Abba Skylift

[NuggyBuggy]

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Just bought one and was wondering if anyone here has one and ever thought about making fittings for them. I have some dirt bikes and an 87 CBR that Abba doesn't sell fittings for.

I have a micro lathe and mill, and a bunch of tooling that I barely know how to use, but
this seems like it would be an ideal project to learn on.

 

[nobbie48]

Just bought one and was wondering if anyone here has one and ever thought about making fittings for them. I have some dirt bikes and an 87 CBR that Abba doesn't sell fittings for.

I have a micro lathe and mill, and a bunch of tooling that I barely know how to use, but
this seems like it would be an ideal project to learn on.

You might run into the need for five axis machining which would be tricky with the mini tools. In that case a welder is your friend.

I'm not familiar with the sky lift but assume it isn't a universal lift that all bikes just sit on with a strap over the rig.

 

[NuggyBuggy]

This is the Abba Skylift:

This is what some of their fittings look like. The fittings fit into each side of the swingarm pivot recess.

I don’t think I need a 5-axis machine (I had to look up what that is, LOL). To my uninformed eye, all the fittings LOOK like they could be turned, but I acknowledge my lack of expertise in the domain.

I wish I had paid more attention to how the fittings I do have (for a Street Triple) actually fit into the seller’s bike. I’m not sure I understand why there are so many shapes of fittings, but I haven’t needed to study the pivots of very many bikes. I should have done that when I was at GP Bikes the other day.

I may not have the tooling to create the larger chamfers on some of those fittings though.

 

[GreyGhost]

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I may not have the tooling to create the larger chamfers on some of those fittings though.

A large chamfer on a small lathe just means more passes. I assume your lathe has a compound slide. Adjust the compound to the angle you want and crank away.

As for what shape you need, press play dough into recess, pull it out and you have the shape you need. Measure, draw and duplicate.

 

[Gaoler]

'Slight upgrade from the Harbor Freight lift I have in my garage..Lol

 

[mimico_polak]

'Slight upgrade from the Harbor Freight lift I have in my garage..Lol

The HF allows you full access to the bike from both sides and is VERY stable.

The ABBA lift is a bit restrictive and while great from my understanding it has some limitations.

Obviously it’s massive easier on the amount of space it takes up.

 

[Gaoler]

The HF allows you full access to the bike from both sides and is VERY stable.

The ABBA lift is a bit restrictive and while great from my understanding it has some limitations.

Obviously it’s massive easier on the amount of space it takes up.

My HF has also served as a handy work surface/table for a variety of projects

 

[NuggyBuggy]

A large chamfer on a small lathe just means more passes. I assume your lathe has a compound slide. Adjust the compound to the angle you want and crank away.

As for what shape you need, press play dough into recess, pull it out and you have the shape you need. Measure, draw and duplicate.

I don't have a compound slide, but apparently the Sherline lathe I have allows you to rotate the headstock, allowing you to accomplish the same thing. I have to play with that this week.

Playdough idea is a good one. i tried to take some measurements with calipers, but didn't have a depth micrometer handy.

Not sure why some of those fittings have even one chamfer, let alone two. While I haven't studied that many swingarm pivot recesses, aren't most of them just a hole with a bolt or nut at the end? If so, I would have expected most of the fittings to look like the ones on the left in the picture I posted above.. I have trouble imagining how the ones on the right side of the picture would work. Maybe they're for cases where there is no room on either side of the nut or bolt?

Even still, I'd love to understand why a chamfer is needed.

 

[NuggyBuggy]

The HF allows you full access to the bike from both sides and is VERY stable.

The ABBA lift is a bit restrictive and while great from my understanding it has some limitations.

Obviously it’s massive easier on the amount of space it takes up.

The space bit is exactly the reason I bought this. I don't do anything that I couldn't do with on the centre stand or with my Pitbull stands. Regular lifts like your HF work great if you have a garage and enough space. I don't have either.

I'm stuck using a shipping container for my bikes and everything else that would go into a garage, so things are tight. I'm hoping the lift will allow me to easily move the bike out of the way as required.

The dream situation would be that I could spin it around so I can ride it back out. That's not an absolute necessity, but since my bike is almost as long as the width of my container, the ability to put it into wheelie position might just give me the extra clearance I need and/or make more shelving feasible. That's why I didn't go for a Bursig-style lift or a dolly.

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