Sears Craftsman Motorcycle Lift

[Dans08]

Where are you guys placing the Craftsman lift under the R110RT to lift it? I need to pull the front wheel.

[OoPEZoO]

I hate to be devils advocate here, but why not just use the center stand?

[Dans08]

Good question. With the bike on the lift I would not have to remove the front fender. My manual says the fender will need to be removed and haven never done this yet on an RT, I don't know for sure.

[russell_bynum]

Good question. With the bike on the lift I would not have to remove the front fender. My manual says the fender will need to be removed and haven never done this yet on an RT, I don't know for sure.

 

1. Removing the fender is about a 2-minute job requiring a couple of allen wrenches.

 

2. What work are you trying to do which will require the fender to be removed if the bike is on the centerstand, but not if it is on the lift?

[Dans08]

Russell, I'm removing the front wheel and the two top screws wont budge. Can the front wheel be removed while on the center stand and with the front fender on.

[russell_bynum]

Hmm...OK. Now I understand.

 

I'm not sure if you can get the front wheel off with the bike on the stand and the fender on. I don't think so.

 

I'd probably be more inclined to figure out how to get those stuck bolts out than trying to work around it. But, I imagine you could get the front wheel off with the fender in place if you got the front high enough (like on a lift with a drop-out panel, or the Craftsman lift like you're talking about.

[Dans08]

I didn't think it could be done.

I was able to get one of the bolts to turn and now I'm working on the other. It's a bear and I put off pulling the front wheel until I get those bolts out. Thankfully, there is still tread left on the tire.

[Edgar]

You can remove the front wheel on an R1100RT while the bike is on the center stand without removing the fender. You do have to remove the calipers.

[russell_bynum]

Are we talking about the little 4 or 5mm allen-head bolts at the top of the fender?

 

I'm guessing if they're still difficult to get loose after the initial effort to break them free, that they were probably cross-threaded or something and you're going to have bigger problems to deal with.

 

Hopefully they're just being difficult to break free (maybe some bonehead put loctite on there?) and once you get them turning they'll be easy. By the way, if it's loctite, a few minutes under a heat gun should do the trick.

[Huzband]

You can't (shouldn't) use the lift on an RT. There's no place to put it but against the bottom of the engine, which is not designed to support the weight of the bike.

 

When I had my 1150RT, I never had to remove the fender to get the front wheel off. Just place a jack under the front of the engine, with a block of wood in between to act as a cushion, & lift the front while it's on the center stand. The weight it's bearing in this case is not a problem.

 

You do have to remove the calipers.

 

An important point not to be overlooked.

[DGShaffer]

Where are you guys placing the Craftsman lift under the R110RT to lift it? I need to pull the front wheel.

 

I bought a brand new one off of Craigs list last year. I love it. At tire changing time it's a real time saver. No effort required at all to line up the axle or to seat the rear wheel. I use it all the time for simple maintenance tasks that I really don't need the big lift for. It also makes it pretty easy to move the bike around the garage.

 

I just slide it under the center stand enough to give it a stable feel and lift away.

[Dans08]

Okay, the wheel is off and the rotors have been removed, ready for a new tire.

I was able to roll the bike up on some 2x4's at the front and rear wheel and using a 2x6 at the center stand did the trick. I removed the 2x4's at the rear wheel and the front came up and gave me plenty of clearance for removing the wheel.

 

Thanks for the help and ideas.

[DGShaffer]

Okay, the wheel is off and the rotors have been removed

 

I sure hope you meant to say calipers

[Dans08]

No .

I removed the calipers to get the wheel out but I also removed the rotors so they would not get damaged, they are expensive. Something I started doing when I had my GoldWing.

[russell_bynum]

No .

I removed the calipers to get the wheel out but I also removed the rotors so they would not get damaged, they are expensive. Something I started doing when I had my GoldWing.

 

For whatever it's worth....

 

I'm pretty hamfisted and I've never managed to damage a rotor while doing a tire change.

[Dans08]

Maybe they are not as fragile as I thought they were. I'll also talk to the BMW shop about it and see if it is a big concern for them.

This coming year, I'd like to get the equipment to do my own tire changing and then I wouldn't need to worry about this so much.