 12" long and the rails are 12" wide which makes for a scary setup so the 2X4's I use help that situation a bit too by giving the jack pads more area to rest on.
Hoppy

[TripWire]

I have a Craftsman lift for my 800 and I didn't need to mod it to work, does the 1500 have less ground clearance?

With any lift once you get it to the height you need make sure to use the mechanical lock on the lift so the hydraulics don't have to support the bike while you work on it.  Have a friend that has went through two nicer lifts so far because he doesn't do this.

[chief]

This is from my post back in 2002 when I got the lift.

Ok, here's the deal. When you buy Sam's lift make sure you have the LARIN lift. This lift has 4 drilled and tapped holes in the lift pads for the adapter. The overall length of the lift pads make this lift too short for the front of the frame, so you need the lift adapter available on Sam's web site. This raises the lift points so no engine parts are contacted and allows you to position the lift points.

The adapter is a box metal frame that is attached to the lift pads of the lift. There are 4 "L" shaped brackets with V shaped lift pads bolted on. Remove the "V" shape deals and cut off the "L" bracket bolts about 2 inches. When you screw in the "L" brackets into the box frame, the height of the lift points from the floor to the top of the "L" bracket about 5 inches. Short enough to go under the 1500 while on the kickstand with no problems.

Adjust the "L" brackets to where you want them to meet the frame and slowly lift the bike. Positioned right, with the outriggers this is pretty stable. You can move the lift points forward to get the front wheel off the ground and leave the rear wheel on the ground; backward to do the opposite; or centered to lift the whole bike. You can put rubber on the "L" brackets to keep from scratching up the bottom of the frame if you want. Make sure you don't position the lift where there is wiring.

Bolts are marked metric 10.6 which is equivalent to SAE Grade 8. So I didn't change any bolts. This lift is rated at 1500 pounds so should be no problem with the weight of the bike.

If this is confusing I can post some pics.

Cheers.

[chief]

I bought one from Sam's... removed the pads on the arms so it fits under the bike.

If you go over to the accessories area of the website there is some information about bike lifts in general.

http://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/reviewpost/showcat.php/cat/all/page/1/si/lift/perpage/12/sort/2

[Gas Grecco]

Has anyone modified a normal bike floor jack for a 1500 drifter