Building your own motorcycle lift: Important tips and instructions

In this article, we present a construction guide for a motorcycle lift that we discovered some time ago. However, before you start building, we recommend taking a few minutes to carefully read the following tips.

Building your own motorcycle lift, as well as a lift table, can involve certain risks. It is important to be aware of these risks in order to make an informed decision between constructing your own or purchasing a ready-made scissor lift platform.

What do you need to build a lifting platform?

Personal requirements

Solid craftsmanship skills are essential for building a motorcycle lift. In particular, you should be proficient in using a gas-shielded welding machine to avoid bonding errors in the weld seams. Additionally, it is important that you can read and precisely execute technical drawings with confidence.

When constructing the lift, always keep in mind the potential consequences of poor execution. During use, at least one person is always in the danger zone. Manufacturing errors or substandard materials can lead to dangerous situations. For instance, the supporting structure could fail, resulting in the motorcycle falling and potentially causing injuries.

Required tools

To build the lifting platform yourself, you will need the following tools (also see page 2 of the construction manual):

  • Gas-shielded welding machine (including personal protective equipment)
  • Angle grinder
  • Drill press
  • Metal saw
  • Chassis stands
  • Screw clamps
  • Twist drills with the following diameters: 6.5 mm, 6.8 mm, 8.5 mm, 10.5 mm, and 12.5 mm
  • M8 tap for internal threads
  • Screwdriver
  • Box wrench
  • Hammer
  • Centre punch
  • Inch rule
  • Angle gauge
  • Spirit level
  • Toggle clamps

Required materials

To build the scissor lift platform, you will need the following materials (also see page 3 of the construction manual, measurements provided without allowance for waste):

LengthDesignation
17,150 mmSquare tube 50x50x3
200 mmSquare tube  100x50x3
1,000 mmFlat bar 100x15
200 mmFlat bar 100x35
210 mmFlat bar 50x25
50 mmFlat bar 60x20
120 mmFlat bar 50x20
90 mmRound bar 30
500 mmRound bar 10
  

For the platform, it is recommended to use phenolic resin-coated plywood  or aluminum checker plates. The required plates should have the following dimensions:

LengthWidth
1,200 mm750 mm
1,000 mm750 mm
500 mm750 mm
  

Additionally, you will need the following materials:

  • Trolley jack
  • Wheels for mobility
  • End caps for the square tubes
  • Various screws, nuts, and washers

Safety instructions

Please pay close attention to the safety instructions in the construction manual. It is particularly important to correctly insert the safety bars and carefully lower the lifting platform onto them. Neglecting this could lead to the risk of crushing and shearing injuries, as the lift could descend uncontrollably in the event of a jack failure.

Additionally, ensure that the motorcycle is securely fastened on the lift. The designer recommends using tie-down straps for this purpose. Further safety instructions for operating the lift can be found on page 2 of the construction manual.

Important Notice: Under no circumstances should you use the construction manual to build a lift table for another person. In this case, you would become the manufacturer of the machine and would assume an incalculable liability risk. In the event of an accident, you would need to demonstrate that the construction meets current technical standards.

Disclaimer

Neither we nor the provider of the construction manual assume any liability or responsibility for damages that may result from the use of the lifting platform. The entire risk lies solely with the builder of the lifting platform. Please be particularly aware of this if other people might be in the vicinity of the lifting platform.

The load capacity of the lifting platform has been specified by the provider of the manual as approximately 350-400 kg. We have not verified this figure. Since the construction manual does not provide specific details regarding the required strength of the materials used, this value should be treated with caution.

Build or buy?

Building your own lifting platform

We hope you have read the entire article and can now realistically assess the risks of building your own lifting platform. If you decide to take on this exciting project, you can find here the construction manual for the motorcycle.

We would be delighted if you could send us pictures of your build process. We would love to incorporate these images into this article.
Additionally, we are grateful for any further information that could be useful to other readers. If you have any comments or tips, please do share them with us.

Buying a lifting platform

We suspect that there are probably no longer any German manufacturers producing this type of lift table. Production is only profitable in low-wage countries or with very large quantities at these price points. Therefore, we can only refer you to a retailer. For example, you can find a motorcycle lift on Amazon* that resembles the one described in the construction manual.

If this lift doesn’t meet your needs, we recommend searching for ‘motorcycle lift’ directly on Amazon or Google. You will find a wide variety of designs.

* = partner link



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Comments (4)

  • Frank Christiansen
    Frank Christiansen
    at
    Moin aus Flensburg

    Gibt es auch eine Zeichnung für den Bauplan ?
    Mfg Frank
    • Markus Janzen
      Markus Janzen
      at
      Guten Tag Herr Christiansen,

      die Bauanleitungen finden Sie unter dem obigen Link "Bauanleitung für die Motorradhebebühne" oder direkt unter https://www.lkw-kelkheim.de/motorrad-hebebuehne. Da es sich bei der Bauanleitung nicht um eine Konstruktion aus unserem Haus handelt, können wir die Daten nicht direkt zur Verfügung stellen.

      Mit freundlichem Gruß
      Markus Janzen
  • Hermann Reichelt
    Hermann Reichelt
    at
    Der Bauplan ist leider nicht mehr unter dem Link verfügbar.
    Könne sie mir diesen evtl. zuschicken?

    Mfg, und frohes Fest.
    Hermann
    • Markus Janzen
      Markus Janzen
      at
      Guten Tag Herr Reichelt,

      vielen Dank für die Nachricht. Die Struktur der verlinkten Webseite hatte sich zwischenzeitlich geändert.
      Nun wurde der Link angepasst und funktioniert wieder. Hilfreich sind auch die weiteren unter dem Menüpunkt "Downloads" angebotenen Dokumente.

      Beachten Sie bitte, dass der Bauplan nicht von uns zur Verfügung gestellt wird und wir dementsprechend keine Haftung für diesen übernehmen.

      Mit freundlichem Gruß
      Markus Janzen