Surefoot or Brown?

[plc]

Hi Guys,

My R65LS side stand is pretty poor, it is loose and I don't trust it.

Is there any great advantage of a Surefoot over a Brown side stand or vice versa? I am keen to get one and I am unsure if one has a killer advantage over the other. Any advice would be appreciated.

All the best,
Paul

[airhead]

I have a Brown on my 90/6, and very impressed with build, quality and the way it works. I think you have to make sure you get the one specifically for the R65 as the regular one doesn't fit.
As for the Surefoot, I've seen one and you have to send your foot peg securing plate to the maker for the stand to be welded to it. It looks a bit clunky but apparently works fine. Really your call as to what is more convenient to get and availability.

Bill......................;-)

[Jon_P]

i like my brown knock off. thrang has a sure foot and really likes it. both are way better than stock so you cant go wong with  what ever yo choose.

[Justin B.]

We have Browns on three bikes and love 'em.  If you are in the US then getting a Surefoot might be problematic, I seem to remember they don't sell them for US delivery.  We most likely have liability lawyers (shysters, all) to thank for that...

[drewboid]

I have gone with the Brown style side stand on all three airheads and really like it - wish there was one for my R1100R because the OEM stand is a tipover waiting to happen. I did replace it with a police stand from an RT but it hangs down and scrapes inthe tight turns.

[Justin B.]

Drew, the sidestand on Suraklyn's R1200ST actually works and is quite beefy.  Don't know if it would retrofit or not, maybe worth looking at.

[drewboid]

Justin,
Thanks, I'll keep the option in mind but for now I'll just take the left hand turns a little slower. I did change back to the OEM stand for a try-the-track day and disappointed myself when nothing scraped, including  my lowered foot pegs. I guess I have to learn to lean more.    ;-)  

[Justin B.]

I haven't scraped anything for years, quess I've finally "grown up".  :-/

[steve hawkins]

I recently put a surefoot on my R65 after my OEM sidestand collapsed.  So your concern is a valid one.  I am very happy with mine.

The R65 version of the surefoot needs no welding as it uses the rear engine mount bolt for a fixing.  For other airheads, Motobins do require you to send in your foot rest.  But this is done on an exchange basis - i.e. you get a surefoot with a foot peg and send your footpeg back (deposite required).

Having said that, I am using rear-sets, so do not currently mount a peg from the engine mount bolt.  Also I did have to grind the tang off, as it fouled my rear set gear lever.  This is part of the trials and tribulations of running a special!

Horses for courses, though.  They both have excellent reputations.  It boils down to price and availbility.

Cheers

[Ed Miller]

What timing.  The mounting bracket for my stock side stand (with which I have been quite happy) broke yesterday, evidenced by the bike leaning farther over as I watched....  I caught it and used the center stand, but that will be a real pain when I have to park on my sloping gravel drive way to go back and close and lock my shop and gate in the morning.  I actually first noticed it after I had swapped bikes with my brother to see if I could figure out a problem with his bike; after we swapped back I was scraping on most of the left hand corners.  The stand wouldn't fold up all the way.  I'm wondering if he sat on it on the side stand or something, as he's near 300 pounds.  But obviously mine is not the first to do this.

I like the look of the surefoot, but I think I'll ride over to my local bike guy Thursday and see what he would want to weld the bracket back together, and if he thinks it would hold.  

I lost another .003" on my left exhaust valve clearance in the last 3,000 miles, so I guess I know what I'll be doing with the R65 when I put it to bed for the summer.  That makes .008" total since I've owned the bike, but it's all happened in the last 15,000 miles.  The bike is running great and doesn't use any oil.