My FeeJ bit me

[Tree Doc]

I've been propping my new FJR up on it's centerstand numerous times in the last 2 weeks in my driveway which has a gradual slope. I haven't had any problems doing so...until yesterday :glare: I had her in the garage on the flat surface and was gonna prop her up to install my Iridiums and do a TBS. She started to lift and then just reached a point where she wouldn't over center and rock back. I gave her a little more down force with the right leg and alittle more pull with the arms and that was all she wrote....

POP-TEAR-POP

Excruciating pain in my lower left lumbar and then my left abdomen. **** ME...I just blew out my back and gave myself a partial tear in the abdominal wall. ER Doc says severe back strain is likely (I opted out for X-ray due to the 3 hour wait I was facing thanks to the Memorial Day Tourists in our 'hood) but the abdominal hernia didn't protrude so I should be OK if I take it easy. It may need work sometime down the line, though.

Important thing....I didn't drop the FeeJ!! It almost killed me to get her safely back on the kickstand but she didn't go down. I almost did, though! My wife was standing there when it happened. She said I turned green then white as a ghost and I was about to pass out till I found a chair and sat down for about 15 minutes prior to my ER trip.

This was my first attempt at a flat ground lift on the centerstand. The bike has Kouba lowering links which ultimately brings it down about 1/2" or so according to the original owner who set it up with the links and the HyperPro Racing Shock which is also adjustable in length. I'm thinking maybe this little drop has something to do with my inability to get the bike up and over center since I wasn't getting the advantage of my driveway slope as in the past.

I hope I can attempt this again in the future. Maybe a 2x4 under the rear tire is in order next time. It's gonna be a while, unfortunately. :angry2:

 

[FJRBluesman]

That's a bummer. Heal quickly. Not as young as we used to be, eh?

The center stand can be your friend, or it can be your enemy...

You best give it enough Mmfff from the get go no wallowing and having to add more Mmfff. Once it gets rockin' that momentum needs to carry 'er all the way.

 

[Wee Willy]

This getting old business definitely sux. Not meaning to add insult to injury, but I have come to really admire the design of the FJR centerstand for operation on flat ground. There is a lot of mechanical advantage in the foot pedal so that almost all of the lift force is performed by my right foot. I find I use very little upward pull to get the bike over center.

I do hope you heal up well and fast. It's great weather for riding out there in the SLO area. Get good fast.

Cheers,

W2

 

[TCMike]

Ouch! Hope you have a speedy recovery.

 

[Patriot]

geeze, I tighened up and then went limp reading that...sympathy pains both mental and physical felt for you...wish it gets back to normal really soon...

 

[madmike2]

Yep....lowered bikes are difficult to get onto the center stand. One of the local rider came by and I went to put his bike, with Kouba lowering links, on the center stand to take a look at something. It got JUST to the center point but rolled forward. Hot muffler against unprotected leg= interesting burn scar on my right calf.

It requires a lot of "lift" to get a lowered bike on the OEM/unaltered center stand.

Heal completely, even if not quickly.

 

[MCML]

Ouch! As we used to say in the 60's "I can relate!" L5 - S1 entered my vocabulary 15 years ago and it has been a question of disc management ever since. About six years ago I dropped my FJR in some gravel and went to pick it up. Big mistake. Did horrible things to my back (two weeks later, after a long ride, I ended up on morphine). A couple of days later, though, I went to put the bike on its center stand at a gas station and learned just how much strain that was putting on my back even if all was going well. I haven't used the stand since without help from fellow riders (and the ones here are understanding - no pun intended - and always helpful).

I hope that you heal well and quickly - but like MM suggested, make the healing well the priority. Of course this is from a guy, me, who, on that trip rode for two weeks and roughly 3,500 miles after f*&king up his back so I may not be a voice of reason.

 

[Tree Doc]

Thanks for the well wishes, gang. The wind is down, the temps are up and here I am, polishin' the Bishop instead of riding with my wife.

My neighbor just came over. He lives vicariously through me as he wants a bike so fucking bad but he's not allowed. Even though he's separated, his wife holds it over his head as something she will never allow. He's old school Yamaha stock. Has had all the FZ's and FJ's since the OLD DAYS and is well versed in the language of old Yamaha centerstand. He explained the same to me. He said the stand is the same he dealt with back years ago. It's all in the right foot and putting all the weight and might into that initial go so it rocks up and back. It's gonna be a long while before I try, I'm afraid. I'll call in reinforcements when I need to.

 

[Knifemaker]

You might want to read this:

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=129246

KM

 

[Tree Doc]

You might want to read this:https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=129246

KM

That's excellent KM! Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[puppychow]

Heal fast bud! I have found that it is easiest to put this baby on the center stand when I am wearing hard and thick soled shoes. Then it requires almost no pull from my arm, however if I am wearing soft rubber soled shoes - then it needs a firm push and a tug from the arm and if it is with loaded luggage it can be a bitch...

 

[Mackeroni]

Ditto what Puppychow said. When I wear hard soled shoes and she lifts right up. If I try it while wearing something softer, I feel the need to pull and possibly strain something like...well, like you did.

Hope you heal up good and quick.

 

[Zorlac]

"My neighbor just came over. He lives vicariously through me as he wants a bike so fucking bad but he's not allowed. Even though he's separated, his wife holds it over his head as something she will never allow."

WOW, that must suck, to be separated, and separated from your balls too.

Rolling the rear tar up onto a piece of wood before trying to C stand her in the future is probably your best bet.

 

[Tree Doc]

Totally agree on the heavy soles. I learned that on my first bike and have always practiced that except one time recently with my SV with it's SW Motech centerstand. I lost it when it tipped while I was pussy-footin' around with some tennis shoes on. Caught it before it hit the ground, though. No way that "catch" is happening with a FeeJ, though!

I'm feeling better today. I'm up and around but treading lightly. Hell, I couldn't stand it so I left her on the side stand and tore her down and put in a set of Iridiums and then did a TBS now that I got my gauge hoses replaced with new tubing. That really smoothed out the real low end throttle response.

Gonna go for a spin through the Memorial Day Zoo that is Pismo Beach, right now.

 

[Silver Penguin]

Putting the stock bike onto the CS should involve more technique than brute force. A lowered bike is difference. Mine has the Kouba links and is very reluctant to go onto the CS. The piece of wood and one person on each side helps.

Also, having a very tall person who has good leverage makes it look easy too. (Or else Fairlaner has super powers).

 

[sportsguy]

Another option might be a rear axle lift thing like you see all the squids propping their bikes up with. Should lift the rear up a bit and hold it level and steady. Might be easier to work with as you could simply press down with your leg to get the bike up. Of course, you'll need some to hold the darn bike up, I guess, so maybe this idea sucks after all!

Block and tackle strung from ceiling?

Maybe build a small dry dock around it in the garage?

 

[Bmaxdlux]

Sorry to hear of your hernia, on the bright side the operation to repair it only takes

about an hour (been there, done that).

The only drawback is you'll never be quite the same (walking a little like John Wayne now).

The company/s who manufacture lowering kits might want to include a replacement

centerstand that's been shortened to compensate for the difference.

Come to think of it... the sidestand might need to be altered as well.

Anyway, get well quick cause your fjr wants you to ride (I can hear it crying).

Bmax :agent:

 

[seventyss]

I am able to get the bike on the CS easier if I lift on the rear grab bar instead of the cutout.

 

[madmike2]

Methinks some advice is missing a salient point the Original Poster (Tree Doc) typed in his description (edited from the original length). The issue isn't solely about "technique" as highlighted in Jill's post below that:

I've been propping my new FJR up on it's centerstand numerous times in the last 2 weeks in my driveway which has a gradual slope. I haven't had any problems doing so...until yesterday :glare: I had her in the garage on the flat surface........<snippage>....
This was my first attempt at a flat ground lift on the centerstand. The bike has Kouba lowering links which ultimately brings it down about 1/2" or so according to the original owner who set it up with the links and the HyperPro Racing Shock which is also adjustable in length. I'm thinking maybe this little drop has something to do with my inability to get the bike up and over center since I wasn't getting the advantage of my driveway slope as in the past.

I hope I can attempt this again in the future. Maybe a 2x4 under the rear tire is in order next time. It's gonna be a while, unfortunately. :angry2:

Putting the stock bike onto the CS should involve more technique than brute force. A lowered bike is difference. Mine has the Kouba links and is very reluctant to go onto the CS. The piece of wood and one person on each side helps.
Also, having a very tall person who has good leverage makes it look easy too. (Or else Fairlaner has super powers).

That's why I posted what I did in my first post. My bike goes onto the center stand quickly and easily. I'm 6'2" @ 250+ lbs and didn't allow for my friend's lowering links when I was putting HIS bike on the center stand.

It's more than the technique needed for a bike with OEM links. It DOES require lifting or more rearward moving speed on a surface where the center stand will not slip.

Tree Doc, by all means use a piece of 2X4 or a short piece of pipe over the pedal.