I bought a Cycle Lift, Black Widow Motorcycle lift, off amazon for 80$ with free shipping.

The size is 15 x 9.1 x 14.2 inches and hangs out both sides of my Sportster just over 2 inches.  It has an 1100 lb lift capacity.  It is a manual lift you use a wrench or socket to raise the bike.
  
Awesome compact little lift.  I have been using it for about a week now, took 2 attempts to get it centered so it lifted the bike evenly but with a little grease on the threads and a 7/8 socket you can jack it up the full 15 inches in about 2 mins.

After getting it up about 3 inches off the ground I started gently pushing it side to side to see how stable it was and the bike basicly did not move at all.  They recomend putting a strap on the bike, but it has been sitting on the jack stand for a week now with no strap and I have been working on it and it has not moved at all.

Right now I have the lift up about half way and it has been sitting like that for a week.  Sure makes working on the bike way easier.

Since it closes up nice and tight it stores out of the way great also.  Never had a lift before and now that I have one I can not believe how great it is to jack the bike up and be able to work on the Sportster while sitting on a stool and everything be just about at eye level.

Now I would have liked one of those hydrolic table jacks that lifts the bike up like 3 or 4 ft in the air but do not have the room or that kind of money.

UPDATE ON STABILITY........

"OK ATTENTION"  I am on week 2 using this lift and most of the stuff I had been doing was on the side and I tested it for side to side motion even at 15 inches off the ground there was almost no movement.

Today I started to install my new Saddle bags and new tool bag on the handlebars.  Well I found an interesting thing.  Moveing, pushing on the front of the bike as I installed the new tool bag, The bike would sway from front to rear about 2 inches.  Same thing as I put my new Saddlebags on.  The bike kept swaying forwards about 2 inches. 

I stopped and tested it, watching what was going on.  The bike was not moving but the Scissor arms of the jack run under the bike from side to side.  So it would seem the weak link is the Scissor Arms side to side strenght.

It is well made enough that I can not see a catastrophe failure, but incase anyone is thinking of getting one I wanted to let you know the flaw I found.

Pictures or it never happened.

You have me interested:
Looked at the hydraulic ones - Expensive + A lot of garage space
Was thinking of making something out of a couple of junkyard scissors jacks, some oak cribbing and plywood but that seems like work and I am tired.

Savage you will luv it. I am planning on buying the dolly that the lift sits on so you can roll the bike around. I thought I had it in the perfect spot and, lololol, I was off by about 3 inches. I can just barely squeeze thru.

I have been shaking this thing pretty hard back and forth, side to side, probably hard enough that if it was on the kickstand it would have flipped over. Even swinging the front forks from side to side has no impact on the stability.

Here is a photo of it

I like it. Like Savage said that would take up a lot less storage room.

UPDATE ON STABILITY........

"OK ATTENTION"  I am on week 2 using this lift and most of the stuff I had been doing was on the side and I tested it for side to side motion even at 15 inches off the ground there was almost no movement.

Today I started to install my new Saddle bags and new tool bag on the handlebars.  Well I found an interesting thing.  Moveing, pushing on the front of the bike as I installed the new tool bag, The bike would sway from front to rear about 2 inches.  Kind of scary at first when the bike started to sway back and I thought it was headed for the garage floor.  Same thing as I put my new Saddlebags on.  The bike kept swaying forwards about 2 inches. 

I stopped and tested it, watching what was going on.  The bike was not moving but the Scissor arms of the jack run under the bike from side to side.  So it would seem the weak link is the Scissor Arms side to side strenght.

It is well made enough that I can not see a catastrophe failure, but incase anyone is thinking of getting one I wanted to let you know the flaw I found.

Thanks for the info used one similar to this but I only raise the front or back at one time overall it is great little flat Jack

I tell you what I expected way more movement out of it. My rear brakes went out just the other day, and having the bike 15 inches in the air where I can sit on a seat and see the whole brake system is a blessing. Again side work which means long length of the jack. But I was able instead of laying on the floor trying to look under the bike, just bend over a little and see all of the brake system. Think my rear brake line is leaking at the brake sensor.

But again working from the side no movement. It has been 15 inches in the air for almost a week now.