Triumph NML-1500 Motorcycle Lift Review: Professional Grade Air-Hydraulic Power

Every table under $500 in this category uses a foot pump. The rider stands on a pedal and each stroke moves a fixed volume of oil into the cylinder, so a heavy bike means more strokes and more effort per stroke. An air-hydraulic pump replaces the rider's leg with shop air: compressed air drives a small hydraulic pump, and the table rises as long as the pedal is held down. The rider's effort goes to zero and the rise time depends on the compressor, not on the bike.

The Triumph NML-1500 is the cheapest table in this category with that pump. Its published specs are a 1,500 lb capacity, a 52 by 24 inch heavy-gauge steel deck, a 7 to 36 inch height range, an air requirement of 90 PSI minimum, a lock bar, a hydraulic check valve and safety straps, 225 lb assembled weight and a two-year limited warranty.

Triumph sells two-post and four-post automotive lifts alongside its motorcycle tables. It is not a boutique brand and not a big-box import; its tables sit between the Titan and JEGS class and the BendPak class, in construction and in price.

The 1,500 lb rating is common at this level. What is less common is the 52 inch deck. Four inches over the Titan and JEGS decks does not sound like much, but it is the difference between a Street Glide's 64 inch wheelbase having its rear tire on the drop-out panel and having it on the main deck. Riders with baggers should take this seriously; the drop-out panel is there for rear wheel removal, not for carrying the bike's weight during a brake job.

Width is 24 inches, the same as the Titan and JEGS and 2 inches narrower than the BendPak ML-1500 Pro. That is enough for any two-wheeled production bike with floorboards. It is not enough for a trike, which needs the Atlas AML-1500XL or the BendPak ML-2000.

The 7 inch minimum height is 1 inch lower than the foot-pump tables in this price range, which makes roll-on loading easier with a low-slung cruiser. The 36 inch maximum is 2 inches higher than the Titan's, and with a tall adventure bike on the deck the top of the windscreen will approach 7 feet. That is not a problem in any garage but it is worth knowing before fitting overhead storage.

The 90 PSI minimum is the number most first-time buyers underestimate. A small pancake compressor will reach 90 PSI but its tank empties quickly, so the table rises in bursts while the compressor cycles; it works, but slowly. A 20 to 30 gallon tank compressor that maintains 90 PSI under load gives a steady rise. Budget $150 to $300 for one if the garage does not already have it, plus a hose and a quick coupler, and add that to the $599 before comparing against foot-pump tables.

The air motor is the one component that needs routine attention. An inline filter and oiler, or at least a dry air supply, keeps the pump from ingesting water from the tank. Drain the compressor tank regularly; that is a habit every air-tool owner should already have.

Placement is permanent in practice. At 225 lb with a 52 by 24 inch deck and no casters, the NML-1500 takes two people to assemble and the same two people to move. The cons list on this page allows two hours for assembly, which is right for a table that ships as separate scissor, deck and pump assemblies. It sits on level concrete and does not bolt down.

The NML-1500 lists three safety items: a lock bar, a hydraulic check valve and safety straps. The lock bar is a solid bar that engages stops as the deck rises and carries the load once the pedal is released, which is the same principle as the Titan's bar with heavier hardware. The check valve holds cylinder pressure if the air supply is lost, so a compressor tripping mid-lift leaves the table where it is rather than lowering it. The straps are the tie-downs that every table should ship with and most do not.

Lowering is by a separate release, and the correct sequence on any table is to raise slightly to unload the lock bar, disengage the bar, then open the release with the rider standing beside, not behind, the bike.

Triumph does not list ALI or ETL certification for the NML-1500. No motorcycle table in this category carries ALI certification, because the program is written for automotive lifts; that is a category fact, not a Triumph shortcoming. The two-year warranty is one year longer than the Titan and JEGS and one year shorter than the Challenger CML-1500 and BendPak ML-1500 Pro.

The Titan 1500 at around $299 has the same 1,500 lb rating and a 48 by 24 inch deck with a foot pump, an 8 to 34 inch range, 165 lb of weight and a one-year warranty. The $300 gap buys the air-hydraulic pump, 4 inches of deck length, 2 inches of rise, an extra year of warranty and about 60 lb more steel. For a rider with a 500 lb bike that is money spent on convenience. For a rider with an 850 lb bagger it is the difference between a table that gets used and one that gets resented.

The BendPak ML-1500 Pro at around $899 is the same idea executed heavier: a 56 by 26 inch deck, 7 to 37 inches, dual lock bars, 275 lb, a three-year warranty. It is the table for a shop that lifts bikes every day. The Challenger CML-1500 at around $699 and Dannmar DML-1500HD at around $749 sit between the two with 54 by 25 and 52 by 25 inch decks respectively.

The NML-1500 is the value pick among the air-hydraulic tables. It gives up deck width and a second lock bar to the BendPak and a year of warranty to the Challenger, and costs $100 to $300 less than any of them.

The NML-1500 is for two buyers. The first owns a heavy bike, a Road Glide, a Gold Wing, an Indian Chieftain, and services it often enough that pumping 800 lb up 30 inches by foot has become the reason the bike does not get serviced. The second is a small shop or a serious builder who lifts several bikes a week and already has a compressor running for impact tools.

It is not for the rider with a 450 lb naked bike who lifts it four times a year. That rider is paying $300 for a pump feature that saves a minute of effort, and the Titan 1500 or JEGS 80081 is the better use of the money. It is also not for the buyer without a compressor who does not want one; the total cost then approaches $800 and the Dannmar DML-1200 foot-pump table at around $529 starts to make sense.

Our recommendation: if the bike is over 700 lb and the compressor is already in the garage, buy the NML-1500 and do not look at the pricier air-hydraulic tables unless the deck needs to be wider than 24 inches.