Shortened side stand

[Tactical_Mik]

Well the long and the short of it is that I live in Kansas.  Land of South Wind that likes to constantly blow very hard and knock things that are precious to people over (my bike).  The side stand is lacking in two ways.  The first is that it is too long, IMO.  It doesn't allow enough angle to the bike and as a result the bike can easily be tipped over to the right side.  The second is that the foot print of the stand is too small.  I have previously taken care of the foot print by adding a puck to the bottom.   Yesterday I fixed the lean......

Here is Steve's bike with factory lean


Here's what I did.  I removed a section of side stand, playing with how much in small increments (so I can not tell you exactly how much I took out total).  Mated the two angles together to get a proper puck placement on the concrete, put a tack weld to hold and check my result on the bike (With Steve as bike uprightedness backup).  When I was satisfied, I ground the two pieces of sidestand in bevel to allow great penetration of the weld.  We (Steve) used a 6010 rod for a nice hot/deep burn in for the first go around.  Then after dressing the weld up went to the nice welding 7018 rod for the finish welds.  I suck with rod welding so Steve did it as that is what he does.  The sidestand metal is really pretty good.  During all of the adjustment cuts we never found any evidence of junk in the steel.


On the bike before final dressing to test it out for strength, angle etc.   Got to make sure the two pieces didn't shift in the vise as holding the roundish pieces required some creative shimming.



And finally, a look at the new angle.  It's was difficult to try to get equal photos of both bikes and I will say that I probably removed in the neighborhood of 1/2 inch with allowed what I believe enough change in the weight on the side stand to keep anything but very, very strong winds from tipping it over.  Of course, I will still park the bike allowing the wind to push against the bike from right to left given the opportunity.

[martin_14]

looks like a thorughly done job. Hopefully you like it now. Where I live there isn't really wind, and I park in garages whenever possible, which is 95% of the time.
In any case, I think that due to the extra lean angle the load on the side stand went up enough to make your bigger foot print addition almost a must. Well done!

[lolife]

I changed to a 190/55 rear tire & now I think the side stand is too short.   

Glad your mod worked out. 

[qyetman]

Not really being helpful, but this bike comes with a centerstand that works for keeping it upright. One that works much better than the C10 centerstand for ease of use.

[Tactical_Mik]

In the heat, the center stand will sink rather quickly in asphalt and when the left side of it reaches the foot pad will dump the bike over.  I use the center stand occasionally when parked but not on hot asphalt. 

In the end, my shortened stand may prove to be useless.  It will most certainly work well in the cold.  The amount of stand I removed may put too much weight on the puck in the heat allowing it to sink.  It wasn't hard to do and it might have been better served to take a smaller amount away and tested it in the heat.  Time will tell I suppose.

[RIP50AK]

I would be in the market for a sidestand replacement that offered more surface area in contact with the ground and a little more lean angle. I have added a puck for more surface area after it fell over in my driveway. It was my fault but the sidestand just doesn't inspire much confidence that the bike is very stable. I use the center stand when ever possible. Hot asphalt isn't an issue often here in Alaska.

[Tactical_Mik]

If you don't have the tools or know someone who does, taking your sidestand to a machine shop would be easiest.  In a matter of minutes they could remove the requested amount and weld the parts back together.  They could even weld a permanent foot extension on. 

Like I mentioned earlier, I may find that I removed too much when the hot weather comes.  If you plan to do this, take your time and make sure you know how much you want to remove.  I was in a rush as I had other things to do.  If I find I want less weight on the sidestand foot print, I could add to my existing stand but would probably buy another and rework it.  If I started over, I would grind the bottom of the foot down and weld on a pemantent extension.

[RBX QB]

This is my first large bike, and I've noticed that there's not a lot of lean in the sidestand. Also, the sidestand doesn't go very far forward when down. The result is that I have almost dropped the bike on moderate to slight inclines when parked perpendicular to the slope (that'll get the blood flowing, watching the bike slowly move forward by itself). My Ducati doesn't do this (then again, it's 2/3 the weight, and looks like it's falling asleep when on the sidestand).

I've contemplated a sidestand mod like the one here, but maybe it's just getting the thing in more of a forward position when deployed (just a heat and slight bend).

Until then, I'm a paranoid parker, and I leave it in gear.

[jonathan]

This is my first large bike, and I've noticed that there's not a lot of lean in the sidestand. Also, the sidestand doesn't go very far forward when down. The result is that I have almost dropped the bike on moderate to slight inclines when parked perpendicular to the slope (that'll get the blood flowing, watching the bike slowly move forward by itself). My Ducati doesn't do this (then again, it's 2/3 the weight, and looks like it's falling asleep when on the sidestand).

I've contemplated a sidestand mod like the one here, but maybe it's just getting the thing in more of a forward position when deployed (just a heat and slight bend).

Until then, I'm a paranoid parker, and I leave it in gear.

There were a couple of incidents of the bike rolling off the side stand when it first came out. Since then standard practice has been to park in gear. This seems like a safer option than parking in neutral in any situation, so why isn't it taught at riding school?

[RIP50AK]

My problem happened when I left my bike warming up while I went back to close the garage door.