Paddock stand

Evening all
Has any one made a simple paddock stand affair that lifts a 850 machine under the lower frame tubes to raise the front or rear wheel ?
If so any chance of a few pics and measurements. Thanks Colin

I use a motorcycle scissor jack has adjustable sliding arms that sit under the frame rails back or front they and can also be removed for a flat surface and only cost under $100, its a wind up jack and sit under the bike out of the way, works great with my MC lift table, the scissor jack and lift table was the best investment for my shed, can lift up to 500kg bike.

These work great on the Commando

speirmoor said:

1500 lb. Aluminum ATV / Motorcycle Lift

Amazing deals on this 1500Lb Aluminum Atv / Motorcycle Lift at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

These work great on the Commando

Click to expand...

I can't get one of these to clear the side / centre stands.

I use one of these


But always with straps to the ceiling as the footprint is small.

A very simple primitive paddock stand that works to lift the front or rear via the lower frame rails requires some upper body strength to get the bike up in the air. I've never made one but bought a width and height adjustable stand when gas was still under $.50 a gallon. I use it on a P11. I'm sure it could be adjusted to work on a Commando. The one I have is very hard on the paint on the bottom of the frame and would not win any beauty contests. Mine is currently holding the rear end off the ground while I wait for a rim to lace up. If the stand is moved 1 inch further forward on the rails it will lift the front end off the ground and the rear end will stay down.

I can get measurements if you want em (PM me). Nice thing about the low tech paddock stand is it's quick to get the bike up and back down. Once set up there are no clearance issues and it is easy to work on the front or rear wheels or remove replace suspension. My exhaust runs under the motor and the legs on the stand clear the header pipes. I don't have a center stand on the bike.





Obviously if you want both ends up at the same time, the paddock stand above is too simple and you'll need a pump up or scissor stand, or need to put spools on the rear somewhere to lift that rear up with a modern paddock stand. To change a front tire, change oil, or work right under the motor while laying on your back on the garage floor a modern front fork paddock stand is useful. That yellow thing gets in the way. I need to repaint it and put some old stickers on it.

I have a version of this.
Mine is much simpler, all welded with no adjustments.
Easy enough to make.

Mart UK said:

I can't get one of these to clear the side / centre stands.

Click to expand...

I shimmed mine with chunks of wood and it worked fine.

ashman said:

I use a motorcycle scissor jack has adjustable sliding arms that sit under the frame rails back or front they and can also be removed for a flat surface and only cost under $100, its a wind up jack and sit under the bike out of the way, works great with my MC lift table, the scissor jack and lift table was the best investment for my shed, can lift up to 500kg bike.

Click to expand...

I use the same set-up as Ashman.Very adjustable scissors jack that you can move any where under the frame and the posts are coated so you don’t scratch the paint.
Mike

speirmoor said:

1500 lb. Aluminum ATV / Motorcycle Lift

Amazing deals on this 1500Lb Aluminum Atv / Motorcycle Lift at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

These work great on the Commando

Click to expand...

The thing I hate about these jacks is they stick out from under the bike and can get in the way when working on the bike.

Think i will go for the small scissor lift affair , thanks all

I still have one from the stone age, stone simple.

A 5/8" steel pipe rectangle about 20" wide by about 10" high, with a handle about 3 feet long welded to one corner. AT REST, the rectangle should be leaning over about 20 degrees, toward the handle.



You set the rectangle under the bike, sort of laying down, with the handle straight up, then as you lower the handle, one of the long sides of the rectangle makes contact with the lower frame rails of the bike. Adding pressure to the handle lifts the bike, till the rectangle just goes over center and the handle rests on the floor with a bit of pressure from the weight of the bike.

The trick is to get that "golden solution" rectangle height that can accommodate several bikes in your collection! Mine is pretty good, except on the few bikes whose sump sticks below the frame rails.

If you are going to MAKE one, the simple measurement is the height of the frame rails above the ground when the bike is standing still with someone holding it up. You want the rectangle to be about 2 to 2-1/2" taller than THAT measurement. That way, when the stand is fully deployed with gravitational force holding the handle down, you have sufficient gap below the rear tire to easily remove and re-install the rear wheel.

In a perfect world, you could position the stand to lift the FRONT end of the bike just as easily. NOT that I have done this, and NOT that it CAN be done, mind. In fact, I think with a Commando, it would be at risk of rolling backward and FALLING OFF!

Mine is similar to the one @MichaelB posted, but even simpler. I like his adjustability for height, though; good feature and easy enough to do with mine, as long as you have two dimensions of pipe where one can slip into the other. Then, just make TWO "C" shaped rectangle frames (I'd use the larger diameter for the bottom frame & handle), slip the top one into the bottom and drill a few holes in one, and one pair of holes in the other to stick the safety pins thru.

Front end held up during a front fork and brake install. No sliding off the stand. Two legs with space between them work great regardless of the exhaust configuration or a center stand attached to the frame.

I don't worry about this, but if one did, they could put the bike in gear and put a wedge behind the rear wheel to prevent the bike from rolling backward off the stand.

Yeah, it dribbles after a ride, but it likes to mark its territory. I don't change the cardboard often.

Schwany said:

Two legs with space between them work great regardless of the exhaust configuration or a center stand attached to the frame.

Click to expand...

Amen to that! Works around the obstacles. Does yours adjust for spacing? Ultimate deal, even though a bit more complex...

grandpaul said:

Amen to that! Works around the obstacles. Does yours adjust for spacing? Ultimate deal, even though a bit more complex...

Click to expand...

It adjusts for width and height. I did not make it. Never took up welding.

(Long rambling sentence warning) The yellow stand uses welded on nuts on the larger dimension tubing and bolts that screw through the nuts to hold the slide in smaller dimension square tubing cross bar in place for width, and a nut welded on top of the upright tubes that a threaded rod with a piece of u-shaped flat stock welded on top is screwed down into, and a stop nut on the rod for locking height adjustment. If it wasn't currently in use I'd take it apart to show the construction.

It's not that great on the frame paint, but it works. I destroyed most of the paint on the bottom of the frame years ago. I finally (40+years later) got around to putting 5/8" rubber tubing over the flat stock topped height adjusters, but it doesn't last long. I will eventually repaint the bottom of the frame and see how long the paint lasts with the rubber up there.

Kind of time consuming to build one like it I would think. All things considered it is just a weird example of an old stand one could buy years ago, and at best a waste of forum bandwidth for me to mention it. When will I ever learn?

There is a Pit stand drawing in the Old Brits tech articles. It was built for the MK3 but it might be worth looking at. https://www.oldbritts.com/c_stand.html
Dave