Kendon Stand-Up Cruiser lift : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

Dave in Texas · 12-01-2012, 10:19 AM

I'm hoping someone on V-Twin forum owns and uses this lift and can give me their opinion on it.
I've been looking for a lift that I can use in my 1-car garage. From what I've been able to read about it, this looks to be exactly what I've been looking for. Mainly I'm wanting to know if loading and (especially) unloading a Harley is a one-man operation?
I've seen all the other lifts and I have a J&S jack.
Thanks

Dave

2wheelrider · 12-01-2012, 11:50 AM

I have been using this lift for about 1.5 years . With a Dyna getting it on the lift is not to much of a problem for one person. Of coarse I am 6'4" and 220 lbs so take that into consideration. If you have a little room to take a little run at it then its not really a problem at all.
Now I have a 2001 Bagger FLHTC that I cant get on the lift by my self pushing it. All I do in that case is start the bike, put it in first and feather the clutch up onto the lift standing on the side of the bike. You cant ride the bike up as it raises the bike up 10+" and by the time your feet touch the ground the bike would go over.
Now getting the bike off the lift is another story. The front wheel "cams over" into the front wheel holder. Pulling the bike up over the cam lock is a real bitch. To do it you have to "jerk" the front wheel back over it. Even with the Dyna I sometimes cant do it by myself. Sometimes I jerk so hard the hole lift will roll back (more on that later) and I have to tie the lift off. Pulling that hard , its hard to maintain balance with the bike. I have my sister push on the front of the bike and its enough to get it off without much trouble. The bagger takes a little more but not much.

OTHER THINGS TO PONDER:
The lift is well built but there are some things that I should mintion...The air pump is slow but lifts even my bagger if given enough time. There is no place to put your tools when working on your bike. They do make attachable shelfs but they are expensive.
The lift has a handle that you can manually jack the lift up with if need be. Its nice to have when your finished and want to raise the lift to release the locking device.
The lift will roll if you pull hard enough (safely) which I like for adjusting the bike next to my bench.
The other thing I should mention is the air hose needs to be watched when lowering the lift. It needs to be guided when lowering or it will get caught and severely pinched (ask me how I know lol). The release knob to lower the bike is on the other side (front) so I open the valve a crack and run around and guide the hose wile it comes down. You also have to be careful not to let it down to fast as when it gets to about the last 4" it drops faster....
MUCH FASTER if you let it down to fast. I tried to let it down fast and at the the end it came down so hard the straps unhooked themselves and the bike almost went over. Luckily there was two of us there one on each side of the bike.
STORAGE is great That is why I bought it in the first place. If I had it to do over I would still buy this lift due to the small area I work in. It lifts heavy bikes slowly but easily and stores away against the wall. I can park one of my bikes were I work on them.

I WOULD RATE THIS LIFT A 8 OUT OF 10

Dave in Texas · 12-01-2012, 01:09 PM

Great review! I appreciate it very much. Now....to shop for the best deal on the lift and the jack that is made for it!
Thanks!

Dave

fresnohog · 12-01-2012, 05:33 PM

I had this lift and couldn't wait to get rid of it. Getting the bike on is no problem but getting it off was a nightmare. You have to have a method of stopping the lift from rolling or it will continue to slide back as you try and try to remove the bike. I am only 5' 10" and legs don't even reach the floor. For the price buy a regular lift if you have the room. If not just stay with a regular floor lift and save the rest of the money. And 2wheeler is right about letting it down. A little too much and it slams to the floor. The ONLY thing this lift has going for it is that it stores easily.

2wheelrider · 12-02-2012, 09:39 AM

If I had the room I too would buy a full size lift...but I don't and for a portable lift the kenndon is the best thing out there. The lift rolling is bitter-sweet. The back wheels are squared off on the bottom side and rounded on the other but if you pull hard enough it will roll forward and backward. Thats good if lets say you want to load the bike facing out of your garage to have the work side facing tour bench but need room to get a run at loading it. once loaded you can push it back into the garage as long as it is on the garage floor to start with...THE BAD
Like fresnohog said getting the bike off the lift is the worsted thing about this lift. most lifts have a clamping device that holds the front wheel and are wide enough that you can ride the bike up on to it and have room for your feet to hold the bike up. Even with these types of lifts its a pain holding the bike straight wile clamping the front wheel. Also commercial lifts weigh about 450 lbs. thats fork lift territory when moving. Of coarse you could buy a harbor freight lift but they are true junk. The kinndon lift will roll if you try to jerk the bike over the cam lock for the front wheel. steady pressure as in 2 people pushing the bike over the cam will not. Before I bought this lift I used a floor jack even the highest lifting floor jack had me on my knees most of the time. I work on more bikes than just mine and I had to buy kneepads to keep from wearing my knees out on my pants. I got tired of praying to the motorcycle god LOL. There may be other portable lifts out there now but when I bought mine there was not. now you have the good and the bad. Hope it helps...

Dave in Texas · 12-02-2012, 10:51 AM

A man in Ft Worth wrote: "Getting it off is as easy as rolling the front wheel over the chock and down the ramp" He uses his lift for his RK. He also advised getting some type of anti-skid for the surfaces the tires roll on.
The video on the manufacturers site demonstrates the lift, but not the 'get-off' part. That....really bothers me.
I have that type of stand bolted to my garage floor. I'm experienced at what it takes to get my Dyna out of that device.....and it's on a level concrete floor!! The ramp being 8" off the floor makes for some serious contemplation. That might be the deal-breaker for me, being the one-man show that I am.
The manufacturer should have a better design for that....imo.
Thanks for the replies. I appreciate them all.

Dave

2wheelrider · 12-02-2012, 07:16 PM

The only thing I can add is that the cam over device is removable via a pin I have never tried it but one could pull the pin and take the cam out... roll the bike on with ease...and off.