most modern bike stand

Looks expensive and complicated. You might want to have a look at
<http://www.baileyladders.com.au/cattleprod/products/N1101ACC> and work out
some sort of compromise.
(the more you have, the more you have to go wrong)

<http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4638880.html>

 

On Oct 23, 10:49 am, "Shaun Van Poecke" <>
wrote:

Probably explains why BMW put a grab handle attached to the sub frame
just below the seat and in line with the front of the rear wheel. One
foot on the centre stand and pull UP on the lever and the bike is on
the stand easily.

Having said that I am a 85kg, 177cm tall bloke. I don't know how a
shorter, lighter woman would cope because none have ever tried ;-)

SteveB

 

easy answer is a race stand for $85

will last forever and even work on bikes without the centre strand

 

True, but, holding the bike with one hand at the back of the bike, while
positioning, then pushing the race stand up, is a feat requiring a fair
amount of strength, which is where we came in.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

ermmm.. every bike I've ever owned that had a centre stand had a
lifting handle. It's not rocket surgery.

Nev..

 

True, but not many are in the ideal position! Most that i have owned have
been way too far towards the rear of the bike. Ideally it would be directly
above the centre stand, but it looks like a bit of a dogs breakfast.
Current ride (cbr1000f) has it way too far back, which is the main reason
this bike can be a pig to get up.

Shaun

 

In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:27:02 +1000

Yes, I can get my old 240-260kg Guzzis on the stand easily. The new
240kg one, it's a bastard.

If there hadn't been a side stand I certainly wouldn't have bought it.

I'm planning on getting a lowering kit which would make the
centrestand even worse, so now I have a Classic Trailers coupling for
the trailer meaning I don't need the bike upright to put the trailer
on, the centrestand is for the parts bin.

Zebee

 

In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:27:16 +1000

Not strength, but balance. Trick is to not over-compensate.

Zebee

 

In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:49:18 GMT

THere speaks a bloke.

One with "upper body strength".

Zebee

 

Not quite Sherlock! It requires a stronger sense of balance because a
bike standing upright requires little to no physical strength to hold it
there.

Most race/paddock stands require very little effort to lift the arse-end
of the bike in the air.

Once the bike is balanced (upright) it is relatively simple to roll the
stand under the swing-arm and lift the bike. Because the bike is already
upright, both sides of the stand will engage the swing-arm evenly and,
unless you are a total cluster, there is little to no danger of the bike
falling over.

Having said that, using the centre stand does not require a great amount
of strength or weight - it is a matter of technique.


Betty

One needs to look at a couple of things to determine if the correct
technique is applied or not. Try this:
Manhandle (or girlhandle if you sit to pee) the bike upright and hold it
there by the lifting handle (It may not be a handle it could be a hand-
hold). Place the right foot on the centre stand and push it down until
both heet of the centre-stand contact the ground.
The right hand should be on/in the lifting handle and without trying to
lift the bike with the right hand, transfer your weight from the left
foot to the right by lifting the left foot off the ground.

By doing this you transfer _ALL_ your weight to the centre stand and the
bike will pop up on the stand faster than you can say "Gee, the bike
popped up on the stand faster than I could say this"

The hardest part for many people is the act of lifting the left foot off
the ground to transfer the weight as there is the perception that you
lose stability and the bike could fall over. If both the pads of the
centre stand are on the deck then that is highly unlikely to happen.

Try the weight transfer using a friend to hold the bike steady. You will
be amazed at how little effort is actually required. Also, if you're
using a friend to steady the bike, don't use the lifting handle (you wont
need it to steady the bike) and avoid the "I'll lift this prick up using
my muscles" syndrome.

Practice holding the bike in the upright position from the rear and move
around the rear of the bike. It really is a piece of cake once you get
the hang of it.

 

Well, I can't comment yet. Am going to have a go tomorrow - Shaun's mention
of 50kg women having no probs with 300kg bikes has made me feel like I need
to have another go at my measly 180kg bike, using the technique he has
described pretty clearly. Watch this space.

Won't attempt it till tomorrow coz I'm pretty much on my deathbed at the
moment, and wimpier than usual.... I seem to have picked up a foul cough
since PI, and all my back muscles are already strained from coughing (the
silver lining, of course, is time off work - they get very shitty in there
if you take germs to share. Funny, coz when I was teaching, people wanted
you to be there even if you were dying, so they wouldn't get saddled with
your classes!!!)

Will let you know how I go with Shaun's technique...

barking betty

 

Try the weight transfer using a friend to hold the bike steady. You
will be amazed at how little effort is actually required. Also, if
you're using a friend to steady the bike, don't use the lifting handle
(you wont need it to steady the bike) with the view of "I'll lift this
prick up using my muscles" but rather apply a little bit of muscle to help
get the bike up on the stand. Your weight plus a little bit of muscle is
all that is needed.

 

Funnily enough, I've tried this, exactly the way you say..... and it still
doesn't bloody work, so there's obviously more to it. I've tried it at home
AND tried it under the supervision of my mechanic. Can you imagine how much
I hate failing every single time?

Bike is booked in for its 36000km service on Thursday. I will ask the lovely
Bruce to try and teach me YET AGAIN. It looks so bloody easy when he does
it, and I do exactly what he does and NOTHING happens! I think even HE was
surprised..... (I suspect some kind of bizarre corollary to the fact that my
buoyancy & mobility in water are wacky as well.... maybe I'm an alien?)

betty, still trying.....

 

hmmm, I can understand your frutration and where you're coming
from. I can't dance and despite my wife's patient tutoring I
still have two left feet (which makes it bloody hard to get
boots!).

Mind you, with enough alcohol in me I believe I can outdo fred
astaire AND ginger rogers ......... perhaps alcohol IS the
answer.

I still maintain that most mass-deficient people can master
the art of getting a bike up on a centerstand. There'll be
champers all round when we hear the mighty "EUREKA, I've done
it"

 

In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:57:36 +1000

It really does depend on the bike design.

Like I say, I can do a Guzzi with a dry weight of 240kg when it's
fully loaded and with a trailer on, if it has a properly designed
stand.

I find it almost impossible to do the Norge which is the same weight
but has a badly designed stand.



Zebee

 

In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:48:46 GMT

I'm Not Light.

I am in fact damn near 100kg.

I've been using bikes with centrestands for a very long time... In
fact the Yam is the only bike I've ever had without one.

But I find it bloody near impossible to put the Norge on the
centrestand because it's a load of crap. Despite having all that
weight to put on the stand.

I can put the other Guzzis on their stands with ease, in fact I never
used the sidestand on the 850T because *it* was a piece of crap. I
always used the centrestand. A properly designed, easy to use
centrestand.

Friend of mine who is an average sized bloke (that is not a shortarse
like Mr Littler or a verylargearse like Mr Moran) found it shockingly
difficult too, and he's had more years of experience with centrestands
too.

So don't be so sure that Betty's doing it wrong.

Zebee

 

Betty,
get your mechanic, son or someone to put the bike onto the centre-stand and
have a look how far off the ground the "up" wheel is.
If it's more than about half-an-inch THAT's your problem.
For me it'd be a simple fix to drop the forks through the triple-clamps or
rotate the rear eccentrics (like BT mentioned) but if the seat-heaight is
aleady a problem (or borderline) for you then it might be a far bigger
problem. (And the first question you'd have to ask is "do I fix THIS bike or
put up with it and make the NEXT bike right"?)

 

One of the easiest bikes I ever tried was my mate's Z1300/6 Kawasaki.
It was a piece of piss compared to the Yam RD350, Kwakka mach111 and Ducati
860GTS the rest of us were riding at the time.

 

And if it *does* turn out to be due to the centrestand legs being too
long, I'll get a GS500 centrestand from the wreckers and customise it
to work properly with your bike.

I might be mis-remembering this, but didn't you get a suspension
lowering kit applied to your GS?


BTH

 

In aus.motorcycles on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 04:41:47 -0700

The lowering kit I'm looking at for the Norge will make the
centrestand just about unusable apparently. So no change then.

Zebee