BendPak ML-1500 Pro Motorcycle Lift Review: The Commercial Gold Standard

BendPak is a Santa Paula, California lift manufacturer whose two-post and four-post lifts and Ranger tire equipment are the standard in a large share of dealership and independent shops. The ML-1500 Pro is its 1,500 lb air-hydraulic motorcycle table. Published specs: a 1,500 lb capacity, a 56 by 26 inch premium commercial steel deck, an air-hydraulic pump requiring 90 PSI minimum, a 7 to 37 inch height range, dual lock bars with a hydraulic check valve and tie-downs, 275 lb assembled weight and a three-year limited warranty.

Price is around $899, the second-highest in this category after BendPak's own ML-2000. That puts it $300 above the Triumph NML-1500, $200 above the Challenger CML-1500 and $150 above the Dannmar DML-1500HD, all of which are 1,500 lb air-hydraulic tables.

What BendPak charges for is deck, lock bars and steel. The ML-1500 Pro has the largest deck below the ML-2000 by 2 inches in each direction, a second lock bar the Triumph and Challenger lack, and 30 to 50 lb more frame than any of them. For a commercial bay those are the numbers that matter. For a home garage they are mostly headroom.

A 1,500 lb rating is comfortable to about 1,000 lb of bike. That is every two-wheeled production motorcycle with margin, including a CVO Road Glide at roughly 950 lb wet. It is not a trike; a Tri Glide at about 1,200 lb belongs on the ML-2000.

The deck is the ML-1500 Pro's defining number. At 56 inches long, a 64 inch wheelbase bagger has both contact patches well inside the main deck with 8 inches to spare at the rear, and the drop-out panel is fully free for wheel removal. Custom builders with raked front ends get the same benefit: a 70 inch wheelbase overhangs by only 14 inches instead of 22 on a 48 inch table. At 26 inches wide there is room beside floorboards and saddlebag guards for a caliper, a drain pan and the rider's hands.

The 7 to 37 inch range is the widest in the 1,500 lb class. Seven inches makes roll-on loading with a low cruiser easy; 37 inches puts a bagger's cylinder heads at chest height for a tall rider. A dressed touring bike at full rise will have its windshield at about 8 feet, which is the one ceiling check worth making in a garage with low overhead storage.

The pump needs 90 PSI and a compressor that holds it under load. A 20 to 30 gallon tank is the practical minimum; a small pancake compressor works but cycles constantly. Add $150 to $300 for the compressor if the shop does not have one, plus an inline filter and oiler for the air motor. Drain the tank regularly; water in the air motor is the usual reason an air-hydraulic pump slows down.

At 275 lb the ML-1500 Pro ships freight, not parcel, and needs a liftgate or two people at the curb. Assembly is a two-person job of about three hours; the cons list on this page suggests professional installation, which BendPak dealers offer. The scissor, deck, pump and lock assemblies bolt together and the lock bars need adjustment so both engage at the same stop.

Placement is permanent. The table sits on level concrete with a footprint of about 5 by 2.5 feet plus working room on three sides, and does not bolt down. Level matters more than anchoring; a 275 lb base under a 900 lb bike is stable on a flat slab.

The ML-1500 Pro has two lock bars, one on each side of the scissor frame, plus a hydraulic check valve and built-in tie-downs. The lock bars engage stops as the deck rises and carry the load once the release is opened; because there are two, a mis-seat on one side still leaves the deck supported. The check valve holds cylinder pressure if the air supply drops or a seal fails, so the deck stays put if the compressor trips. The tie-downs give four anchor points for strapping a bike before the first rise.

That is the same hardware as the Dannmar DML-1500HD and one lock bar more than the Triumph NML-1500 and Challenger CML-1500. For a home builder the second bar is insurance; for a shop with employees under the deck it is the reason to pay for this table.

BendPak does not list ALI certification for the ML-1500 Pro. BendPak's automotive lifts are ALI certified, so the absence is a category fact: ALI's program is written for automotive lifts and no motorcycle table in this group carries it. The three-year warranty matches the Challenger CML-1500 and beats the two years on the Triumph and Dannmar.

The Challenger CML-1500 at around $699: 1,500 lb, a 54 by 25 inch deck, 7 to 37 inches, air-hydraulic, one lock bar with a check valve and tie-down points, 245 lb, three-year warranty. For $200 less it gives up 2 inches of deck in each direction, one lock bar and 30 lb of steel, and keeps the warranty. A home builder or small shop that does not need the second bar should buy the Challenger.

The Triumph NML-1500 at around $599: 1,500 lb, 52 by 24 inches, 7 to 36 inches, air-hydraulic, one lock bar with a check valve and straps, 225 lb, two-year warranty. For $300 less it does the same lifting on a smaller deck. It is the value pick in the air-hydraulic class.

The BendPak ML-2000 at around $1,199: 2,000 lb, a 58 by 28 inch deck, 7 to 38 inches, dual lock bars, check valve, six tie-down points, anti-skid deck, 310 lb, three-year warranty. For $300 more it adds 500 lb and 2 inches of deck. It exists for trikes and heavy customs; a shop that never sees a trike does not need it.

Buy the ML-1500 Pro if the table is going into a commercial service bay, a custom shop or a serious builder's garage where bikes over 800 lb go up and down every day, a compressor is already running, and two lock bars and a dealer network matter. The deck size and the safety hardware are what it does better than everything below it, and the three-year warranty and BendPak parts availability are what make it a shop purchase.

Skip it for a home garage with one bike and a few lifts a month. The Triumph NML-1500 at $300 less lifts the same bikes with air, and the Challenger CML-1500 at $200 less has most of the deck and the same warranty. Skip it for trikes and for anything over 1,000 lb; that is the ML-2000's job.

Our recommendation: the ML-1500 Pro is the right table for a shop and an expensive one for a hobbyist, and the honest advice is to buy the Challenger unless the second lock bar or the BendPak dealer relationship is specifically wanted.