Wimpy Kickstand?

[radman]

One thing to remember when placing on side stand (always when in gear): before placing on the side stand, release the brake so it will move the approx 1 inch that it does when on an incline, in this way it's "locked" from moving at all when you put the weight of the bike on the side stand. Especially important if the incline is a slight downhill to the front

Never never ever park on a slope to the front, in gear or not, you will for sure find out what plastic costs, and how difficult this thing is to paddlefoot backwards up an incline, likely ending in the first scenario. At least thats been my rule for years and years.

 

[Woodstock]

...and how difficult this thing is to paddlefoot backwards up an incline, ...

Amen! Am I the only one disgusted that they didn't put a reverse gear on the 06?!? :angry:

 

[FJRPierre]

Funny but I too often felt the sidestand was very shaky on my recent trip. Because of the high loading, I had to stand on the foot peg and lift my leg high up over the stuff stacked above the top case and if I was at any sort of angle or in uncertain terrain, I fully expected the bloody thing to collapse on me.

 

[sparky3008]

Personally I would never trust the kick stand for getting on or off my bike. If you have a lot loaded on the rear seat stand facing the seat. You might have to hold the handle bar for balance, then lift your leg straight in front of you over the seat and once it is over then rotate to be facing forward.

It may sound strange but not difficult and much safer than standing on the foot peg trusting the kickstand.

 

[sparky3008]

Hmmm. My daughter took the MSF course this summer and she noticed that I habitually leave my bike in neutral when parking. She told me that they taught her to put it in gear. It never sunk in beore I read this thread why it was a good idea. Guess I'll have to try to change my habit.
She also was taught to switch off the kill switch when parking. That always 'gets' me when I try to start a bike after she has ridden it because I only use the kill switch in an emergency.

The reason the course teaches to use the kill switch is so it becomes muscle memory. This habit ensures that it is the first thing you reach for so if a true emergency arises it will instinctly be what you reach for...

 

[twowheelnut]

The reason the course teaches to use the kill switch is so it becomes muscle memory. This habit ensures that it is the first thing you reach for so if a true emergency arises it will instinctly be what you reach for...

Rest assured, in an emergency, the LAST thing I'll be thinking of is the kill switch! I'll be more like, "Welp, yer on yer own Feejy! I'm saving my own ***!" I never could rationalize that teaching. However, since motorcycles ain't got parking brakes, leaving it in 1st is always a good idea, IMO.

 

[Ratchman]

I was attacked by my bike the day after I bought it. I'm anal about getting off the bike and making sure the sidestand is set before I release the front brake. I had time to remove my helmet, gloves,riding pants, and jacket before attempting to walk away. Took one step and there was a tug on my left leg...turned to see what it was and WHACK... Bike is on top of me before I realize I'm falling and I see my brand new helmet bouncing across my driveway. Fortunately, nothing was broken except paint/finish on the left side. I cushioned the blow for the bike. Nothing that 2 1/2 months of Physical Therapy wasn't able to correct (4 torn muscles in my chest and back). So, yeah, I believe the sidestand to be sub par. I was always taught (by "them") that the sidestand was not coming up once you had the weight of the bik,e on it. Turns out it was my jeans that got caught on the "extender peg" on top of the stand. Good news is, I no longer fear a tipover!

 

[toophast]

Never never ever park on a slope to the front, in gear or not, you will for sure find out what plastic costs, and how difficult this thing is to paddlefoot backwards up an incline, likely ending in the first scenario.  At least thats been my rule for years and years.

and a good rule to have for sure... I wouldn't park it so it had to be backpedaled uphill, I was referring to areas where it would be a straight ride out of the parked place in a forward motion. Yes, I agree, always try to park facing uphill. On those rare occasions where one decides to park facing downhill on a slight incline then I stand by what I wrote before B)

 

[bvail]

Anyone ever modify the kickstand in such a way that it allows the bike to lean over more?

I did. Not by design though. The addition of Wilbers shock jacked up the bike a bit and the lean angle on the sidestand is noticeably more.

I'm not sure that is a really good thing though, since the more the bike leans, the more weight is transferred to the sidestand.

A couple of years ago I went on a ride to Minden NB to meet a 'lunchbunch' from the MTF forum. That night we rode into Kearney NB and a big summer storm hit. We took shelter in a Pizza Hut (what better place to ride out a storm). The wind was howling and I thought the bike would be blown over for sure. All of our bikes, V-Strom, Wings, etc. were on their sidestands and no one lost their bike. IMHO, a sidestand provides a much more stable support, as long as it's deployed properly as outlined by others.

I lost a previous bagger to a fallover many years ago, due to using the centerstand on unstable ground. I have never had a bike fall off the sidestand. Always be sure I leave in 1st gear pointing uphill whenever possible. I never use the engine shutoff switch, but like some others, I leave the bike in 1st gear and drop the sidestand, hold the front brake while mounting and dismounting and let loose to take up the gear lash before lowering the machine onto the stand.

About the only time I regularly use the centerstand is in the garage.

As far as Harley making a better 'jiffey stand', I had a friend who bought a brand new Harley about 20 years ago. He was very proud of the bike until one day while parked something broke on the stand, the bike fell over and the kickstand punched a hole in his crankcase. Now, how special is that. I guess that would qualify as a 'bad Harley day' :detect:

 

[Ghost Dog]

I think the rationale behind the kill switch is that if you go for a slide (especially on the lefthand side) and your key is on the side of the bike, you might just get off the bike with the fuel pump still getting power and spurting gas out a ruptured fuel line, and the battery still providing juice to the engine, lights and so forth. Getting into the habit of flicking off the kill switch before you get off the bike is probably a good habit. That being said, I never use mine. I want to be in the habit of not walking away leaving the key in the bike and switched on accidentally.

Funny/stupid personal experience with a kickstand at a Harley dealer: I went to an open house thing at a local dealer - you know the balloons, free hot dogs, the HD museum truck in the parking lot, the demo rides, and of course dozens of guys who look like they could be extras in an outlaw biker 'B' movie sitting around. So I get on this Dyna Superglide Sport in the lot and imagine myself riding it, rocking back and forth, tilting it side to side. And then I go to get off and didn't realize I had rocked the kickstand up a bit. As I start off the bike, this near-700 pound behemoth begins to fall against my leg. To really make matters worse, the Dyna is one in a long line of bikes parked side by side in the lot. Here I am putting every ounce of effort into righting this hulk, with visions of those biker movies where the suburban putz bumps into one hog outside a biker bar and knocks down a domino line of bikes with all the guys with long beards and "I killed Mom" tattoos and metal bolts through their noses and all standing around watching. I finally get the thing back on its kickstand and then attempt to walk away nonchalantly hoping nobody noticed, when all of a suddenly all these denizens give me a rousing applause. One for the memories. :clap:

 

[sparky3008]

I think the rationale behind the kill switch is that if you go for a slide (especially on the lefthand side) and your key is on the side of the bike, you might just get off the bike with the fuel pump still getting power and spurting gas out a ruptured fuel line, and the battery still providing juice to the engine, lights and so forth. Getting into the habit of flicking off the kill switch before you get off the bike is probably a good habit. That being said, I never use mine. I want to be in the habit of not walking away leaving the key in the bike and switched on accidentally.

Exactly

 

[FJRPierre]

Anyone ever modify the kickstand in such a way that it allows the bike to lean over more?

I did. Not by design though. The addition of Wilbers shock jacked up the bike a bit and the lean angle on the sidestand is noticeably more.

I'm not sure that is a really good thing though, since the more the bike leans, the more weight is transferred to the sidestand.

Funny on my recent trip, I was unusually leery of the lean angle of the bike while on the side stand, when I had to stand on the pegs to get my leg over the baggages on the topcase.

I never guessed that my Wilber shock could have been increased the lean angle. Maybe the increased height is also a cause for my tippytoe unstability?

Anyone know what angle/height increase might be?

 

[Dangerous Dave]

I had one close call with the FJR sidestand. I got off the bike and started to walk away, and just happened to look back and noticed the sidestand wasn't all the way up against its stop, but was perfectly vertical. Just a hair away from rolling off the stand! This kind of caught me by surprise, but I was just a few steps away and rolled it back onto the stand immediately. It struck me as odd that it happened at all, so I put the bike up on the centerstand and moved the sidestand by hand. It was pretty stiff to move. A couple shots of lube on the pivot and worked it back and forth a few times and all was well again. Haven't had that happen since.

 

[petey]

Anyone ever modify the kickstand in such a way that it allows the bike to lean over more? I've lowered my bike and now it doesn't lean over enough IMO.

You'll probably have to shorten the side stand (cut and re-weld) What about the center stand? Does the bike have one? Most bikes get real heavy, :angry: after lowering the bike.

 

[Geezer]

I had one close call with the FJR sidestand.  I got off the bike and started to walk away, and just happened to look back and noticed the sidestand wasn't all the way up against its stop, but was perfectly vertical.  Just a hair away from rolling off the stand!  This kind of caught me by surprise, but I was just a few steps away and rolled it back onto the stand immediately.  It struck me as odd that it happened at all, so I put the bike up on the centerstand and moved the sidestand by hand.  It was pretty stiff to move.  A couple shots of lube on the pivot and worked it back and forth a few times and all was well again.  Haven't had that happen since.

I had a similar experience. Left the bike idling to warm up and took two steps away to get my helmet and gloves. Caught some motion in my peripheral vision. It was the FJR very slowly moving forward off the side stand. I got back there before it actually went over. I obviouslly had not pushed the stand all the way forward and the vibration from the engine idling was enough to move it.

I don't think I'll modify the stand but I will be more careful. Lubricating everything is on my list of winter maintenance.

 

[JimLor]

I always kill the engine by lowering the kickstand and then I push the bike forward (in gear) until it stops and then lower it on the stand. While I was initially untrusting of the stand, I haven't had any problems since starting the above routine. If I get nervous about where it is (slope, etc) for some reason, I'll put it on the centerstand or move it.

 

[Bounce]

No matter how I kill the bike (kill switch, ignition, or sidestand safety switch), I always made sure the bike is in gear and let it roll forward to rest against motor resistance. Then the sidestand goes down and I know the bike won't roll forward any more than it already is since the excess lash is already taken up.

Been doing this for years. It's served well on the FJR and other bikes.

 

[dobias]

Mogan,

Grind or file the sidestand stop to get the bike to lean as much as you want. My bike is lowered to the max and I have no problem.

dobias <_<

 

[red2kcbr]

I'm with Bounce and Jim: park in gear, take up the driveline lash, carefully engage kickstand. Pay attention to what you're doing! Oh yeah, I also check the ground slope and park which ever direction the slope warrants.

 

[Bounce]

But yeah, put it in gear and get one of those steel outlet box covers (or two for the centerstand) to keep in your fairing pocket in case of unstable ground.

How plebeian!

Do it in style!