I have splashed out on an ABBA stand having decided that it should make several jobs less difficult or precarious. I'm impressed with how easily it fitted into the swinging arm and then lifted the rear of the bike of the ground - it feels much more secure than my old paddock stand and I didn't need the missus to help me do it. I'm now happy that I can work on the rear end, and remove the rear shock (gain access to the rear exhaust tappet...), but as the other job I want to do soon is to drop the forks and change the oil in them, I'm wondering whether anyone has any advice about how best to rais the front, without risk of the whole bike then rolling back off the stand. I have already confirmed that I can lift the front end, but it seemed to get the ABBA stand to the point where it looked like it just might change position in a dangerous way. I know that ABBA sell other bits for holding the front wheel up, but I'm happy to use straps from the garage roof, or a jack/blocks under the engine. I suppose I can also look at ways of chocking the rear wheel. I'll give it a go anyway, but if others have routinely done this and have any tips I'd be grateful.
Once on stand. Go round front. Grab wheel and lift. Then shove brick under wheel. Go to rear and then use the strap tie. remove brick. Job done.
The point is to remove the front wheel/forks etc. Front stand kinda gets in the way. :tongue: Ive got one too. Works a treat.
Got some pics of my 848 on the Abba stand, but can't post them via my iPad... It won't allow me to!... This site is not good with iPads!!
Just for info, ABBA's 'Front Lifter' thingy isn't compatible with the 900SS engine - I asked when I bought the stand from them and they wouldn't sell me one.
I have discounted the sack-of-cement idea, having tried sitting on the back of the seat myself - I'm not that heavy, but certainly more than a couple of 25 kg sacks.... and the bike didn't budge. I think it's to do with the weight distribution of the 900SS on the ABBA stand. I'll look into arranging some sort of front stand as in the pics, or ratchet straps perhaps, and raise the front carefully.
if you cant be arsed to make up al's (very useful) contraption above i have used and A frame step ladder across frame (might need to take the tank off) then use ratchet straps to support front end, works very well imho
I'm impressed with your timber-and-shelf-brackets engineering, Al. Any more pics of it/them in use ? I'd be inclined to stick with the ratchet straps to the roof idea to raise the front, if your roof is really strong enough. You may need to use it in conjunction with a conventional rear wheel stand though, in order to get enough height at the front. Since the abba fits further forward, the rear will drop as the front rises, until it hits the floor. I guess another option might be to place the abba on a board of some sort to get a bit more height at that point ?
Yep, that new stand add on to lift the front is really cool, they even do a big hydraulic adapter that lifts the whole bike about 3ft
No, not really. I can work out sizes and maybe tweek the design myself, ta. Just interested to see other views of the system in action and how it locates to the frame etc. And also just wanted to praise your cost-effective ingenuity.
