Centre stand: how strong is it?

I've just read this:-

"Never sit on the bike to move it off its central stand. The stand is not
designed to take the combined weight of you and the machine." (The Police
Rider's Handbook to Better Motorcycling, p.123.)

I've always done this.

Show of hands?
-
R.

 

I always thought the centre stand was designed for being able to sit on
the bike in the motorway services with your feet on the bars whilst
drinking coffee.

 

It depends on the bike.
For example the LE stand is probably better descriped as a pair of
propstands so it just rolls off with no effort. The GS OTOH has a
centre stand that lifts the rear wheel more than an inch. A pig to
get it up and probably daft to try to ride it off. Too much like
hard work, I use the propstand.

 

*Waves*

Must have been drafted by a Plod with an addiction to doughnuts.

 

I did this with every bike I owned.

D.

 

Me too if the bike has/had a centre stand.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Official Line:
The Centre Stand is designed to take the weight of the bike and not the bike
and rider.. This is why you see a lot of centre stands a bit bent.

I've done it.

 

Utter bollocks

Always

The shippers did bend the XJR side stand by strapping it down tight.

But think of every time you take a ferry and you strap down on the side
stand? That would be as bad or worse than sitting on it.

 

I could get the R80RT onto the stand without getting out of the saddle. I
couldn't get the Trophy off the stand without sitting in the saddle and
shagging it off.

 

I've never done it because I was told not to when I started biking.

Funny really, because (in common with most people) normally being told
not to do something has the exact opposite effect on me.

When I was instructing I did see quite a few hand-me-down scooters and
100/125s where both wheels but only one leg of the centrestand touched
the ground because various owners had sat on them.
The stands on bigger bikes do seem to be made of stronger stuff though.

 

side=main here

 

Depends on the bike - but imho not generally a good idea in general.
Was instructing CBTs when of the pivot lugs snapped on a scooter when a
lad sat on it - which was unfortunate as the lug was a cast part of the
engine. Cant think what make it was though. Any ideas?

 

When we made them, we designed them so that a "lardy arsed tart" would
not bend them when the bike was sat on. We used one of the welders who
weighed about 16-18 stone. The other test we did was to drag the bike
backwards while on the stand, like they do in the shops when they are
moving them around in tight spaces.

 

I don't understand this. When you are rolling the bike off the
centrestand you don't have your weight on the bike, do you? You have
your feet on the floor to push against it. Surely it's only as the bike
rolls off the stand that you actually sit on the seat?

--
--

Paul.
CBR1100XX SuperBlackbird (Buen mueble de patio)
And a pushbike of some sort.
BOTAFOT #4
BOTAFOF #30
MRO #24
OMF #15
UKRMMA #30

Ovejas y buitres:
http://obscuredomainname.org

 

*ding*

just about every[1] bike I've owned with a centre stand, there's no
way I could get it off the stand without sitting on the thing and
"shagging it off" as you so delicately put it.

[1] the only exception I can think of is the R65LS, which is so low to
the ground even I can push it off the centre stand whilst stood along
side it.

 

Eh? Surely one just grabs the bar and a part of the rear subframe (or
whereever it is on the rear of the bike that one uses to get it on the
stand) and reverses the procedure?

 

Feet on the floor? Nope. Feet on the footrests, rock back and forth
a bit ("shagging") and as the rear tyre hits the deck, drop the clutch
with a bit of throttle. Looks cool, can hurt the nuts.

 

the bikes I'm thinking off are an R1150GS and my current Tiger 955i -
both are heavy and tall, and for a short arse like myself, taking them
off the centre stand whilst not on the seat is a daunting task, likely
to end up in dropping the bike on it's right hand side.

 

So sitting on my 300kg Pan is enough to cause issues for the stand,
but a full load of luggage isn't?

 

on the seat?

Yup, my technique as well, sometimes with a Pillion!
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