Chaps, Currently have the forks off the bike and about to be rebuilt by Steve Jordan. Whilst they're out of the way, wondering whether the lower clamps can be modified (drilled) to accept a front paddock stand, one that obviously lifts here rather than under the forks. Seeing as it's most of the way disassembled already... At present mine has just got a very small 'ole, about 4-5mm I'd say, certainly not large enough for an engagement pin on a paddock stand. Have decent machining facilities here in the workshop (i.e., I wouldn't be doing this with a handheld cordless drill!....proper 1970's vintage pillar drill straight from the brick privvy)...what I'm not sure about is whether the lower clamps that already have the right sized hole, are strengthened elsewhere to accommodate it? Were they thicker, or did they have strengthening webs? I've never seen them side by side. 2001 748R with the Ohlins FG850's....seems very random as to whether some bikes do have the bigger hole or not! Advice welcome, TIA. S
Thanks Dave. Paranoia got the better of me - having trawled the various forums (fora?), and for the same money as the gucci-Harris under yoke stand I was looking at, I found reference to this ProBike cradle lift. https://probike.co.uk/lifts-stands/paddock-stands/front-headstock-stand-ducati Looks a nice bit of kit, £180 delivered and saves the faffing of removing the yoke.
Did my 999 yoke only yesterday. I find an under-headstock paddock stand holds a bike far more stable than one that goes under the fork bottoms.
I drilled my 740 lower yoke too... Very handy when I was recommissioning the bike, including getting the forks out
Just some honest thoughts on the ProBike stand which arrived on Thursday. Hmmm. They make a song and dance on the website that theirs are "professional grade tools" implying being unashamedly top-end priced. Well, I wouldn't say top end pricing but £180 delivered isn't tuppance ha'penny either. You need to build it up, that's absolutely fine, each part is bubble wrapped, but still there's damage to the powder coating where they've been rattling around loosely in the box. Plating of the plated parts looks ok I guess. It assembles well enough using common sense, but the 6-7pages of stapled together "instructions" are pathetic. If I was ProBike I'd bow my head in shame; mish-mash of languages, poor layout and photos. I've seen better Chinglish on my pals monkeybike parts. The text makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Onto the lift itself. You get two yoke engagement options; the cradle I intend using and a pin like any other under-yoke lift. I actually thought I'd just get the cradle so this was an added bonus. Some guesstimation of how far out to extend the arm from the tower, and which height setting to use on the lifting pillar and you're ready to go. The cradle, however, is less than stellar. There's a sodding great big protrusion right in the middle of the cradle that is the first thing to hit the underside of the yoke. I don't know whether it was designed this way to sit inside a hole that they anticipate being there...but I ain't got one, hence the whole point of this thread. Because of this, the engagement is all over the place, skidding on the underside as you go to lift the bike. There aren't any wheels like on a paddock stand, so as it arcs on the lift, the cradle moves around. Hmm. Sketchy. There are 4 "fingers" at the back and front edges, but they're not tall enough to overcome the hight of that protrusion, so don't actually stop the yoke from falling off the back. What I will say (in the spirit of transparency) is that I've currently got the bike in the air, forks removed and front end supported from an engine hoist, so I'm not using this lift on the bike from Step 1... *maybe* there's tension on the hoist straps that's preventing the bike from moving, to work with the ProBike lift arcing up? I don't think so, but maybe. So, overall, kinda wish I'd bought a matching Harris front stand, grown a pair, drilled the yoke and be done with it. Feeling a bit ripped off. I'll stick up some photo's when I'm next in the garage.
