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How to remove front wheel w/o a proper MC jack?

5.1K views 27 replies 11 participants last post by  HoneyB  
#1 ·
So, in need to pull my front wheel off to get a tire mounted and I don't have a proper bike jack. How can it be done if I also don't have exposed rafters to hang the front end from the ceiling?


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#3 ·
Without a Jack, you have an accident waiting to happen!
 
#4 ·
I just did that yesterday I had my wife's 04 on my motorcycle jack installing new avon tires I had got for it then I decided to put the metzler off my bike on hers because it is a little shorter about one inch I wanted to keep her's low as possible any way I had her to hold my bike up took a car jack put it under the skid plate had two 4x8 concrete block's put one under it then jacked it up slow and slipped the other one in was lucky and got it in the center of bike just right.
 
#5 ·
#7 ·
I'm sure you have a jack for your car... get one for your bike. You're playing with your hard earned cash. If it falls, you'll be crying.
 
#10 ·
The Sears yellow one works best. In a pinch, use 2 x 6 pieces. This takes two people. You put them under the front of the frame on each side until you get as close to contact as you can. Then ease the bike over on its side until it levers up enough to slip a board under the raised side. next, rock back the other direction & push board on that side ( perpendicular to frame). repeat until you have front raised. Might want to get a few 1 foot section of 1 by for final rises.
 
#11 ·
Cheapest way - mattress on floor , lower bike on side onto the mattress[1] . Don't smoke.......

Second cheapest way - buy a jack :)

[1] Don't laugh , i've had to do this before to remove the remains of a mangled oil filter from a Ducati. Moral of story - buy the right feckin tools in the first place......
 
#13 ·
I bought the HF aluminum jack, works very well. Got a cupon out of AIM, got it for less than $90 If you like to tinker, change your own oil etc then buy the jack. If not then find a local shop with a good rep and let them handle it for you. Should be about $100 to remove, mount balance and reinstall, around here it is and includes dyna beads for balancing.
 
#17 ·
Yes. You can even wheel the bike around, while lifted.
 
#20 ·
I will tell you the old timer way to get a tire off the ground to replace a tire or tube on a bike with no center stand, back in the days when all bikes ran tubes and on the road tube repairs or replacements were to be expected and planned for.

Find a big block of wood or a very big rock, as in a boulder, or a concrete block. The item needs to be taller than the underside of the bike by a couple of inches at least. Put some rags over whatever this item is to protect the paint under the frame. You will need an assistant to do this.

Now, you are going to stand on the left side of the bike, put your left foot up against the rear of the kick stand, pull up and back on the bars and the front tire will come up with very little effort. With the front tire off the ground have your assistant slide the wood/rock/concrete block under the right side of the frame. Slowly put the weight of the bike on the wood/rock/concrete block. Between that and your side stand, you bike is well supported and you can toil away removing the front tire.

You can lift a rear tire off the ground this way too, only you have to brace against the kick stand and pull up under the rear of the frame around the shock. This takes a little more effort to do but a normal adult can do it.

The first time someone told me of this technique, I thought "you gotta be effin kidding me", but it is very easy to do. It doens't require a whole lot of strength, you are using the kick stand a a big lever to help lift the bike.

I have removed wheels at both ends of the bike this way to fish out punctured tubes on the side of the road. I used this method at home on my first bike for tire changes and chain maintenance before I more fully tooled up. It is a skill well worth practicing even if you have a nice pretty yellow Sears jack because you never know what weirdness is going to happen to you on the road.