Removing excessive side stand play

[ssevy]

My side stand had a lot of wobble when I bought it used, and I finally decided to do something to address it. In my case, it removed most, but not all, of the extra play in the stand, and my bike stands upright at a better angle as a result. This is my method for addressing this issue, but depending on the cause of your side stand problems, this may or may not be a cure.

1- Holding your breath carefully, remove your couch cushions one at a time and dig around underneath until you locate about 10 pennies.

2- Proceed to the closet where your store your boots, and remove one long set of laces.

3- Raise the old girl on her center stand, or lacking a center stand, use a motorcycle jack. You need to raise the side stand enough so that you can move it freely.

4- Swing the side stand to the point where the springs are at their greatest extension, which is about 5 o'clock as you look at it from the side. Using your pennies, wedge one in each coil of the springs, and then bring the stand back down to its fully deployed position.

5- Using a bungee, hook the side stand to a point toward the front of the engine so that it stays in the deployed position.

6- Using your boot lace, make a loop over the spring hook and tie a knot about a 1/2" from the big loop on the foot of the side stand, so that you can pull the lace down and pinch it in the loop. You want the lace to pass behind the stand and wedge in from the back to the front of the loop, as this gives you the proper orientation from which to apply leverage to the lace (and springs) with a screwdriver. This photo shows you the bungee, the lace, the screwdriver, and a pair of vise grips locked onto the spring to help remove them:



7- Using the screwdriver to stretch the springs, and the vise grips to direct them out of their mounting hole, remove the springs and set them where you'll be sure to accidently kick them under a bench or some other inaccessible location.

8- Grab your wrenches and remove the side stand mounting bolt and nut. Once the nut is off, avoid the temptation to puff out your chest and strut around your shop, as the mount is also threaded, so you still have some more wrench turning to do. Once it is off, here's what you'll see:



9- Clean the grease and nastiness off the bolt, and take it to your nearest hardware. I went to my Ace hardware, and found a bronze bushing that was 15mm on the outside, and slipped snuggly on the bolt on the inside. My store also had a 16mm with the same inside diameter, but this would have meant removing more metal from the mounting point, and I did not want to weaken it. 15mm required only a wee bit of metal to be drilled away, and I felt safe removing that much. Be sure the bushing is not too tall, as it must fit without interfering with the threaded portion of the bolt. Here's two pictures showing the correct length for you:





10- You'll need a sharp drill bit and a 1/2" drive drill, preferably a professional grade one. My local tool supplier did not have a 15mm bit in stock (but he would gladly order me a pack of 6 if I could wait a few weeks), so I measured what he did have with a micrometer and discovered that 19/32 is a perfect match for this bushing:





11- Drilling carefully, drill out the mounting hole to the correct size. I did not have any cutting oil, and so I used copper never seize instead. Keep the bit dipped in this and don't let it get dry. Also be careful to keep the drill aligned carefully so as not to make an oval hole instead of a round one. The mounting hole is harder than the hubs of hell, and it will take you a few minutes and some real muscle work to drill this hole, even with a brand new bit. Keep the drill turning slowly and let it cut. No fast speeds or you'll overheat the bit and dull it. You'll know you are pushing hard enough if you find yourself involuntarily farting as you drill. Here's the finished hole with the bushing slid in place:



12- I used some brake cleaner spray to clean up the hole and remove the metal filings and never seize. I then put some fresh never seize on the bolt and slid the bushing in place, then mounted the side stand. I had to tunk the side stand itself a bit with a dead blow hammer to get the rear threaded tab aligned better with the front so as to start the bolt without stripping threads. Once you mount it, reattach the top of the springs and use the same screwdriver/lever/vise grip routine to get your lower spring hooks back on. This is a pain in the ass to do, and if you don't draw fresh blood somewhere on your knuckles, then you aren't trying hard enough. Once you get the springs back into place, pivot the stand to extend the springs, then remove the pennies.

13- Put your boot lace back in your boot, throw the pennies in your coin jar, and grab a cold drink to wash down all of those old Cheetos and pretzels that you found under the couch cushions. Congratulations on a job well done!

[Bixxer Bob]

 

Bloody hilarious mate, well done; a brilliant write-up!!!

I suggest Sin Tiger loses his MOD cherry by adding this to the "how to" section.

[Sin_Tiger]

This is too weird  I was crawling around on my hands and knees last night with a vernier caliper trying to get some measurements for the same job 

I only wish my side stand itself was worth the effort, it looks more like something recovered from a WW I trench, the other Steamer is no better and the outfit ............. erm doesn't have one 

[Bixxer Bob]

Never mind the bollox,  get on and link it, it's a worthwhile learning exercise!