[Land-speed] Motorcycle Lift Table ? -non LSR

[Jon Wennerberg]

On Jan 7, 2008, at 4:51 PM, Dick J wrote:

Tony,

   The neatest setup I've ever seen was not hydraoulic or mechanical,  
it was a simple balance rig similar to what used car dealerships use  
to put thier cars up on display.  When there is no vehicle on it, it  
looks like an incline ramp.  As a vehicle is placed on it and moved  
forward, the center of gravity moves past the balance fulcrum, and  
the rig tilts forward.  I liked the ones I saw so much that I built  
three of them for my shop back when I was in the business.

   If you're interested, but unsure of what I mean, drop me a note  
off line and I'll try to send you a drawing.

   DickJ
   In East Texas





Dick, back a few years ago I worked at a car dealership and now and  
then was the guy that drove the cars onto one of those rigs.  It was  
always a bit scary -- will I go too far and the car will bump the  
front bumper into the steel guards at the end?  Will I stop too soon  
and I'll have to back down and the thing will BUMP back down?  I  
never had any incidents -- but at least of of the other salespeople  
did.  I remember the fun we all had when Dave H. went up the ramp a  
little too hard, too fast -- and off the far end.  I think he'll  
still paying for that damage claim.

So anyway -- putting a bike onto one of those would be a scary  
proposition if you ask me, since the rider wouldn't have anyplace to  
put his feet to balance himself when forward motion stops -- and it'd  
be quite a feat for a pair of bystanders to help steady the bike once  
it stopped moving.  I suppose you could construct the thing with a  
companion pair of stands at the level of the leveled-out rig -- so  
the rider would have someplace for his feet -- and then remove the  
side stands to work on the bike.

Sounds like quite a chore to me.

                 Jon Wennerberg
Seldom Seen Slim Land Speed Racing
              Marquette, Michigan
              (that's 'way up north)