As soon as my 929 front end gets here I am going to swap out the damaged forks on my F4i. I have been considering how to support the bike to swap out the front and all I can think of is to hang it from above with some sort of contraption or to hang it from the ceiling joists in the garage. Any ideas?

I figure with the front end off and with part of the weight still supported by the back tire, there will be maybe 200 or less pounds I will need to 'hang' up from the front. Am I not thinking of some obvious way of doing this?

I have considered making agallows on wheels out of 4x4 poststrussed with 2x4s in the corners.

 

I used straps with hooks. The straps had an adjustable clip on it that held the strap tighter as soon as the strap had a load. I hung it from my car port's beams that run across. Across the frame there's a round bar that goes right above the valve cover, perfect spot for a mounting point. Just hang it up while the bike is sitting and pull on the excess strap to bring it up higher. I did this by myself and it was tough, the bike is still pretty damn heavy. It hung that way for a few weeks while I waited for parts.

Here's a pic:



the back hooks aren't really carrying a load I just put them there for more stability. It's not a good spot to hang your bike unless you want bolts broken off in your frame

 

definetly some sort of contraption that involves hangin from above......just PLEASE make sure its strong.

 

When I used the rafters in my garage, I spanned two additional 2x4 across the joists and then wrapped around them with my rachet straps. That way the weight is distributed across more than one joist and you have more play for the straps.

 

I figure the bike will weigh about 370 pounds wet without the front suspension. Figure the rear wheel will probably support a little less than half(?) this weight so I need to hang it from something that will support 200 lbs to be safe. Depending on how quickly the work goes that could be a few days or a few weeks.

Im thinking of trying to borrow an engine hoist, lift, cherry-picker, hanger whatever you want to call it. The wheel around in the garage engine and trans hangers that should easily hold 500 to 1000 lbs, some more.

 

That should work too, but if you have exposed rafters they work just fine with two rachet straps. Been there, done that.



Thats my F3 using a strap on each side of the frame and a rear stand. Again, I used some 2x4 to go across a few rafters and pulled off them to help spread the load. Worked like a champ!

 

hmm cant believe i seem to be the only one to do this...

had the forks off my bike 2 times now. i just simply used a rear stand, and slim floor jack with a 2x4 placed under the headers. its a little bit wobbly if you put a bunch of weight on one side, but if you combine this with the straps, you shouldnt have any problems at all.

 

ok it is not normal but I have a standard pickup with a lumber rack. we set the bike on the bed of the truck with the front towards the rear and used
a cargo strap under the front of the bike over the top of the rails on the lumber rack. this puts the bike at a nice working height for sliding the fork bits
on it.

 

Use a freaking front stem/yolk stand!! How can you guys recommend these ghetto rigged ways over that? Sheesh!

Something like this, only supported on the fairing stay:

 

Front stand won't help you when you need to pull the yoke, bro. You have to support the frame.

I used a cherry picker / engine hoist myself with great success. I've also seen people use a floor jack and stabilizing straps.

the blonde weasel