center stand

[Happy Eeyore]

Finally got the R65 motor running just right.  Ignition and carb problems fixed.  Rear drive oil leak gone.  So on to the small irritants left.
Even with the new Hagons shocks set to the max, the center stand is almost impossible for me to use.  Seems too tall.  I have it off and am thinking about taking it to my welder for some alterations to shorten it. I also have a R1100GS and I can put it up on its center stand with ease so it is not a problem of technique but of orginal factory design.   Any suggestions from anyone who has been down this road?

[Barry]

Yours may be different if you have non standard tyre sizes or lower suspension but the common problem with the centre stand is that due to wear on the contact faces with the frame stops, the stand goes too far over centre.  Building up the tips of the stand with weld will transform the ease of use in deploying the stand. 

To illustrate the problem you need to fill this gap between the stand tips and the frame stops and while your at it thicken the tips at the same time to widen the contact area. when your done the angle the stand should be nearer vertical than it was before. 3rd pic shows the built up and thickened tips.  Best thing I ever did to my airhead but be prepared for some trial and error to get it right and a lot of work with an angle grinder.  If the stand is too vertical then you lose stability, if it goes too far over centre then it's extremely stable but a pig to deploy. In my opinion BMW went a bit too far towards stability even when new. Then as the stand tips are simply flattened tube the they wear rapidly. Do it right and you will have a stand better than how it left the factory.

[dogshome]

The ground being level is a must. I have a sloped drive with a bit of a hump near the garage door. No way I can deploy it there. I find pulling the nose up and applying the brake, then a bit of a bounce and haul on the handle helps.

My stand has little wear on it and doesn't go way over centre. Getting it on the centre stand is not 'effortless', not even 'easy' though. I do have a heavy RT fairing. Getting it off the stand is easy though.

[Barry]

In my garage I have a 1" thick piece of wood on the floor.  With the front wheel rolled on to that it makes the stand real easy to deploy.  Of course that's not available elsewhere but when I used the bike every day it was welcome when I got home from work.

The stand tubes will eventually wear holes through the bottom curved section. To pre-empt that, while the tips were been welded up thin strips of stainless steel were bent to shape and welded onto the wearing section. After dressing the welds to blend in you can't tell they are there.

This is an example of a badly worn stand that goes way over centre compared the the other pic above.

[Happy Eeyore]

I have the stand off and the stops show no real wear.  It is not a problem of being too far over center.  It is that the stand seems to me to be too tall and that makes it possible to use only if I almost pick up the back of the bike clear of the ground and I do not do that kind of max dead lift anymore.  I can get it there but the back does not like it.  I am thinking of cutting the stand   at the beginning of the curve just below the cross member support and cutting out an inch and rewelding the curve back on . Has anyone done something like this before?