Within the very broad church of motorcycling there are all sorts and conditions of folk. For some happiness is barnstorming through the Wicklow mountains at weekends, for others it's going to motorcycle races, or touring, or whatever.
And within the ranks there are those who are as happy, perhaps even happier, not actually riding their bikes but, as we called it in the days of my youth, "fettling" them. Some might call it "tinkering", while family members who don't share the passion for motorcycles could be inclined to say you were "playing with" your bike.
Fettling, or whatever else you might call it, is understood in select circles to describe the devotion of any kind of attention to one's machine. It can vary from the more extreme pursuits such as lapping in pistons with Brasso, gas-flowing cylinder head ports, right down to simple cleaning and polishing, sometimes called titivating!
Indeed, in the depths of a cold and wet winter night there is much to be said for a warm, well-lit workshop, the distraction of a worthwhile task, pleasure of a job well done and the anticipation of days in the saddle to come.
If fettling or the like holds any attractions for you, what can make an enormous difference to the pleasure is having the right working conditions. Virtually all of the motorcycle is at a height between ground level and around 900mm. For a normal adult a comfortable height for working while standing ranges from around 750mm to 1250mm. In other words virtually all of the machine is at a less than comfortable working height. One can end up crouched down, even lying on the floor to do some jobs which hardly equates with either comfort or efficiency.
In the better organised professional workshops, bikes are put on workbenches, usually with hydraulic lifting gear so that the machine can be raised into a comfortable working position. How nice it would be, many of us have reflected when straightening an aching back, to have a proper bike lift in our own workshop.
Well, you can, and if you think about it, the cost, spread over a lifetime's enjoyment of motorcycling, can be reasonable enough if you shop around. Recently we came across a very well-made hydraulic bike lift designed to take machines up to 400 kg - that's heavier than a Honda Gold Wing - and lift them to any height from 200mm to 800mm.
Like any of the professional bike lifts, it has a detachable panel which simplifies the task of removing the rear wheel, a front wheel clamp and anchor points for safety straps. The cost, including VAT, is €499 - for a device that should last a lifetime strikes us as something of a bargain.
This one, available from Motormax (01.4055533) is as well and sturdily made as any we've seen, including some at twice the price.
The lift is mounted on small wheels making it easy to move around. You can even shift it outdoors on a nice day. Once in position there are four screw-down jacks to level and stabilise it. Thanks to the hydraulics the effort required to lift the heaviest of bikes is minimal.
It has required some degree of reorganisation in the workshop, largely a much-needed spring clean, to get it into a position where it can easily be used and still leave space for bike parking. Now the sort of task, such as chain adjustment, which can so easily get left to another day, has become simple, straightforward, indeed almost a pleasure.
It's so much easier to hoist the machine to the correct height, even for the routine task of cleaning the rear wheel. Looking back at years of crouching, being bent-double and enduring back-breaking contortions, one must wonder why it took so long to get around to buying a bike lift. It's probably the best workshop investment we've ever made.
Most jobs now take far less time than before. They ar also done more carefully for the simple reason we can see what we are doing and because everything requires much less effort.
None of our must-do tasks now get put on the long finger. That should help make the bikes last longer and keep it in better condition. At this rate it will not be long before our bike lift has paid for itself.