Bike lifts, or tables as some say, are extremely useful. With some amusement I observed people on the Internet some years ago talking about them as if they are some exotic, next-level thing. They're catching on now though. In the mechanic profession, they are hugely taken for granted. No one wants to work on the floor for very long. One of the earliest and most well-known bike lifts worldwide was the Grazia (pr: “grawzeea”). This lightweight, Italian-made, foot-pump hydraulic lift was very popular in Europe, but was much less well known in the U.S., though I have some history with them. At this time not that many above-ground lifts existed stateside. Column lifts were not yet banned. However, one American-made above-ground lift was the Handy Industries, originally produced in Iowa. This heavy-duty, air-powered unit was the industry mainstay for dozens of years, and even today, despite many copy-cats, is still regarded as the de-facto item, although the most coveted lift on the market among professionals is the extremely high quality (and high cost) air-over-oil K&L. Now that's a lift!

In the early 2000s, Chinese manufacturers began producing Grazia knock-offs, the manufacture of the beloved Grazia having ceased. I got one of the earliest Chinese examples for a pittance. And pitiful it was. It turned out to have been extremely poorly made. All the pivots were out of alignment causing the table to lurch and tilt, and more than once I thought it was going to throw my bike onto the garage floor. I ended up junking it after just a couple years’ use. I discovered that Harbor Freight had also contracted with one of the many Chinese companies, and finally there emerged a copy of the Grazia that was nearly worthy of its predecessor. The Harbor Freight item was reasonably well made and so uncanily close to the Grazia as to be a veritable time machine. But it had two flaws. The first was that its lowering valving resulted in the table dropping like a stone when descending. A major-league mechanics school actually suffered a legal suit when a student was injured. The second shortcoming was the lift’s very cheap, short-lived hydraulic pump. Harbor Freight fixed both of these complaints in later production—the current crop of lifts lower very sedately, and the newer pumps are much better than the old. But even the new pumps are not very long-lasting, and their low-quality causes them to leak and to occasionally develop air pockets which results in the lifts seizing and therefore becoming impossible to operate, particularly in reference to lowering from maximum height. Kind of discouraging when a customer wants his bike back and you can’t get it back onto the floor.

All the same, I like the Harbor Freight lift. I am not picking on it. However, you do need to remember it is at the bottom of the price scale for a reason. And, replacement parts for Harbor Freight products are not known to be easy to get. In addition, I regard this lift’s 1000-pound capacity rating as very optimistic. Recall that even the sturdier Grazia was created in an era in which a “big” European motorcycle weighed just 500 pounds. I have had many big 70s Hondas on my four Harbor Freight lifts, including CBXs and Gold Wings. But I would not put a modern full-dress touring bike on one. Such a scenario is not inspiring. If your machine is over 600 pounds you should get a Handy or a K&L. Other than these considerations, go for it. It's a decent product.