I’ve had my Skylift for a few years now. I use it for any job bigger than lubing the chain. My 996 is currently mounted on it waiting for me to finish the winter project I started 5 months ago. Luckily my commuter Yam hasn’t needed more than regular minor maintenance. It is a bit of a fiddle getting your bike loaded onto it but once it’s clamped in, hard to beat I reckon. A tip users can take or leave, attach a bungee cord to the top of the upright. When you’re loading the bike, lightly stretch the bungee over the seat down to somewhere convenient on the far side of your bike. The positive pressure keeps the bike “safely” upright while you scuttle around and fit the right side clamp. Being able to safely lift any of my bikes to a convenient height for even my achey old body to comfortably work on is priceless. And it takes up a lot less space in my little garage whether there’s a bike on it or not, unlike a work bench. If you’ve got a smoothish floor it’s very easy to move the stand with your precious lifted
Nice tip thanks. I had a couple of minor heart stoppers at first while I got the hang of loading the bike. I opted for the paddock stand option in the end but, your solution achieves the aim and is much lighter on the wallet.
I have had my Sky Lift for nearly 5 years now. It has had everything from 765 Street Triple R all the way up to my R1250GS Sport (with all the usual BMW farkles incl all 3 bags) all the way in the air... level, front tire up, rear tire up. No issues whatso ever.
Another positive review of the Skylift here. I've had it 5-6 years and it's great for me. I can load bikes on my own with relative ease, personally I find it harder to keep them stable when fitting a paddock stand than the skylift. You get used to fitting the left pin and finding the balance point before moving to fit the right pin. I've had everything on it from 125kg dirt bikes to 240kg Multistrada's with little fuss, been able to wheel em around the garage on it. For me it's value for money and it works across my "collection" with new pins being fairly cheap to acquire.
Good question. I felt the same way - always wondered about that. Working on the rear end of my MTS 1260, I just kept it on the ground to loosen the 230nm wheel nuts, then everything else was up in the air at a comfortable level where you can see everything with ease. Buy once, cry once. You won't regret the purchase. I also purchased a small tool tray that attaches to it and proved to be a welcome addition. I just use a muffin tin to store the nuts and bolts in order and groupings for easy reverse assembly.
I’ve had a motorcycle at full height for long periods of time, if you’ve set the stand up correctly they fine. I may be that as you’ve not got one it looks worse than it actually is.
Oh, can someone with the multi, measure the height from the ground to the tail or screen when at max height or as close as they can get? I have a fairly low ceiling in the garage and I'm curious how much room I'll get to tilt.
Nope, I’m in leafy Surrey! If anyone on here in Surrey/ Hampshire has one and wouldn’t mind me coming over to see it in action, I’d appreciate it.
Don't have the multi on it today, but do have a similar sized bike on it, which is 147cm per the manual (and my tape measure) at the front end. The Multi 1200 is between 145 and 151cm at the front screen depending on settings, similar for 1260. Keeping the bike level on the stand at the highest level of lift the top of the bikes screen is approx 195cm off the floor.
