Center Standing

[Wiggus]

Riddle me this Tiger fans,
I was planning on adjusting the eccentric and chain on my "new" '99 tonight as per Mustang's advice (Thanks 'stang). I was replacing headlamp bulbs last night and decided to put up the center stand. I'd had it up twice before, but both time the ground was uneven and it didn't sit right.

So last night in my level drive way I got it up, and the rear wheel isn't off the ground. Further more, if I let go the bike will  s l o w l y tilt to the right and eventually fall over if not caught. Shortly after it began to rain and I didn't get to investigate further. I'm the third owner and don't know if it's OEM or not. I read a post that said the Girly stands are made of chocolate. Anyone else had problems?

[JetdocX]

Can you return the stock POS stand?  Twisted Throttle makes an excellent version for the Girly bike.

[Wiggus]

No, I bought the bike used. It is what it is. I was looking at the TwistedThrottle stand. Good to hear it is quality. Guess I'll spend the $170 if I cant fix this one.

[johnnyadventurepants]

When on the center stand, my 885 isn't tippy at all, but the tire is touching the ground.  When I service it, I put the center stand on a 2x4 which gives it lots of clearance.  This usually requires the help of my wife though. Another fix is I let the back wheel hand over the edge of my cement patio.

[Wiggus]

Yeah, a friend and I realigned the rear wheel last night and we needed to put 2-1" x whatevers under it to get the rear off the ground. Then it was very stable. I wonder if mine is too short for some reason.  :roll:

Guess I could carry something around in the bags for overnight parking when away.

[FrostedFlake]

My stocker always sat too low, couldn't even spin the rear wheel to oil the chain.  Plus, it tilted just a bit to one side, always worried me that it would fall over.  Finally replaced it with the SW Motec from Twisted Throttle and couldn't believe the difference.

[HappyMan]

My SW Motech does work quite well and I'm really happy with it but I've noticed that it does lean a little to one side.  It's not a problem and I only use it for maintenance but w?hen you mentioned your stock stand leaned a little it made me wonder that perhaps it wasn't that I installed it poorly.  Perhaps there is more to it....?  Anyone else's SWM lean a little?

[stook]

Back when I could get my '06 up on what I have always assumed to be a stock CS the bike was solid and level when "up." It never leaned and the stand supported the bike with me sitting on it many, many times. The rear wheel was about an inch off the ground then.

I can only assume that it is the stock stand because the dealer ordered it for me the week after I bought the bike (claimed it was an "extra" that I hadn't paid for). I did the install myself.

Is there a quick and easy way to identify the stock stand? If so, I can have a look to see if that is what I really have.

I can't use it now because I lowered the bike and there's just no way one person is going to get the bike up on the CS. I had someone help me get the bike up on the stand the other day just for grins and the rear wheel is about 3 inches off the ground now.   :shock:

Even though it was sitting tall on the CS, the bike still sat level and solid.

[Wiggus]

In thinking about this further I can come up with 4 answers:

1) The stand is too short, not OEM.
2) Rear tire is the wrong size
3) Swing arm hangs too low (I have no idea if this is even mechanically possible)
4) The front end is too high.

I'll check the tire and measure my stand when I get out there today.

[Stretch]

I have heard of quite a few Girly owners of shorter stature lowering the bike by slipping the forks upward in the triple clamps and then rotating the rear axle eccentric upward.  A good design, I believe, that allows for riders of differing inseams to adjust the bike to their size.

But in doing so, as Stook wrote in his post above, it then takes a goodly amount of effort to raise the lowered bike up on to the centerstand, as it's now too long for the lowered bike.  So to be able to use the centerstand, said owner then cuts an inch or two out of the centerstand (and re-welds it) so that they can use it more easily on their lowered bike.

It's quite easy for a subsequent owner to raise the bike back up by sliding the forks back down and rotating the eccentric so that the axle is lower,  but the butchered centerstand remains.

Before I bought my Motech stand, I had been looking for a used centerstand on eBay, and came across one where the owner had cut it down, all proud of himself.  I asked him if he would repair it to the proper height, and he got kinda snippy.  :roll:

Carefully measure and figure out how much needs to be added to your stand, and have a clever friend weld in a couple pieces of steel tubing of that length.

[JetdocX]

My SW Motech does work quite well and I'm really happy with it but I've noticed that it does lean a little to one side.  It's not a problem and I only use it for maintenance but w?hen you mentioned your stock stand leaned a little it made me wonder that perhaps it wasn't that I installed it poorly.  Perhaps there is more to it....?  Anyone else's SWM lean a little?

The SW Motech stand on my Steamer lists a tiny bit.  It's nowhere near unstable, and in fact it's rock-solid, so I'm not too worried about the lean.

[Wiggus]

I measured my center stand yesterday, and it's 11.5" from the bolt it pivots on to the foot. Could someone who doesn't have a problem measure theirs for me?

[stook]

I measured my center stand yesterday, and it's 11.5" from the bolt it pivots on to the foot. Could someone who doesn't have a problem measure theirs for me?

13 inches

[TigerTrax]

The OEM centerstand is of course a POS.

The metal fatigues after about one year. Two things happen:
1. The rear wheel ends up about 1/2" off the ground!
2. The centerstand legs 'twist/bend' at different rates and the bike sits
    at an angle.

As the centerstand metal fatigues the bike moves more forward and down.

I think the first thing to do is put stronger monting bolts on the CS. Then I think that replacing the pins with hex bolts will set the stops so the bike will sit higher.

Finally, if I recall... the CS also hooks into the RIGHT footrest mounting plate...... that particular mounting plate has a habit of vibrating loose and
becomes indecernable until you feeel the brake pedal having far too much travel or you happen to see it 'hanging at an awkward position'.

I told my dealer they were a POS and he turned around and told his parts guy.... don't buy anymore of those. They buy only SW MotoTech now..
of course I am good enough to have the POS!

[John Stenhouse]

Finally, if I recall... the CS also hooks into the RIGHT footrest mounting plate...... that particular mounting plate has a habit of vibrating loose and
becomes indecernable until you feeel the brake pedal having far too much travel or you happen to see it 'hanging at an awkward position'.

Thanks Trax, my rear brake lever had a lot of travel last time out, so I might want to have a look see if that's the cause