Nice work GBT! Very "clean" and great picture documentation! :)
If you don't mind, just for clarity, I have a couple of questions.
Is the idea that the rotation of the shaft is causing wear while the bike is being lifted up onto center stand, and while lowering down? (I am usually sitting with all my weight on bike as it lowers, is this bad? :P ) Or is the idea to prevent constant vibrational friction while riding? ???
Is the 6mm bolt with nyloc nut tightened down securely? If so, is the purpose of the bushing just to fill the void in the vine eye? Or, is the idea to leave the 6mm bolt just lightly tightened so that vine eye can freely move during vibration or center stand engagement? ???
Just curious, and hoping for a sure understanding of this mod. FWIW, the center stand on my 2015 C5 seems fine so far (10,000 miles on bike), and I use it a lot.
I will be doing a major service on mine later this month and I'll have a look at those holes to see how mine's holding up then. ::)
Thanks for your comments.
Regarding your questions:
1. My main concern was that the shaft (or spindle as RE call it) would rotate in its mounting holes in the frame and cause wear whenever the stand was being operated, both lifting the bike on to the stand and lowering it again. Since the stock retention system allows the spindle to rotate freely, it seems to me that the spindle would probably prefer to take the easy option and rotate in its mounting holes, which are only 5mm in depth (the thickness of the frame plates) rather than remain static in its mounting holes while the stand pivoted around it. There will be more frictional forces between stand and spindle than between spindle and frame mounting holes. The surface area is probably greater, but that's just my theory.
Added to which, as you say, if the rider is also sitting on the bike when the stand is being lowered, that would (forgive me) inevitably create more pressure on the stand pivot points and exacerbate the problem. I realise that many riders prefer to lower the stand while sitting astride the bike, and I think I can understand why. When I started motorcycling nearly sixty years ago, motorbikes were lighter in weight and I just learned to retract my bike's centre-stand while standing to the side of the bike and guiding the stand back up with my right foot. But I was younger and fitter then, motorcycles have become far heavier, even the Bullet/Classic is heavier than it used to be a few years ago, and I am noticing these things more now.
I don't think what you are doing is wrong. I would never suggest that. If your method gives you more confidence, that's all that matters. The last thing you need is to try my method and end up with the bike falling over. I have to admit that when I lower my C5 down on to its wheels I am more conscious of the bike's weight, and I don't think I could hold it if it fell away from me.
Which makes me wonder why RE don't beef up the centre-stand pivot mechanism on their bikes and provide proper bearings or lubricated bushings to take account of the extra weight, knowing that many riders prefer to operate their centre-stands in the way you have described.
The centre-stand has always been a rather neglected component, hasn't it? So neglected in fact that many manufacturers today don't even bother to fit one at all.
Your theory of vibrational friction is one I never thought about. You are ahead of me there, but maybe the tension of the two springs holds the spindle and stand tightly in place while riding?
2. Regarding the 6mm retaining bolt, yes it is tightened securely. The inner diameter of the vine eye is 12mm and my bushing, made from 1/4" bore fuel hose, measured about 1/2" o.d., so when I pressed it into position it shrank slightly in size and the M6 bolt just fitted nicely through the bushing with no play. As you suggest, the purpose of the bushing is simply to fill the void and prevent the locking pin rocking a few degrees back and forth during stand operation. I cut the bushing to a length of 5mm. The diameter of the vine eye shank is 4.3mm so that when the nyloc nut is tightened down, the two large o.d. washers will clamp the bushing and prevent any movement of the locking pin.
I hope you find your centre-stand in good condition after 10,000 miles. Maybe what I have done is over-kill, but the reason I carried out this mod was that when I got my new C5 last year and lifted it on to its stand I noticed that the rear tyre was almost brushing the ground.
(See IMG_01055aa.jpg)
I felt the need to do something with the stand as there should have been more clearance than that, and I could foresee possible problems ahead. The picture shows a brand-new C5 Euro IV standing on a level concrete floor. It's evident that any pivot wear and sloppiness in the centre-stand is likely to drop the rear tyre right back on to the ground and make it impossible to rotate the wheel.
When RE changed the front wheel size on the Classic EFI models from 18" to 19" in 2012 they didn't appear to change the centre-stand at the same time. I could be wrong, but there only seems to be one part number (801580) listed for all the C5 models, regardless of front wheel size. Unless I'm missing something obvious, fitting the larger front wheel would have lifted the front wheel spindle by about 1/2" and dropped the rear by a similar amount with the bike on its stand. So why RE didn't specify a longer stand is anyone's guess. The stand on my bike is just a bit too short.
RE did fit the new in-line front forks at around the same time as the front wheel change, so that might be relevant I suppose, but the new forks would need to be 1/2" shorter than the earlier forks to compensate for the change to the 19" front wheel, and now things are getting complicated.
Thanks again for your comments.