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Post by bobf on Dec 7, 2013 19:58:56 GMT -6
Today, I was looking at getting something to make my working on my scoot a bit easier to do and likely help my back stay calmer.
I am looking for the ones that will allow you to put the wheels in the stand and then raise the scooter a foot or more up into the air. This would make working with a mechanics stool possible.
Just a few days back I had to work on my scoot and it was all inside the front plastics. I had to lay on the garage floor, work in some odd positions, and after a bit I would need to get up and look for a tool or whatever. Really hard to do for me as I need to crawl to where I could get a good solid grip on a part of the scooter that would likely not tip the scoot over, or find a chair or door knob so I could help my back and knees to a upright position.
So has anyone on this forum found a good stand to use. I have seen them from around $100 on up to thousands depending on the lift mechanism and other goodies included. I am really wondering if anyone has one of the lower priced ones and feels good about it. I believe it was Sears for one type and don't remember the other places I looked. I was just browsing and made no real notes.
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Post by wolfhound on Dec 8, 2013 5:28:41 GMT -6
Harbor Freight offers one that runs $300.00 when you can catch it on special sales. Can usually get a discount coupon from their online store or from their ads in motorcycle magazines. It will raise your bike up apx. 30", is well built, and my friend at Mountain Moped has one. A real back saver. It is on my got to get list.  |
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Post by bobf on Dec 8, 2013 7:21:28 GMT -6
Thank you wolfhound. I will give a look to Harbor Freight for a good example. We don't have any HF in my current area and maybe not in the larger area. But if freight is not too high, still worth a look.
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Post by JR on Dec 8, 2013 9:12:02 GMT -6
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Post by bobf on Dec 8, 2013 11:47:39 GMT -6
Thanks JR. Those towns you mentioned are about an hour away and likely longer as they are on the north side of Phoenix. I live at least 40 miles south of Chandler, south side of the Phoenix area. To get to Tempe I stay on the freeway and must pass the airport where traffic can be pretty bad. Sometimes it gets down to stop and go, stop and go, movement on a freeway. Sometimes only just slow as all get out. To get to Mesa I can take county roads and then travel through lots of city style areas like Chandler or Gilbert till I arrive in Mesa. So yes, I can and do go into the Phoenix area for shopping. But seldom as we have most items needed right here in Casa Grande. Unfortunately I don't have a truck anymore so must consider shipping. Which can be quite expensive for a 300 lb item.
I will take a look at the items you liked. It all adds up to a decision to do it or forget it.
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Post by JR on Dec 8, 2013 12:22:31 GMT -6
Keep a look out for their sales Bob, last year I just missed out on a heck of a deal, could have got the dang thing for $200! Coupon had expired the day before.
Also if you like you can get on their list and receive their sale papers in the mail, sometimes they put on deals on the sale papers they don't offer in the stores.
I wanted to say when I checked on shipping to my house it was around $80, just don't quite remember?
JR
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Post by bobf on Dec 8, 2013 14:14:15 GMT -6
OK JR, I must correct my knowledge of the Phoenix area. I said Tempe was north of the Phoenix area and it is not, it is actually south of the Phoenix area and likely my nearest point to see HF store. The others get further away from my access point. The Phoenix area is sort of stretched out west and north from where the highway would join the mess. If you use there 'find a store' link it will bring up a map/satellite view, choose satellite and you will see how the Phoenix are stretches east and west and north. Tempe is sort of middle and up a bit but not near halfway as 60 expressway is more of a divider north south. Anyway, I was just thinking of the parts of Phoenix area that I must travel through to go north to Flagstaff or on to Colorado thru the Navajo nation.
Look south of the Tempe area and you see nothing but fields most of the way to Casa Grande. Those are native lands. Lots of farm lands and occasional small settlements. None so big as the Navajo nation further north that I got to know pretty well. I worked with many of the Navajo that lived around Farmington NM and the Utes that lived near Cortez. All were very nice people and so are the ones I have met here in Casa Grande but I don't know just what they call themselves.
Interesting that both of those two red lifts are different by length but still at the same price.
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Post by JR on Dec 8, 2013 18:16:21 GMT -6
That is funny I thought myself. They didn't even list the longer one when I bought mine. But again it saves my knees from the ground and sure makes my life easier. I used to cuss the day when I removed my lawn mower blades for sharpening but now I sit in a chair and take them off.
JR
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Post by bobf on Dec 8, 2013 18:57:24 GMT -6
JR, at sears they have a different style that might do the job and only cost about $90. It is a lift that must go under the scoot or motorcycle and then lifts same on a large pad. I am not sure it would work with the scoot like I have as I think the plastics go below the hard frame parts. Not sure but wondering how someone on this forum might have seen or used one like this. Many lifts similar to this are on the market. I may prefer the larger drive on type as you suggested JR. Just more to add to my searching. And yes, another question about the style you posted. The 113" length is for the platform. How long would the collapsed lift be? I live in a newer city style house with minimum garage space. The first time I entered the garage my car poked a hole in the wall. If I ever get my Colorado home sold I will relocate to some place more older or find a three car garage with extra space in the garage length. With home built by custom builders or out in the more rural areas do have more space in their garages. In these quickie neighborhoods that get built in these newer cities you get very little yard and cheepo garages. My garage that I had built on my Cortez CO home was 27 feet long and two car with individual doors so there was room to walk around both cars and still had room ahead of my full size Lincoln TC for the scoot to sit and room to walk around it on both sides and still room for a work bench and storage cabinets on the wall. .sears.com/craftsman-motorcycle-atv-jack/p-00950190000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> .sears.com/craftsman-motorcycle-atv-jack/p-00950190000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1 . |
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Post by ellpee on Dec 8, 2013 20:48:29 GMT -6
Bob -- there's a Harbor Freight on the northwest side of Tucson, Ina Road exit 248, then about a mile east -- north side of the street, sits back a little ways from the street. If you get to the Ina Road/Thornydale Road intersection you've gone a tad too far. As I recall Casa Grande is something like exit 205, so 45 minutes or so at 75mph?
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Post by JR on Dec 8, 2013 21:06:29 GMT -6
Ok Bob good questions. I went out in my cold shop and did some measuring for you. 
The width is 27" and with it totally let down all the way it is 7-1/2" high. Now the length (remember) I got the short one is 85" and that's with the back loading plate off. It comes off easily so you can put it out of the way if needed so I hope that helps. The 101" is the total length of the loading plate (ramp) + the lift itself.
I've got my wife's 250A on it right now, her horn quit and I'm going to fix that when it warms up. 
The 250A is exactly like your scooter except the engine. It sits on there nice and steady and I use the center stand so the scooter is balanced. The front wheel clamp does a good job and helps keep the scooter stable. If you are concerned the lift has loops on the side so one can use straps to secure the scooter. It lifts smoothly and lets down smoothly and picture this Bob. To change your gear oil you can lift it high enough that you can sit in a chair and never even bend over to change the oil. You can remove the side panels and never even strain a muscle. Taking the front or back tire off, a heck of a lot easier, like I said I put my big Husky mower on it and since the wheels are wider than the lift I just lay a 3/4" piece of plywood over it and roll the mower on it and raise it up. Never again will I lay on the ground/floor to change a lawn mower blade.
I would not put my scooters on the Sears lift. I see it as a accident waiting to happen IMO.
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Post by bobf on Dec 9, 2013 6:57:37 GMT -6
Bob -- there's a Harbor Freight on the northwest side of Tucson, Ina Road exit 248, then about a mile east -- north side of the street, sits back a little ways from the street. If you get to the Ina Road/Thornydale Road intersection you've gone a tad too far. As I recall Casa Grande is something like exit 205, so 45 minutes or so at 75mph? Either way, it is further than going to Tempe, which is up in the Phoenix area. Town after town, all considered to be Phoenix. I did your suggestion and it turns out the mileage is this. CG to Tempe is 43.4mi 47 minutes. CG to Tucson is 59.3mi 53 minutes. Maybe Tucson first if I was also going to include some friends living there. . |
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Post by bobf on Dec 9, 2013 7:13:04 GMT -6
JR, thanks for those numbers and your opinion of the Sears lifts. I rather agree with the unstable comments, but they do have ties included. My concern was the plastics that could get crushed if not careful.
At my house in Colorado I had that larger garage that I had built against the front of the house, but I also had a large one car garage at the back fence of my lot. It had a large work bench along one side and an equally large shelving units along half of the other side. I kept my riding mower, hand mower, edger, snow blower, and lots of hand tools and supplies in there with all the winter storage for hoses, swamp cooler equipment that I took down each fall and put up each spring. Sure do miss the comforts of a small town housing situation compared to our now city style home.
Still trying to sell my Cortez home. Will lower the price again this spring. I keep telling the real estate folks I will accept and consider offers, but they say it is too high priced and I must lower the price. They are not sales people, they are nothing more that contract writers. They can enter the property no matter what the price says and ask for a offer. Should I accept, the house is sold. But after two years of their resistance I will lower the price a bit and try again.
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Post by ellpee on Dec 10, 2013 8:39:22 GMT -6
Don't know where you are in CG, so you're probably right about the mileage, although the mileage shown on highway signs reflects downtown Tucson, about 10 miles difference. Off subject, but I agree on realtors. Whether you're buying or selling, NOBODY works for you -- not the agents, not the mortgage brokers, not the title companies, not the appraisers, not the home inspectors, NOBODY. They all want to move properties as fast as possible, pocket the money, and move on to the next one. Their "advice" on price is totally based on that, unless they happen to be your brother-in-law, and even then I'd be skeptical. If you push back, as you have done, they just move you to the back burner and expend their effort on the ones they can sell quickly. Unfortunately, they have collectively built a system, with government collaboration, where you are completely at their mercy.
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Post by bobf on Dec 10, 2013 9:52:43 GMT -6
I used Google Earth to calculate the distances. I was from near my home to the nearest Harbor Freight. Cortez is close to halfway between Tucson and Phoenix.
You are so true about them when Cortez remains the most depressed in the area. Those larger towns nearby, Durango CO and Farmington NM have both shown home price increases since the 7 year old recession began. Why shouldn't Cortez do so too? To me it is all in the attitude of the city council and laid back attitude of the realtors. They don't work Saturday or Sunday if they can avoid it. When I worked in real estate in north Colorado we were expected to work weekends and take time of during the week. We kept open house weekends to bring public into the activities and encourage them to invest in a better home. In Cortez, when I moved there I had wondered why they were so lazy about work. They are still lazy it appears. I essentially left my license in Cortez due to an action of the local RE board. I had a brain tumor and a serious operation removed that problem but I remained in some thinking problems afterword. I called the state board and they agreed to hold my license for a year or so. When I told my local board what had happened they shut me off, told me I could rejoin when the state reactivated my license and that I would have to pay the start up fee of $1,000 once again. So at that time, I was in my 70's, I just did not reactivate my license again. But at that time I had only been in real estate for about 5 years in north Colorado and not a big earner, the remaining 5 years in Cortez I was a non earner and only had a couple listings to attempt to get sold.
Now I am 80 and really do not miss the activity much at all.
When we came down to CG we had an agent from Chandler that took us all over in the Phoenix area. She would show us lots of homes and then ask for a offer on any of them. She was a good agent in my mind. We bid on a couple. One we bid about $140 and another bidder went to $180 something so we lost. On the one we have we bid $105 and the lending agency wanted more so we went to the counter offer of $110. Sure wish my home in Cortez could sell so I could get out of this city style living and get into something more casual. They exist here in CG and other larger cities, you just have to get into older neighborhoods prior to all the Home Owners groups started taking over and the city councils decided to allow builders to build on lot line foundations, no large front or back yards, uselessly small garages, no basements, no storage at all. I guess I don't like big city life at all.
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