Motorcycle Lift – Hydralift

This adventure required a lot of research to many questions and one of those questions – how do I bring the motorcycle with us on our new adventure?

As you can see, we enjoy having a motorcycle and there is nothing like riding in National Parks or forests. We had to bring this with us, but how? There were many options but I knew I didn’t want to buy a trailer that would include the motorcycle and a car! Especially with a 43 foot RV! So that only gave me one other option and that was some type of lift in the back of the RV with the opportunity to still tow a car. Essentially there are 2 types of lifts.

Types of Lifts

  • Electrical – many companies out there that make a lift using an electric motor with the following pros & cons:
    • Pro – Cheaper to buy and install the lift.
    • Pro – Electric motor and other parts can be easily found on the road.
    • Pro – Good for midsize motorcycles.
    • Con – Electric motor. I don’t understand how people believe this is the best way to go. If there is a concern about the motor burning out but it is easy to find a replacement, you are just paying for something that will fail.
    • Con – it is cheaper but also cheaply made.
    • Con – not good for big bikes!  Mine is the HD Ultra Limited which is 1,000 lbs.
    • Con – have to drive directly to the manufacturer for installation. No dealer network.
  • Hydraulic – there is one company that makes a hydraulic lift – Hydralift
    • Pro – hydraulics! Proven method of lifting and lowering heavy loads, especially for big bikes like mine.
    • Pro – heavy duty equipment with universal saddle brackets to mount on any RV. The dealer will know if additional work needs to be done on the hitch and may have to do some welding.
    • Pro – can be folded up when not in use. I do this all the time!
    • Pro – many options can be included.  A chock, lighting system and even a shelter option they call the “Garage”.
    • Pro – substantial nationwide dealer network!
    • Pro – can be lowered to give full access to the engine compartment for diesel pushers!
    • Pro – has a “lock” that takes the load when the bike is fully lifted. The hydraulics does not take the load when traveling, only lifts and lowers the bike.
    • Con – expensive but I look at it as an investment.
    • Con – welding will most likely need to be done for the saddle bracket installation.  This is one of the reasons why it is expensive and plan to take 3-4 days for installation.
    • Con – dealer network. Although I have this as a pro, the con is inconsistent experience with dealers.

I chose the Hydralift as I felt it was a heavy duty lift that we needed for our kind of motorcycle. Hydralift’s web site (https://hydralift-usa.com) has a robust list of dealers and I found one in Elkhart, IN (heart of the RV industry) that have performed several installations and decided to use them. They seemed very knowledgeable and easy to work with. I left my RV there for a week, however my experience with the dealer was less than stellar:

  • One of the options is a wheel chock – the dealer didn’t bother to offer this and at the last minute, I told them I wanted a chock. This does a great job of locking the front wheel in so you safely can get off the bike and put on the tie downs.
  • Another option is an LED Tail Light kit – I wished I had gotten this because when the bike is loaded and the lift is up, it blocks the tail lights on the RV. Again the dealer should have explained this to me.
  • I came to pick up the RV and the motor for the hydraulics was not working consistently. I looked at it and thought the problem was the ground wire not making good contact with the frame. They hadn’t scraped away the non-rust primer for a good connection. They thought it was the motor itself and I would have to leave it there for another week. Note – they later told me I was right and it was the ground wire connection.
  • They gave me motorcycle straps however they were rated for half the load that I needed. The teeth in the buckle started to bend and break and I almost dropped the bike because of this (see my “Motorcycle Straps” review in Our Store).
  • On a positive note – they did a great job with the overall installation. I asked that the hydraulic motor and fluid reservoir get installed in the engine compartment. Some dealers install this in a storage bay which I did not want. The installation looks like it was done at the factory and I was very happy with this.

Overall I am extremely happy with my choice and the installation. I had some initial issues loading the bike on the lift and learned an important tip:

Important Tip

If your RV has a tag axle – dump the tags!!!! If you don’t do this, the lift has a farther distance to lower the rail and the arms will be in the way when trying to load the bike! Dumping the tags lowers the back end of the RV and decreases the distance to lower the rail. The arms of the lift won’t be in the way if you do this!