How do i put my motorcycle on an engine block?

July 16, 2005 10:32 AM

i'm trying to replace the forks on my motorcycle. it's a 1976 honda cb 550. The work seems pretty straightforward -- but all of the instructions i read begin with 'lift the front wheel by putting the engine on a block. how do i do that??!! thanks.
posted by milkman to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

The general gist of it is that you have to get the front wheel off the ground to replace the forks.

There's two easy ways to do it. One is to use an engine lift. This is done by placing a device (whether it be an actual block, or a stand, or a lift, or a stack of cindeblocks... whatever...) underneath the engine.

Another method is, if you have rafters or something you can hang stuff from in your garage, use a tiedown to lift the forks off the ground by where the frame comes into the steering column.

Are you doing a full fork replacement, or just replacing the springs & valves or the oil or the seals?
posted by SpecialK at 11:04 AM on July 16, 2005

What they mean is to lift the motorcycle's front end off the ground and slide something big under the engine, so you can lower the bike and have the wheel in the air. A milk crate makes a pretty good support, but it can be wobbly. There are special-built bike lifts that you slide under the bike and lever it up with, and they are more stable. They're definitely worth the money if you're going to lift the bike more than a couple of times.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:43 PM on July 16, 2005

Here is one that's more than you need, but is the same idea. They are adjustable in width, so you can catch the bike frame tubes on both sides with U-shaped fittings on the lift.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:52 PM on July 16, 2005

Sears sells a motorcycle/ATV lift for about $90 USD.
posted by letitrain at 1:34 PM on July 16, 2005

Last week Sears had their motorcycle lift on sale for only $62. If you want to go nuts and make a stand yourself, get a solid block of wood that is tall enough to hold the front wheel off the ground (or a stack of 2x6s screwed together) and a piece of plywood around 2'x2'. Screw the block to the plywood, make sure its positioned so that you can slip in from the side with the block in front of the motor. Put your feet on the plywood, grab the forks and haul the bike forward and upward onto the block. You can get extra stability by attaching some large screw eyes to the 2x6s and running some ratcheting tiedowns to the bike.
Your bike may have a center stand, so you may be able to just tilt the bike backwards and slip the block under the frame.
posted by 445supermag at 2:33 PM on July 16, 2005