Engine Stands

[C.Casper]

Hey there, I have been searching around a while now trying to find info in the forums and on the net about engine stands for motorcycles. I have found a few for rebuilding it but none that look like they could hold a running engine on them.

I was considering just making one for our F4i. Anyone have any input for me or know of any already made products out there? I'm not sure exactly how violent the vibrations are going to be but would something with a 3'x3' foot print be stable enough? I thought about droping anchors into the concrete but without some sort of vibration dampening it could be worse rigidly connected to the ground...

[C.Casper]

Hey there, I have been searching around a while now trying to find info in the forums and on the net about engine stands for motorcycles. I have found a few for rebuilding it but none that look like they could hold a running engine on them.

I was considering just making one for our F4i. Anyone have any input for me or know of any already made products out there? I'm not sure exactly how violent the vibrations are going to be but would something with a 3'x3' foot print be stable enough? I thought about droping anchors into the concrete but without some sort of vibration dampening it could be worse rigidly connected to the ground...

[Psychosis]

you will have to anchor it to the concrete, you'd be nuts not to!

[Alexandre D.]

By running you mean under load i guess?

[Dave M]

We are using a regular (v8) engine stand with a modified engine plate. You just need to make some adapters that bolt to the plate and pickup to the motor.

[PedalOnTheRight]

It wouldnt be too hard to build yourself one. But as Dave M pointed out, you can make a regular engine stand work perfectly by making an adapter plate (this would, in most cases, let you rotate the engine 360 degrees about the crankshaft axis). We built our own out of square steel tubing, and just took the dimensions off of our engine to make the exact same mounting brackets on our stand. Our's isn't for running an engine on, but if you plan on doing that you better anchor it to the floor or build a big enough stand to withstand the forces.

[C.Casper]

Yeah, I will definitly be bolting it to the floor. I just ment using rubber mats of some sort to help soak up the vibrations. Looks like I will be making one though. Does anyone else run there engine outside of the chasis? Seems like a good idea to me, I'd like to get most all the bugs worked out before it is surrounded in a cage of steel and carbon fiber...and perhaps get it on an engine dyno if we can find a facility with the proper equipment.

As far as under load goes, If we can run it through the gears under load out of the chasis that would be great. But my primary concern would be just running period.

[Chris Boyden]

+As far as bolting things to concrete:
I used Tapcons for mounting some stuff to concrete. Man, they were alot easier than the expanding type anchors and provide more pullout strength and shear than an equivalent sized expansion lug. You can get them with hex head and phillips drive. They are basically a self tapping screw for concrete and masonry. they are awesome.