BendPak ML-2000 Super Motorcycle Lift Review: The Ultimate Commercial Lift

Every other table in this category is rated 1,000 to 1,500 lb, and every two-wheeled production motorcycle fits inside 1,500 lb with a margin. The BendPak ML-2000 exists for what does not: trikes, sidecar rigs and heavy customs. A Harley Tri Glide Ultra is about 1,200 lb wet, a Freewheeler about 1,100 lb, a Can-Am Spyder RT about 1,000 lb, and a full-dress bagger with a sidecar can pass 1,300 lb. On a 1,500 lb table those machines are at 70 to 90 percent of the rating; on the ML-2000 they are at 50 to 65.

Published specs: a 2,000 lb capacity, a 58 by 28 inch premium commercial steel deck with an anti-skid surface, an air-hydraulic pump requiring 90 PSI minimum, a 7 to 38 inch height range, dual lock bars with a check valve and six tie-down points, a reinforced loading ramp, 310 lb assembled weight and a three-year limited warranty. Price is around $1,199.

BendPak is a Santa Paula, California lift manufacturer whose automotive lifts are in a large share of dealership bays, and the ML-2000 is its top motorcycle table above the ML-1500 Pro. It is a commercial product with a commercial price, and the sections below are about whether the extra 500 lb is needed.

The 58 by 28 inch deck is the largest in this category, 2 inches longer and 2 wider than the ML-1500 Pro and 2 inches shorter but 2 wider than the Atlas AML-1500XL. Length handles any two-wheeled bike: a 64 inch wheelbase bagger has 10 inches of deck past its rear contact patch, and a 67 inch Gold Wing still has both wheels on the main deck.

Width is the trike number. A Tri Glide's rear track is about 40 inches, so even on 28 inches the rear tires overhang both sides by about 6 inches each and the frame is what the deck supports. That is normal for a motorcycle table; no table in this class is 40 inches wide. What the ML-2000 adds is 2 inches of overlap beyond the ML-1500 Pro and AML-1500XL, six tie-down points to strap the rear frame at two positions on each side, and a reinforced ramp shallow enough to walk a 1,200 lb machine up under its own power.

The 7 to 38 inch range is the widest in the category. At 38 inches a Tri Glide's rear differential is at a comfortable working height, and a dressed touring bike's windshield is above 8 feet, which is the one ceiling check a garage with overhead storage should make.

The pump needs 90 PSI and a compressor that holds it under a 1,200 lb load. A 20 to 30 gallon tank is the minimum; a 60 gallon shop compressor is what a dealership bay will have and what makes the rise steady. Add a filter and oiler inline and drain the tank. The check valve holds cylinder pressure if the air supply drops.

At 310 lb the ML-2000 ships freight with a liftgate and needs two people at the curb and three hours of assembly; the cons list on this page recommends professional installation, which BendPak dealers offer and which is the sensible route for a shop. The two lock bars need adjusting so both seat at the same stop, and the ramp and tie-down hardware add steps the smaller tables do not have.

Floor space is the practical cost. The deck is 58 by 28 inches, but with the base frame, the deployed ramp and the pedal, plan on 8 feet of length and 3 feet of width, plus 2 feet of working room each side. That is a 8 by 7 foot patch of level concrete at minimum. The table does not bolt down; level is what keeps a 310 lb base stable under a trike.

The ML-2000 has two lock bars, one each side of the scissor frame, a hydraulic check valve, six tie-down points and an anti-skid deck. The lock bars engage stops as the deck rises and carry the load once the release is opened; two bars mean a mis-seat on one side still leaves the deck supported, which matters more under 1,200 lb than under 500. The check valve holds pressure if a seal or hose fails. The anti-skid surface addresses the loading phase, where a tire slipping on a smooth deck with a trike half on is the most likely incident.

Six tie-down points are the number that separates this table from the ML-1500 Pro's four. A trike strapped at the front and at two rear positions per side does not rock when a rear wheel comes off, and a rider working alone under 1,200 lb should not accept less.

BendPak does not list ALI certification for the ML-2000. BendPak's automotive lifts are ALI certified, so the absence is a category fact: ALI's program covers automotive lifts and no motorcycle table in this group carries it. The three-year warranty matches the ML-1500 Pro and the Challenger CML-1500 and is the longest in the category.

The BendPak ML-1500 Pro at around $899: 1,500 lb, a 56 by 26 inch deck, 7 to 37 inches, air-hydraulic, dual lock bars with a check valve and tie-downs, 275 lb, three-year warranty. For $300 less it has the same locks and warranty, 2 inches less deck each way, 1 inch less rise and four tie-downs instead of six. For every two-wheeled bike it is the better table, because 1,500 lb is already more than enough and the $300 is buying capacity that will never be used.

The Atlas AML-1500XL at around $699: 1,500 lb, a 60 by 26 inch deck, 8 to 35 inches, foot pump, dual lock bars with a check valve, integrated ramp, six tie-down points, 220 lb, two-year warranty. For $500 less it has 2 inches more length, 2 less width, the same six anchors and a ramp, and a foot pump instead of air. For a long two-wheeled bike or a Softail-based trike conversion under 1,000 lb it is the value alternative. For a full Tri Glide it is at 80 percent of rating with a foot pump, and the ML-2000 is the safer table.

The Challenger CML-1500 at around $699 is the mid-price air-hydraulic option with a 54 by 25 inch deck and one lock bar; it is for baggers, not trikes.

Buy the ML-2000 if the machine is a Tri Glide, a Freewheeler, a Spyder, a sidecar rig or a custom over 1,000 lb, or if the table is going into a dealership or independent shop that services trikes alongside two-wheeled bikes and wants one table for all of it. For those buyers it is the only table in this category with a working margin, and the six tie-downs, anti-skid deck and reinforced ramp are built around loading and securing exactly those machines.

Skip it for two-wheeled bikes. The ML-1500 Pro at $300 less has the same locks and warranty on a deck that holds any bagger, and the Challenger CML-1500 at $500 less does the same job with one lock bar. Skip it if the garage cannot give up an 8 by 7 foot patch of level concrete permanently. And skip it if there is no 60 gallon or at least 30 gallon compressor; a pancake unit under a 1,200 lb load is a slow afternoon.

Our recommendation: weigh the machine. Over 1,000 lb or three wheels, buy the ML-2000. Under it, buy the ML-1500 Pro and keep the $300.