Raising the F6B

Looking ahead for installing a car tire. Wanting to know if it is safe to raising the bike, take the rear wheel off, and leave it on the jack for half a day while I take the wheel to get the tire changed?

Are there any issues with leaving the bike on the jack? Of course I would put a block under it so it would not fall. Wondering about the balance when the wheel comes off?

I really don't want to lay it on its side for half a day, or purchase another wheel.

With my Valkyrie I raised it, took the wheel to get changed, came back and reinstalled it. All was fine. Just wondering if I can do that with the F6B?

Although I do have a motorcycle lift ( not a table lift) in the shop, I haven't yet had need to put the F6B on it for any work. My only concern in the past having used it to lift a variety of bikes was to ensure that the points the lift come in contact with on the bike, are appropriate and strong enough to support the weight of the entire bike ( ie do not break any casting or crush exhaust components ) and equally level in relation to the underside of the machine to keep it level and secure. In some cases this has required making some spacers, usually out of wood to keep everything in good order. And I am getting to my point here......

once you have the bike elevated, level, balanced and secure, then it shouldn't make any difference if it is up there five minutes or five hours. A couple of caveats to that though....first that the location is locked up so kids or other folk that don't understand how tippy the bike might be don't have the opportunity to tip it over and perhaps injure themselves. Secondly, most good jacks have a locking device once elevated to act as backup against leaky hydraulics or what have you. I have seen some of these ratcheting devices wear out over the years and stop working as they should....however I have never seen this on a quality lift.....just an observation.

Also, the bike may be in a balanced position when lifted with the wheel on and become less so when the weight of the wheel and rim are removed/

My.02 for what it is worth.

tink

As a second thought I remember the Heritage in particular was quite front heavy when doing a rear tire change. In that case I used to lift the rear of the bike and leave the front wheel on the shop floor.....likely someone here knows the balance point of the F6B.....otherwise it might require a little trial and error to get it right.

I haven't quite got my head around putting the bike down on its side yet to change a tire either.....although this beast has changed a lot of my ideas on bikes so perhaps that will be just another small step to take when that time comes.

Looks quite painless on the videos online.

tink

dont even bother with a jack, just put down some cardboard and lay it over on its side to remove the rear.. It rests on the crash bars and you can take it off in about 10 minutes.
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Originally Posted by mtcgun

dont even bother with a jack, just put down some cardboard and lay it over on its side to remove the rear.. It rests on the crash bars and you can take it off in about 10 minutes.
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This is how I do it. I make sure the gas is low. It shouldn't hurt it to lay there while you have the tire mounted.

Your bike appears to have a backrest, so it's probably a Deluxe with center stand. If so, why not just use that rather than a lift? You could leave it on a center stand indefinitely.

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Originally Posted by mtcgun

dont even bother with a jack, just put down some cardboard and lay it over on its side to remove the rear.. It rests on the crash bars and you can take it off in about 10 minutes.
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From this point do you have to rotate it even further pull the tire and wheel off?

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Originally Posted by stroguy

From this point do you have to rotate it even further pull the tire and wheel off?

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yea, pull the center stand out and that tilts it over a bit more.

Sweet. That's awesome soldier work there. Thanks for the pic.

But if I leave it on its side in the garage my wife can't pull the mini van into the garage. I do not want to bring the wrath of god upon myself. Plus I think I will just use the lift with the jack stands it seems more practical than laying the bike on its side for a day while I get the tire mounted.

I have read somewhere that if I get the McGiver belly pan you can lift the bike with it. It seems to me that would give me a nice flat surface to jack up the bike.
Steve

Steve,
I don't think I'd trust any belly pan to support your wing. In fact, if I was using a jack I think I'd prefer to remove the BP and use the frame as jack points. The belly pan is only connected with small bolts that would most likely not hold up in a lift.

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Originally Posted by stevenolts

I have read somewhere that if I get the McGiver belly pan you can lift the bike with it. It seems to me that would give me a nice flat surface to jack up the bike.
Steve

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That is nothing short of :bsII:

900 lbs of motorcycle .... place the jack so that it also uses the center stand area as a lifting point.

The frame is the most secure area. there is NO belly pan that is strong enough to support this bike on it's own.

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Originally Posted by Phantom

That is nothing short of :bsII:

900 lbs of motorcycle .... place the jack so that it also uses the center stand area as a lifting point.

The frame is the most secure area. there is NO belly pan that is strong enough to support this bike on it's own.

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And on top of that the studs the belly pan mount on are connected to the exhaust headers, so not only are you putting a lot of weight on the belly pan you are putting a lot of weight on the studs and directly transferring it to the exhaust header pipes. Here are pic of the studs on the F6B headers that you mount the belly pan on. I personally will never lift my F6 by the belly pan no matter how thick it is as long as it is mounted to these studs on the exhaust.:no:

I agree totally with BigLry. If you're lifting the bike on the belly pan, even the Macgyver, you risk breaking the studs. They are not that robust. If you install the Macgyver as tight as it will go, it's possible you will actually be lifting on the lower exhaust pipe. I don't like that either. Bottom line, I don't advise this.

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Originally Posted by stevenolts

But if I leave it on its side in the garage my wife can't pull the mini van into the garage. I do not want to bring the wrath of god upon myself.
Steve

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Hmmm, I think I see who wears the pants in that family. :crackup:

Do you need someone to volunteer and tell your wife she'll have to park her beloved vehicle out of the garage for a day while your bike is on it's side. That's clearly the easiest and fastest way to GitRdone! And probably safest. :stirthepot:

There we go....thinkin with that penis thing first. Man that thing can be trouble sometimes.