As promised an honest review, I hope this is helpful too all. Ok so firstly I am not an engineer so none of what I say is fact and is only my own opinion, I have been using a similar lift called constands (mk1 another out since) which I have no issues with but I will use as an example to compare with. So first thoughts - the lift does look very well made and very solid, it comes with colour options which is a bonus and the instructions come in colour. One part where the 1jac does look alot more solid than the constands is the top hinge part although I have not had an issue with the constands so maybe more cosmetic than anything else. Set up is the same as the constands, and can be complicated but as I have done this before I found it a bit easier. Although you only have to so it once. The 1jac instructions have very clear pics and in colour which was a real plus, I do however think the wording could be a bit clearer from 1jac. The actual lift of the bike is no better or worse than the constands and they also move around the floor just as easy as each other. Although I did notice that the wheels on one of the 1jac arms seemed to drag and not roll very often and was a little harder to spin the bike one way than the other but this caused no major issues during the testing. The lock release (too lower the bike) is easier to use/get a hold of on the constands as its alot bigger than the one on the 1jac. I also found the 1jac a bit top heavy and when pulling the lift out from under the bike the stand tipped and actually scratched my belly pan This does not happen with the constands as it appears better balanced. 1jac do say their plate flex's when lifted and this creates a unique lock onto the bike so I can not fall off (basically if the metal curves it can't slide back out a straight hole) As I said I'm no engineer so I can neither comment on if this is true, works or even if the constands actually has this function or not. But Nigel does say this is unique to his design. However to be completely honest I have never had any concern that my bike would fall off constands and have stripped it down too nearly nothing. Both very good lifts, lift both wheels off the floor for maintenance and cleaning, I recently had my bike stripped down to basically frame and engine and sat in the air for about 6 weeks with no issues. Both lifts are good pieces of kit the constands does lift slightly higher than the 1jac but it is off the floor high enough for all jobs I could think of doing My honest opinion if I was shopping for one of these again (knowing as much as most of us do about engineering 0) Even though the 1jac looks alot fancier I don't think it is worth the £££ over the competitors. If you have the extra money spare and are a bit vain and want to colour match etc then go for it as it is the pretty one, Just be careful with your belly pans with I have a small list of things to pass on to Nigel if he is interested which I think could improve his lift and maybe make it worth that extra cash.
My Envy.....is being stripped and posted for the re vamp......... will be interesting to see how they improve it.....
I promised it would be honest mate, not much I can do about the lost cash Just wanted to do it for the members on here really
interesting review for me considering I bought one of the crap ones from Andy at DT. My bike no matter how I adjust the stand wants to lean over to an angle that I'm not comfortable with - think the bike is going to fall off. I'm sure I've a universal fitting kit instead of the actual one for my bike, well thats my guess of the problem anyways. I was considering buying a "good" stand like the 1-Jac as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for, but after reading this, I'm not 100% sure that this stand would be that much better than the chinese DT version..
It is a good lift mate as is the constands, I have never even seen a warrior one so can't comment on the quality of that. PM me the issues your having mate and I will try and help you with the set up as I'm becoming a bit of an expert at it now lol
in a former life I was an engineer in the oil industry for years.. so fingers crossed I have set the thing up correctly but you never know! Maybe I have set up up wrong so any advise much appreciated! I've modified it a little now anyway to take a safety pin as while the bike is on it, at the bike is leaning away from the stand while up in the air. should have saved my money for the daddy Abba Sky Lift
I had loads of confidence with the constands it sat like this for 6 weeks and I would trust the 1jac for the same job
Call me a hypocrite if you want as I know I bought a Japanese bike, but for my money I'd buy the 1JAC. To be fair I've never seen any of the other stands but this little beauty is totally British designed and made. Even the paint is made in the UK. The welding is perfect and the machining is great too. I have not experienced the lift trying to tipple over when removing it from the bike and I think I would as my garage floor isn't the smoothest. I'll do my own review when I've owned and used it a bit longer. My main reason for purchase was to turn the bike round in the garage and it does that with ease.
Not sure if you have read the wrong way or I have not explained well but I haven't said do not buy the lift, I said the differences between the 2 I have compared to my knowledge is paint and too me its not worth the extra money just for paint, I have said that if you have the extra cash then it is a nicer looking stand so to buy this one but at the end of the day they both function the same
I have a Warrior which is identical (looking at the photos) to the constands except it has a damper fitted to assist in lowering it was a shit to set up but once set up right its been great and at £117 including the adapter for the Blade whats not to like I tried and tried to buy an ENVY but glad now I did not Ian
After all the issues with many types of makes of this lift I feel I would keep with my paddock stands or go for a full bike lift which you can get for around the £400 mark. I like the look of the Abba Skylift But still don't have confidence in the why they connect to the bike. IE me dropping the bike off it
Looks like the stand clashes with the gear change linkage, holding the stand too far out from the frame. You can cure this by fitting the linkage to the reverse shift on the gear lever and rotating the gearbox link 90 degrees.
