parking stand choice

[mcatrophy]

OverNight I always use the center stand. I could be wrong here but I always worry about the oil just been on one side of the engine before I start it. I know BMWs have trouble with this, some will smoke when they start due to the oil leaking back through a valve.

FJRs (and all in-line fours) don't have that problem. It's only the horizontally opposed engines that might. Worry ye not.

 

[Burnspot]

In my garage, I use the center stand as it makes it easy for me to check the oil level before heading out and easier to inspect the rear tire when I return. Whether I'm commuting or on a trip, it pretty much depends on the situation. At my office, we have soft asphalt and my parking spot is well pock-marked from past summers of parking there with either the center or side stands...although in the past year or so, I've started using a titanium side stand plate to alleviate the problem.

When using the side stand, I have a habit of double-checking the stand is fully forward. I also keep it in first gear and push forward to remove slack before setting down...I figure that keeps a bit of backward tension on the side stand.

 

[RadioHowie]

OverNight I always use the center stand. I could be wrong here but I always worry about the oil just been on one side of the engine before I start it. I know BMWs have trouble with this, some will smoke when they start due to the oil leaking back through a valve.

FJRs (and all in-line fours) don't have that problem. It's only the horizontally opposed engines that might. Worry ye not.

I couldn't wait to reply to this, 'cause you so rarely make a mistake.

The I-3 and I-4 Flying Brick Beemers up to 2004 were notorious for smoky startups because the head was the lowest thing on the bike when on the sidestand and any oil in the block drained down to the head and filled up the rocker cover with dino-juice.

 

[Toter]

Most often use the center stand if leaving the bike out of my sight. In the garage and when trailering, I use a Baxley Sport Chock.

They rock! Oil changes, center stand.

 

[audiowize]

I couldn't wait to reply to this, 'cause you so rarely make a mistake.

The I-3 and I-4 Flying Brick Beemers up to 2004 were notorious for smoky startups because the head was the lowest thing on the bike when on the sidestand and any oil in the block drained down to the head and filled up the rocker cover with dino-juice.

I was actually shopping for a K100, when I noticed that a K100 in nice shape was as much dough as the FJR that I got instead!

 

[mcatrophy]

OverNight I always use the center stand. I could be wrong here but I always worry about the oil just been on one side of the engine before I start it. I know BMWs have trouble with this, some will smoke when they start due to the oil leaking back through a valve.

FJRs (and all in-line fours) don't have that problem. It's only the horizontally opposed engines that might. Worry ye not.

I couldn't wait to reply to this, 'cause you so rarely make a mistake.

The I-3 and I-4 Flying Brick Beemers up to 2004 were notorious for smoky startups because the head was the lowest thing on the bike when on the sidestand and any oil in the block drained down to the head and filled up the rocker cover with dino-juice.

...

That's because they're both horizontally opposed but with 3 or 4 cylinders removed on one side

.

Someone who has never made a mistake has never made anything.

 

[KGS]

I use the center stand almost exclusively for all the previously stated reasons/situations. Also make stowing things in the left pannier much easier.

 

[Harald]

Traveling on ferries 3-5 times per week, everybody who has a center stand uses it. Not having a center stand was one reason that I sold my Kawasaki KLE-650. Part of the issue is that the ferry personel may squish you into tight spaces, and the center stand makes that a bit easier.

I guess I gotta be different. Whenever I take the Point Defiance/Vashon ferry, I never put my FJR on the centerstand and my wife doesn't put her NC700X on the centerstand either. It wouldn't take much of a bump to knock the bike forward off the centerstand!

I kill the engine with the bike in gear, release the clutch lever, roll the bike forward to take up the slack in the drivetrain and then plop her over onto the sidestand. They would need to crash into the dock to knock the bike off the sidestand with that method (and I seem to remember a ferry doing exactly that a few years ago).

 

[Spud]

Man, this topic has legs like i would have never imagined. Here's another thought, for those of you that use the center stand a lot:

Sidestand mount = gently lift bike up, climb on. Suspension gently compresses.

Center stand mount = get on bike, push forward, SLAM, you're on the ground now ready to ride. Or you can push it off w/o being on the bike, and risk having it fall over....

Does that put any extra wear and tear on the bike?

 

[Bogus]

A lot less than a mile of shitty road! I wouldn't recommend having the side stand down when "lifting off" from the center stand though!

 

[audiowize]

They would need to crash into the dock to knock the bike off the sidestand with that method (and I seem to remember a ferry doing exactly that a few years ago).

Yeah, I've come to believe that there are no more than about 3 ferry captains on the Seattle/Bainbridge route during the weekdays. One is a master magician of just barely touching any of the rubber bumpers, and brings the boat in slowly enough that it can be hard to tell once the boat is actually docked.

The other obvious one is generally not aimed particularly well, and there is this awkward sideways pinball-type bounce that occurrs when the boat hits one of the angle pilings and drifts sideways into another.

Those Vashon/Southworth/Fauntleroy boats are pretty cute, I've only ferried over on them once, it sure is a different experience.

 

[bluesdog]

Thanks to all participants. I won't close the poll yet, (not sure how, anyway!).

The results as of this post:

Which do you use when parking on dirt, gravel or hot/fresh asphalt

1. Sidestand (86 votes [76.79%] - View)
   
2. Centerstand (26 votes [23.21%] - View)
   
3. Lean it against something (or just let it fall over, 'cause chicks dig scars) (0 votes [0.00%])
   

When parking on concrete or other hard surface

1. Sidestand (90 votes [80.36%] - View)
   
2. Centerstand (22 votes [19.64%] - View)
   
3. Get my friend to just 'hold this up for a minute', and walk away. (0 votes [0.00%])
   

Which stand do you normally use for parking?

1. Side (82 votes [73.21%] - View)
   
2. Center (30 votes [26.79%] - View)
   
3. I use valet parking, so I don't know (0 votes [0.00%])
   

What stand do you use when working on the bike?

1. Side (3 votes [2.68%] - View)
   
2. Center (109 votes [97.32%] - View)
   
3. What is this 'working on the bike' of which you speak? (0 votes [0.00%])
   

Seems to be in line with similar side stand vs center stand surveys revealed by a brief Google search.

 

[RichDoyle]

Traveling on ferries 3-5 times per week, everybody who has a center stand uses it. Not having a center stand was one reason that I sold my Kawasaki KLE-650. Part of the issue is that the ferry personel may squish you into tight spaces, and the center stand makes that a bit easier.

I guess I gotta be different.

Whenever I take the Point Defiance/Vashon ferry, I never put my FJR on the centerstand and my wife doesn't put her NC700X on the centerstand either. It wouldn't take much of a bump to knock the bike forward off the centerstand!

I kill the engine with the bike in gear, release the clutch lever, roll the bike forward to take up the slack in the drivetrain and then plop her over onto the sidestand. They would need to crash into the dock to knock the bike off the sidestand with that method (and I seem to remember a ferry doing exactly that a few years ago).

My wife was on that ferry (as a foot passenger) when it hit the dock. Bikes did fall. There are times when riding the ferries they will request riders go down and stand with their bikes to prevent them from falling over. In Puget Sound we don't typically have rough water but wind and tide can sometimes combine to make a rough enough passage to require it. The Coupeville/Port Townsend run is particularly vulnerable to this kind of condition Almost all of the tide volume of Puget Sound has to flow 4 times a day through the passage this route traverses - at right angles to the ferry's travel.

 

[RichDoyle]

I had a '75 (the original) Gold Wing, which I bought in '75 as a new bike. It definitely would burp out a bit of oil smoke from the left exhaust when started up after being parked on the side stand. I took to using the center stand exclusively - for awhile. It turns out the center stand was not design/tested for constant use. After breaking 2 of them (fatigue at the root of the lever arm used to put the stand down), I went back to using the center stand only for maintenance and lived with the bit of oil smoke on start up.

Oh, and if your center stand lever breaks as you're putting it down, the bike goes down.