Oxford Snapjack V3 review | Easier chain lubing

Date reviewed: May 2025 | Tested by: John Milbank| Price: £49.99 | www.oxfordproducts.com

The Oxford Snapjack V3 on review here is made under licence from Tirox, the maker of the Tirox Snapjack V2. It’s not just a rebranded copy either – Oxford has added some useful extras and made some valuable tweaks that are more than just slapping a ‘one’ on the model version. I’ve been using it with a 1999 Kawasaki ZX-6R, and despite having a paddock stand I’ll be reaching for this far more from now on…

Pros & Cons

Construction and features

The Oxford Snapjack V3 measures 235mm long, 85mm at its widest and 55mm at its thickest. Weighing 629g, it comes with a strap that keeps it together in transit and holds the brake lever on in use, as well as a useful carry bag and a rubbery pad to prevent slipping. Unfortunately the stitching on my bag came apart at the top the first time I opened it, but it hasn’t stopped it working and I can easily run a couple of stitches in (or staple it if I’m lazy).

The powder-coated steel construction measures 2.7mm thick, and the bottom of the stand has teeth to grip most surfaces, with a top that’s been dipped in a thick, soft coating to protect your bike’s swingarm.

It’s important to understand that the Snapjack can’t work with all bikes. There’s a good chance it’ll suit most of them, but obviously it can’t work with one that has a single-sided swingarm on the left, and the highest it can push a wheel up is 370mm from the bottom of the swingarm to the ground. You could put something under it for a bit more reach potentially, but measure the distance on your bike, and as long as it’s a couple of centimetres less than this, you should have no problems. I’m not lifting at the lowest point of my ZX-6R’s swingarm, and have no difficulty getting the clearance to freely turn the rear wheel.

The top and bottom of the Snapjack are secured in the centre with locking nuts, and designed to rotate slightly from side to side to allow the stand to get good, even support across the underside of the swingarm and the ground.

The Snapjack V3 is supplied with the hinge-pin at its highest usable point – you can’t use the top holes as these are required for the locking pin, but also to ensure the two halves lock firmly. If needs be, you can shorten the length of the Snapjack by 17mm or 34mm, though to fold it away neatly you’ll need it in the higher point.

Ease of use

While in an emergency you could potentially use the Oxford Snapjack V3 to remove a rear wheel (and Revzilla’s Spurgeon Dunbar even used the Tirox Snapjack V2 to take out a front wheel), it’s designed for lubing the chain, as well as cleaning it and the wheel.

Set the bike on the stand, secure the front brake lever with the strap (though I usually forget), pop the Snapjack under the swingarm with it bent and the base pressed firmly against the ground, then push the centre and it snaps shut with the wheel about an inch off the ground. Once it’s up, pop in the locking pin (though I usually forget) and you’re ready to go.

This does pitch the bike slightly more over to the left than it would be normally on the side-stand, so getting to the chain to lube it is a touch more awkward than it would be on a centre-stand or paddock-stand when the bike’s upright, but it’s still very easy to do the job and it’s quicker than setting up a paddock stand (and less worrying for those not used to it).

After use, the retaining loop on the hinge pin can also act as a puller to take the stand down, which is a handy upgrade (that also keeps the hinge pin more safely in place) over the Tirox version.

One of the other key areas redesigned by Oxford for the Snapjack V3 is the additional lip at the top of the hinge area, which prevents your skin getting caught as you push the stand into place; a far better solution than just having a warning sticker on there, as the Tirox.

Stability

Once locked into place the Oxford Snapjack V3 is extremely sturdy; I had no worries about lubing my bike’s chain with it fitted as it was so easy to spin the wheel with one hand while spraying the chain with lube (you don’t need me to tell you not to have the engine running while using this, do you?!).

If I had to, I would take a rear wheel out with this, but it’s not designed for that purpose and I’d loosen the axle off with the bike on the ground first… and finishing tightening it when it’s off the stand too. A paddock stand would be far safer.

Chain adjustment is possible with the Snapjack V3, though I’d still prefer to tighten and loosen the bolts with the bike on the ground.

It’s definitely NOT designed for it, but I did manage to get the front wheel in the air on my BMW R1250GS and the ZX-6R with the Snapjack V3, but it took a lot of fiddling and certainly didn’t feel that stable.

Surfaces suitable for the Snapjack

On Tarmac, concrete, block-paving and slabs I had no problem at all with the Oxford Snapjack V3, it lifting and holding the ZX-6R very securely without any slipping.

It even worked okay on gravel, though it’d be better with a crushed can or a puck underneath the side-stand and the Snapjack.

On the painted smooth concrete of my garage, I found my Kawasaki’s side-stand kept slipping, so I had to pop the supplied rubbery square under. Once I’d done that, lifting the bike was easy and the Snapjack didn’t slip.

While I found the Oxford Snapjack V3 easy to use with my ZX-6R, my friend's heavier Z1000SX was more of a challenge, and I couldn't lift it on my shiny garage floor as even with the rubbery patch under the side-stand, it kept slipping away.

The Oxford Snapjack V3 only comes with one rubbery pad, unlike the Tirox Snapjack V2 that has two: one for the side-stand and one for the Snapjack. I’d have preferred two to be supplied, if only to know I had a spare.

Loose surfaces like grass and soil will need something to spread the load, so you’d be much better off finding somewhere more solid to lift the bike. In an emergency, a squashed can, rock etc might work, but care will be needed.

Five alternatives to the Oxford Snapjack V3

Assuming a centre-stand isn’t an option for your bike, here are some other ways to get the rear wheel up off the ground…

• BikeTek Swing Arm Lift, £34.99 | The BikeTek cups under the swingarm and has a threaded central section that allows you to raise the back-end of the bike. It extends from a claimed 29cm to 35cm and comes recommended by some of our BikeSocial Facebook Group members.

• Paddock stand, around £40-£130 | A paddock stand can be used to set your bike upright and very secure, but it’s not portable. Hooking onto bobbins screwed into the swingarm is the best bet if the fittings are there, but you can get stands that simply cup under the swingarm. Either way, they take a bit of practice to be confident with. Paddock stands are also available for bikes with single-sided swingarms.

• Eastbound Ultralight Compact Enduro Trail Jack, €60,38 | Weighing a claimed 145g and folding to 22cm, the Eastbound can extend up to 49cm and is intended for emergency use on tall enduro and adventure bikes. It’s unlikely to be as secure or easy to use as the Snapjack, but it could be what you’re looking for. We haven’t reviewed the Eastbound Ultralight Compact Enduro Trail Jack.

• Get a mate to help, free | If you need to lube the chain and you have someone to help, get them to lift the back wheel off the ground by pulling on the tail and pivoting the bike on the side-stand. It works, but they rarely hold it steady enough to lube the chain without making a mess (often over their boots), and they’ll moan if you don’t do it quickly enough.

• Cheap Amazon / Temu / Aliexpress knock-offs, about £20 | Oxford has carried out Finite Element Analysis of the loading capability and strength of the Snapjack V3, and it’s based on a proven Tirox design with a thick, solid steel construction that’s been carefully considered. Personally, I wouldn’t trust my bike to a potentially poorly-made and flimsy alternative for the sake of a few pounds.

These are just five of many alternatives – you can find all the motorcycle maintenance products we’ve tested here and be sure to regularly check for the discounts available through Bikesocial membership.

Oxford Snapjack V3 review: Verdict

Oxford has taken the excellent design of the Tirox Snapjack V2 and made it even better with some thoughtful tweaks. The Snapjack V3 is a genuinely useful piece of kit that many riders will find is well worth the money when it comes to cleaning and lubing the chain on a bike that doesn’t have a centre-stand. The size and weight of your bike will affect how easy it is to use, but on the right surfaces it should be capable.

You could do more in an emergency with the SnapJack V3, and it’d even potentially be handy when checking the wheel bearings, but simply for the basics it’s a great design that comes thoroughly recommended.

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