Becker lifter - anyone use it unmodified?

I've had a lifter for a while, but not actually used it, as I was dubious about its safety. Seems I was right.

Yesterday, I really wanted my GRiSO on a stand, so hauled out the lifter. On the right hand side the cup on the lifter engaged pretty positively with the recessed bolt. On the left hand side it didn't seem to get so deep, and there was more of the cup visible. I tried tapping it on with a rubber mallet, but there was no further movement. I did up the wing nuts on both sides, until the stand felt firm, but would still swing under the bike.

Well, I thought, that's how its supposed to work. let's try it.

Up she went, and just as I was about to congratulate myself and admire my achievement, disaster. The left hand side popped out, the bike shifted over to the left , and the cup on the lifter created a lovely gouge in the painted side plate. (What is that alloy? Consistency of Edam cheese). Great.

I got the bike safely back onto its side stand, and licked my wounds. I have not attempted it again. But a close inspection suggests to me that the bolt on the left side has less clearance to allow the cup in than that on the right. So I'm not convinced its ever going to work well.

Since then i have discovered the "finger in the bum-hole" mod.

So does anyone successfully use the lifter as designed, or do I really need to mod it to be confident I can avoid another disaster? If you get it to work as is, what am I doing wrong?

I was able to get mine to work, but it terrified me, so I ended up getting the bolt heads machined down.

Before I did that I was extremely careful to make sure the two halves were tight and parallel.



Just get the bolts modified.

It appears to be able to fit in two places. Is that right? Which are people using, or are either OK?

No, it only goes in one place.

From the Becker site:


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Trogladyte wrote:

It appears to be able to fit in two places. Is that right? Which are people using, or are either OK?

As was said, only one is OK. Using the other may have been your problem. My stand works fine without modification of it or of any screw heads.

I’ve been using mine unmodified for many years without any problem. I tend to use it like a detachable center stand to keep the bike upright in the shop to save space.
The cups engagement on the bolts head is minimal at best and may seem precarious the first time you use it and I thought about turning the bolts heads down or opening up the cups for a more positive interface but it’s been trouble free for so long, I don’t think about it anymore. I always make sure the wingnuts are properly tightened.

Hmm. Well mine fell out on the left.

Next tine you guys use them, please have a look and see if the cups appear to engage the same depth each side. Mine looked like the right went deeper. I might try to photograph. But isnt uploading photos a nightmare on here? or am I thinking of somewhere else?

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Testing

I am on GRiSO #4 all with the same unmodded Becker lifter. Proper preparation prevents piss-poor performance.

Mine works fine, looks a bit dodgy when looking at the fixing points but I've never had a problem. Wind that wingnut in tight.

A Becker lifter came with my 1100 GRiSO when I bought it. At first I couldn't even work out where it went and didn't believe it would be safe if I used the only place it could possibly go i.e. where Becker says to put it. However I gave it ago and it's always been fine as well as easy to use. It can be tricky at first aligning the lifter on both mounting but as long as the wing nuts are wound in tightly I have no qualms in recommending it

Been using mine for 9 years without any problems. After a few years use I ground down the bolt heads on which it mounts slightly which allowed extra contact with the cups and it was even more sound.

After my experience a few weeks ago, I am not keen on trying again, as dropping Grisos is not my favourite hobby! And dropping off the lifter left me with a nasty gouge in the footrest hanger casting. It has tidied up OK, with a local rub-down and a dab or two of Hammerite. But I am not keen on a repeat performance.

But....but...it's there in the garage, winking at me and calling me names. So...

Just how tight do you get the wing nuts? Are we talking getting a wrench on them?

Do both sides look the same? I don't seem to be getting as deep a location in the cup on one side.