Motorcycle Wheel Vise Install Dimensions

[Andrew Shadow]

The below picture is of a Titan front wheel vise. It is to be installed on a lift table that did not come equipped with a wheel vise so it does not have the mounting holes pre-drilled in the correct locations.

I am curious to know what distance apart the manufacturer installs these two halves of the vise when it is in the fully opened position.
If anyone who has a lift table that came equipped with a similar front wheel vise can tell me that dimension it would be appreciated.


I

 

[GGely]

Hi Andrew, I went through a similar situation when I changed lifts. The new lift came with a no name clamp with no instructions.

I decided to measure the widest tire I might put in it and round up to the nearest inch. I have drilled out the table for the clamp so if I need it, I’m ready to bolt it in.

I ended up not using the clamp yet, since I have a wheel chock that I prefer to use.

Hope that helps!

 

[Nashcat]

Andrew, I just measured my Titan lift The maximum spread on my clamp is 7" Here's a pic of the mounting location for the movable side, about 1/2" in, from both edges. The fixed side on mine mounts 6" from side and 3 3/4" from end of lift.

John

 

[SMSW]

Andrew, Instead of measuring I did something different. I wanted my ST to be centered on the lift, so I put the bike on the lift (lowest position), and centered it and deployed the center stand. Then I clamped the vise to the wheel, marked the holes and bolted it down. If I put a smaller bike up there, it will be pretty close, but I wanted the heaviest bike I was likely to lift dead on center.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Andrew, I just measured my Titan lift The maximum spread on my clamp is 7"

Thanks for taking the time John.
Since your table is Titan can I assume that your vise is as well? It looks exactly the same as the one I am measuring.
The maximum amount of travel of the movable arm on my Titan vise is 7". If your travel is the same, and the maximum spread you can get between the two halves of the vise when it is fully opened is also 7", that would mean that the vise can be completely closed to the point where the two halves are touching each other. I didn't think that they would mount it to be able to close completely as no wheel is that narrow. This means that the manufacturer installs the vise so that the distance between the two fixed points of the two halves is about 10 1/2" when measured where indicated in the below photo and 9" between the inside bolt holes. I was wondering if they allowed for use of the full 7" inches of travel or if they limited it to less for a safety factor. This answers those questions so thanks for that.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Andrew, Instead of measuring I did something different. I wanted my ST to be centered on the lift, so I put the bike on the lift (lowest position), and centered it and deployed the center stand. Then I clamped the vise to the wheel, marked the holes and bolted it down. If I put a smaller bike up there, it will be pretty close, but I wanted the heaviest bike I was likely to lift dead on center.

I was just going to measure the front wheel of the ST1300 and offset each side of the clamp accordingly so the wheel ends up centered on the table. But when I thought about it it occurred to me that if I do that and install it based on that only I might be limiting myself from using it on wider wheels while keeping it as close to centered as possible. I then thought why not just size it for the rear wheel in case I ever want to put the rear wheel in the clamp for some reason. Doing it that way I might end up with the opposite situation where a really narrow wheel like a dirt bike might be way off center.

Better to install it on the table so that it is suited to the widest range of wheel sizes possible while remaining as centered as possible throughout that range. Because I am not currently in a position to measure the table or the wheels I thought the table/vise manufacturers must have already figured that dimension out so just go with what they do. Unfortunately the manufacturer doesn't give you that dimension when you buy the vise independent of a table.
Thanks to this help I have that information now.

 

[Nashcat]

Andrew,
I went out to the garage for another look. I had to move the V-Strom, but I got another measurement and picture. The max open width is 7" and the minimum closed is about 3/4", due to the movable clamp hitting the mounting flange of the stationary clamp. A closer inspection and measurement shows that the clamp is centered, based on the full open dimension. When fully open, each jaw of the clamp is 3 1/2" off the centerline of the table, meaning that when clamped on a wheel, the wheel would be off-center of the table. A 4" wide wheel would be 1 1/2" off-center when clamped I never noticed it being off and it hasn't affected the balance enough to notice.

John

 

[Andrew Shadow]

I decided to measure the widest tire I might put in it and round up to the nearest inch. I have drilled out the table for the clamp so if I need it, I’m ready to bolt it in.

I was going to do the same using the rear tire as the guide but as stated I can't measure anything right now and was surprised the manufactuerer didn't provide the dimension.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

A closer inspection and measurement shows that the clamp is centered, based on the full open dimension. When fully open, each jaw of the clamp is 3 1/2" off the centerline of the table, meaning that when clamped on a wheel, the wheel would be off-center of the table. A 4" wide wheel would be 1 1/2" off-center when clamped I never noticed it being off and it hasn't affected the balance enough to notice.

I didn't mean for you to go to the trouble of moving your bike so thanks very much for that.
That is what I figured- that they had centered it based on the maximum opening and is exactly what I was after.
By the way- that last 3/4" is the thickness of the threaded insert that the threaded rod of the movable arm screws in to so you are at the limit at that point.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

For the benefit of anyone in the future.

Only one reference point and the preferred offset from centre are required to locate this vise on a lift table that did not come equipped with it and therefore does not have bolt holes pre-drilled in the correct locations.

Determine what offset from the lift table centre-line you want to use. The maximum safe opening of the jaws is seven(7) inches. If you want to take advantage of the maximum safe opening capacity this offset would be 3 1/2" meaning that a 7" wheel will be centred on the lift table when clamped in this vise. Rarely will you ever use this vise for a wheel 7" wide however. If you prefer to have the front wheel of your current motorcycle centred on your lift table when it is clamped in this vise simply reduce the offset accordingly based on the width of your front wheel or to the dimension of your choice. At a guess most street motorcycle front wheels probably fall in to the 3" to 5" range so an offset around two inches or so might be a good compromise.

Once you have determined the offset from centre that you want, simply mount the two halves of the vise using the mounting base bolt holes as the reference point.
Mount the two halves of the vise so that the centre-line of the fixed jaw mounting base leading edge bolt holes are aligned horizontally with the centre-line of the movable jaw mounting base trailing edge bolt holes. This aligns the two halves so that the forward/aft offset between the two mounting bases will be correct so that the two jaws will align when in use.

If you want to take advantage of the maximum safe opening range of seven(7) inches, mount the two halves so that the two inside edges of the mounting plates are parallel eight (8) inches apart. This will allow for a maximum jaw opening of seven (7) inches and a minimum of about 3/4". I don't recommend that you mount the jaws any farther apart than this. The threaded insert that the movable jaw's threaded rod screws in to is 3/4" deep. With the jaws closed to the 3/4" dimension full thread engagement is maintained between the rod and the insert. Closing the jaws completely will allow the threaded rod to be screwed completely out of the threaded insert. I can't imagine ever needing to close the vise to such a small opening however. Even if you used the vise for a pedal bike I don't think that you would need to close the jaws to less than 3/4". If you do want to clamp something less than 3/4" while mainlining full thread engagement, mount the two halves closer together. The two halves can be mounted as closely together as desired but obviously the maximum opening of the jaws will be reduced.

Attached is a printable sketch to illustrate the dimensions.

 

[JeanST1300]

TITAN
WHEEL VISE

Look on Youtube

 

[Andrew Shadow]

That video didn't exist a year ago when I was looking for this information.

 

[JeanST1300]

I was looking for a model for an installation and I came to your site. Bonne journée...Have a good day