Side stand free play

[nickjtc]

Curious about this. When I have Stanley up on the centre stand and flip the side stand down it has approximately 2" of side to side free play. So when the bike is actually leaning on it there is a degree of settling until the weight of the bike is being supported.

Is 2" excessive free play or just about right?

[t4tiger]

Hi,  Seems to be the same as mine but it is pretty scary isn't it?  I thought I had a fault but maybe this is the norm.

[Mustang]

aww you found where they truly bend the most .

the bend thats in the leg is what most people think is where their stand bent some xtra causing the lean .

the real culprit is the clevis that fits to the tab on the frame(or doesn't fit anymore) spreads open just a touch .
combined with a little wear on the bolt shoulder and some slop getting worse in the frames bolt hole . and theres the cause of 90% of steamers lean .
and it doesn't help with where the frame tab is either
it is unsupported on the peg bracket . it's 6 inches away from the bolt that holds the peg bracket to the frame . you get some flex there also.

[Sin_Tiger]

     

[nickjtc]

Being a centre stand kind of fellow I only use the side stand when absolutely necessary.

[HeavyHustler]

So what is anyone's solution to this?  How many have welded a new leg to the existing clevis?

[Mustang]

I don't think about it too much anymore 

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[nickjtc]

I don't think about it too much anymore

Har har, har de har.  :icon_wink:

[Sin_Tiger]

  you can have mine when I get the chair on it   

[ssevy]

I don't think about it too much anymore 

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That picture could have been taken in my driveway this morning. This winter just won't give up

[t4tiger]

So... apart from buying a sidecar what is the solution.  Now I think it's a fault rather than normal I need to sort it.  Is there a chance it will fail and allow the bike to fall?

[Sin_Tiger]

OK enough leg pulling 

First off you have to make your best guess at where the wear is, it's likely not one single component. Then devise a strategy to get you nearer an even keel.

If the pin and hole are worn, reaming out the holes and bushing is the best way to go. Reaming them out and putting a bigger bolt in is also a possibility but there is no need as the standard bolt is plenty strong enough, that will just leave you with less metal on where you need it.

You may also need to put in a shim, loose or welded, on the most worn part. Be sure that the leg fork hasn't just splayed open due to a loose bolt first, so careful heat treatment might be more effective.

A new pin bolt most probably goes without saying, if you can't get one exactly the right size (if you are reaming that should already have been considered) your local machine shop will probably be able to sort you out at reasonable cost.

The steel used on the end pads was pretty soft, an original is about 4.5mm thick as best I have been able to figure. Welding a new pad, bigger if you like, on the end might help, check it doesn't hit anything when retracted before doing the full weld.