[jethrotool77]

Brand Newbie interested in removing centerstand. Any 'HOW-TOS' available?

[Beardo]

Why?

[Guaire]

Brand Newbie interested in removing centerstand. Any 'HOW-TOS' available?

 Hi jethrotool77 - When dealing with any center stand, I consider the penny trick to be quite handy.

Get a bunch of pennies. While the spring of the center stand is extended, start inserting pennies in the coils, until the spring is not pulling against the stand. This makes it a lot easier to unbolt and remove the stand. Do the same thing when you put it back on to service the chain or change the tire.

Cheers,
Bill G

[suitcasejefferson]

Yes, WHY? I've had 2 KLR 650s, and the first thing I did to them was install an aftermarket centerstand. I also had a Yamaha XT225 for about 10 years, and found a guy at XT225.com that fabricated and sold centerstands for it. I simply won't ride a bike with tube type tires without a centerstand. When you have a flat (and you will, I've had dozens of them) you are screwed. Tube type tires are way easier to puncture than tubeless, and go flat immediately. Since you have to remove the wheel to repair them, you have to have something to hold the bike up. I consider a centerstand to be worth it's weight in gold.

[9fingers]

A center stand is a must.
9fingers

[Bilgemaster]

Hi jethrotool77 - When dealing with any center stand, I consider the penny trick to be quite handy.

Get a bunch of pennies. While the spring of the center stand is extended, start inserting pennies in the coils, until the spring is not pulling against the stand. This makes it a lot easier to unbolt and remove the stand. Do the same thing when you put it back on to service the chain or change the tire.

Cheers,
Bill G

All considerations of the relative merits of having vs. not having a center stand aside, that pennies hack is a helluva clever idea Guaire! That's really using one's head meat!

As for me, I'd WAY rather have a center stand than not. It's one reason I'd likely opt for the 650 Interceptor over a Continental GT, if I were seriously looking to "upgrade," since the "Contraceptor" comes with one and the GT doesn't. Still, there are enough clever and inexpensive workshop stands or lifts out there for servicing if one would prefer to ride without. For example, if you have an "Iron Belly," then I can heartily recommend Harbor Freight's 1500 lbs. Capacity ATV/Motorcycle Lift, which often goes on sale for about 70-something bucks. It makes that whole leaning the bike sideways to get out the rear wheel Tango With Death  a thing of the past. My Iron Barrel sits perfectly stable on it, and I imagine other models might too.

Then again, center stands can be wonky: In St Andrews in Scotland I was once catapulted about 10 feet into the air by a buddy's borrowed clapped-out Honda CB175 with a center stand spring so weak the stand's feet would trail showers of sparks as they scraped along the roadway on bumps. The stand caught one of those square sewer covers and sent me sailing into the air, while the bike somersaulted merrily behind. It was quite a show what with the sparks and all. Remarkably, aside from a broken headlamp, that Honda had been so thrashed and neglected beforehand, that it was difficult to discern any other ill effects of that particular tumble.

[tooseevee]

Brand Newbie interested in removing centerstand. Any 'HOW-TOS' available?

          I can't imagine not having a center stand with the Enfield, but if that's what you want, go for it.

[Bilgemaster]

          I can't imagine not having a center stand with the Enfield, but if that's what you want, go for it.

Never mind center stands, a lot of your really purpose-built dirt bikes don't even come with side stands. Here's how you park.

[suitcasejefferson]

There are all kinds of way to support a bike to remove the wheels at home. But out on the road or trail, a centerstand is about it. And you will NOT be at home when your tube type tire goes flat.

[9fingers]

There are all kinds of way to support a bike to remove the wheels at home. But out on the road or trail, a centerstand is about it. And you will NOT be at home when your tube type tire goes flat.

Exactly!

[Bilgemaster]

There are all kinds of way to support a bike to remove the wheels at home. But out on the road or trail, a centerstand is about it. And you will NOT be at home when your tube type tire goes flat.

Sure. But at this stage of my life that's what my AAA Plus Recovery is for. With the extra RV rider you get motorcycle recovery and free towing up to 100 miles, which you can bump up to 200 for just a few bucks more or pay a fixed fee of a buck a mile over the 100. My days of patching up worn out old rubber by the side of the road have gone the way of my Pet Rock and disco suit. Sure, I'll pull off a wheel or both, but nowadays just haul them into a shop. As for remote trail riding where AAA's not an option, I'm unlikely to run my old Iron Belly any further down an unpaved track than it takes to get off the paved stuff to a campsite. Naturally, beating through the bushes on a Himi, your mileage may vary.

[9fingers]

Good point, and my Progressive insurance includes 24/7 pick up and delivery to the nearest repair shop, for $2 a month. Still, I want my center stand.
9fingers

[suitcasejefferson]

I also have a road service plan, which includes 100 miles of towing. But it is worthless if you are off road. And you can't just keep using it. I've had 4-5 flats in one year before, all with tube type tires. One of them, on my XT225 with a centerstand, I was able to repair out in the desert. The rest were close to home, and my former father in law came and picked me and the bike up. But he no longer has a truck.

The few times I've had a flat on a tubeless tire, I either discovered it at home, the object that punctured the tire was still in it and plugging up the hole, or I removed the offending object beside the road, put Ride-On in the tire, aired it up, and went on my way. I have put over 10,000 miles on a tubeless tire after it was punctured.

[mevocgt]

I would rather not have the side stand over the center stand.  If you can remove your wheels and bring them to a shop off bike for tire changes, it can save you a lot of money.  My local shop charges .35 hours to do a loose wheel, and .9 hours on the bike(.75 if you buy your tires from the shop).  Also at the peak of the season, a shop will turn around a set of wheels off the bike a lot quicker than the apt you need to do them on the bike.  Keep the center stand!

[Bilgemaster]

I would rather not have the side stand over the center stand.  If you can remove your wheels and bring them to a shop off bike for tire changes, it can save you a lot of money.  My local shop charges .35 hours to do a loose wheel, and .9 hours on the bike(.75 if you buy your tires from the shop).  Also at the peak of the season, a shop will turn around a set of wheels off the bike a lot quicker than the apt you need to do them on the bike.  Keep the center stand!

Agreed. Unless you're in some competitive setting (with a Himi?), the advantages of having a center stand far outweigh any disadvantages.

My Iron Belly Bullet came to me with no side stand, so I added one of those ultra-cheapo aftermarket eBay ones from India for like 17 bucks delivered, chiefly cause I got tired of having to hump it up onto its center stand on a steep hill at the locked gate of the state park boat lot where I keep my two sailboats, opening that gate, humping it down off the stand, riding it through that gate, humping it back up onto the stand, closing the gate, and then humping it back down off the stand to make my way to the boats, with the same fun and games to look forward to when I left the lot. Make no mistake: It was a pretty tedious grunt fest on that incline. Almost as tedious as my explanation. Thing is though, I rarely use that side stand apart from at that gate. Perfectly fine sideways on that hill, its lean angle just seems a little steep on level ground for peace of mind for longer stops. I'm sure it's fine, and I will kick it out from time to time for really short stops, but typically I'll just use that center stand if it's to be more than just a minute or two.

Another virtue of a center stand, apart from making many maintenance or repair tasks easier, is that I am sort of hyper-vigilant about my oil and fluid levels, and doubt I'd get accurate reads on a lean.