Centerstand... I'm a weakling

Anybody have any tricks for getting the bike up on the centerstand? Over 10 years ago when I had my CB550, I got it up on the centerstand no problem. Over the years I've showed guys how to get their bikes on the centerstand. But, for some damn reason, I can NOT get my VFR up. Have I gotten that friggin' weak? I can't imagine it's THAT much heavier than other bikes I've been successful with...!!??? Maybe I just need to spend more time at the gym?

So here's what I've done. I've tried the recommendation of right hand on the "handle" under the seat and left hand on the hand grip. I've also tried left hand sort of under the gas tank. I know most of it is in the leg... maybe I need to build up my leg strength. Geez, I'm so embarrassed even asking this. But, if someone has some advice or tips (or good jokes about it) I'm all ears.

Thanks,
Karen

 

I initially found it difficult (I'm 6' and 176lbs) - a bit bigger than you I think.

I think it's a combo of arm and leg strength.

On my 4th gen I keep left hand on bar, right hooked under the handle. I step on the stand and feel it dig into the ground on both sides. Then, as I put my weight through with my right leg I almost do a bicep curl, brings it right up nae bother (as we say over here!)

 

Crap! If YOU found it difficult it will be damn near impossible for me!! I'm 5'6" and between 125 and 130!!! More days at the gym and lots of practice I guess. At a minimum I need to be able to get it up for chain maintenance. Wish my handystands would work, but since it's a single side swingarm I'm SOL. Thanks for the tip... I'll keep practicing. I'm pretty determined when I want to be, so I'll eventually figure it out... I hope!

 

Don't be embarrassed Karen. It's mostly technique, a lighter bike will let you get away with doing it anyway you wish. You should be able to do it without your arms really. My guess is if you are using your arms your not really committing to putting your weight on the stand to lift the bike. Try this, put down your side stand and rest the bike. Push down the center stand until it makes contact with the floor. While keeping firm contact with the floor lift your bike until the far side touches the floor as well. Keep the weight on you foot and put your right hand on the grab handle, only so it has something to do. Now in one smooth firm motion just stand up on the stand like you were climbing a stair. One smooth stand, push the stand through the floor, don't think about it just do it. If it's not enough to get the bike moving then add some hand work. Your legs should be working the most. Once it's up put your side stand up too. If I go all out with my foot my bike slams up on the stand with a not so good bang. I need to do the opposite and ease it up.

 

welcome to the principle of Leverage...

yep, as jason says , its all technique. arms are really there to hold the bike
and guide the bike. if your trying to lift it with your arms you'll do your self an injury.
regardless of your lieght wieght(BTW conrats on your svelte frame) all that is neccesary to do, is to stand on the centre stand as you guide it forward.

your actually using the bikes wieght to move it onto the stand, you simply provide the start momentum by applying your full body mass, in a downwards
direction(on the mainstand lever) against the fulcrum point(where the stand
attaches to the bike) this is all physics- E = MC2!
but the clever boffins at honda have done the sums and it all works accordingly.
the key elements are to be confident, fluid in the delivey of the tecnique, trust in the science, and if neccesary have an assistant stand by while your developing this technique. once you get it you'lll be amazed.

BTW the same things goes for levering up behomeths like the gold wing etc... the 300 kg plus brigade!

 

+1 on Jason’s comment.


Leverage, leverage, leverage.... like said before put your weight on the stand like you are puching it though the floor if you need to lift make it a Pull up and to the rear. If you pull, it should not require much upper body strength. you can also get the stand close to/touching the floor. with a VERY slight roll back then stand on the centerstand.

Without leverage you are trying to muscle the total weight of the bike. These are not light.. most people can't lift that much.....

 

another suggestion is to go down to your local dealer and look for a smaller lighter bike to practice the technique on.

that way you can transfer the technique back to VFR once you ve got the hang of it.

but remember to practice the correct techique, no arms just stand on it!

BTW, when i stand on the centre stand lever i have one foot on the lever and the other is off the ground and all my body wieght is centered directly over the lever. as the bike moves back replace your floating foot back on the ground.most importantly ...mantain the rearward momentum until the bike locks into place on the main stand.
if you lose it half way thru youve got to be able to catch it. keep 2 fingers available to grab the front brake lever if she lurches forward.

if all this fails, will send a set ot pictures!

good luck and good hoisting! :strong:

RT

 

It took me a while to get it down to... the good news is I'm no larger than you (seriously) at 5'8 and 130-135.

My VF500F had the center stand removed by the original owner. When I started working at a bike dealership I watched this video on how to do it and it worked pretty well.

YouTube - NB's F6550GS - How to Put the Motorcycle on the Centerstand

 

If all else fails, Pit Bull makes a stand for single sided swing arms. At least you can lift it for maintenance. I am 190 lbs, & I have to stand on the center stand lever pretty hard to raise the bike. Good luck either way.

 

Getting the '07 on the centerstand isn't the easiest thing in the world. Not sure how other years are though. The foot of the stand is rather small and the leg is rather short. I can get mine on the stand without much trouble but it feels like the foot of the stand is coming through my foot

The advice given here is the key. Stand on the foot of the centerstand HARD and it will pop right up on it. You can use some arm on the handle to "Assist" if necessary (or to relieve foot pain!).

 

Tie your parrots to the bike and have them lift it up.

 

Behave Joey. Or go to bed with no supper. Brat.

 

I cheat.

I only use the centerstand in my garage. I back the bike on to a short piece of 1x4 w/ a beveled edge, (which means you have less distance to "lift" the bike to get it up on the stand) left hand on the hand grip, right hand on the passenger peg hand grip, right foot pushes centerstand down until both sides are in contact with the ground (bike STRAIT up) While right knee contacts right hand where it grabs the bike and levers it back/up. Like they said, It's all in the legs using leverage. Hands keep the bike balanced. Oh, I'm 5'6' 130#.

 

Uh oh it's the forum police run!!! :lol:

 

FWIW, I'm 5'9", 185 lbs., and I too haven't yet found the trick to being able to get my 2007 VFR up on the centerstand without someone who's strong assisting me and spotting me on the righthand side of the bike, and even then it's a struggle.

For anyone like myself who seems to not yet have safely and reliably figured out the trick of getting this 550+ lb. motorcycle up on it's centerstand, I would urge you to not attempt doing this by yourself. This bike is very heavy, and if it falls on it's right side, it may flip you over in the process if you don't let go quickly enough. Likewise, should it fall over to the left (the side you're on), the bike could fall on you and pin you down if you don't get out of the way quickly enough. In either case, if you screw the pooch and the bike crashes to one side or the other, you will not like what you see once the bike is righted. A front lower OEM fairing costs ~$600.00.

As far as leaving the side-stand down while attempting to raise or lower the bike on the centerstand, I've been told that this is a bad idea because if the bike happens to fall to the left, once its weight then slams down on the side-stand, this may cause the bike to quickly bounce back to the right, resulting in a right-side fallover. In addition, if the bike happens to fall to the left while the side-stand is down, the force of this could also just snap and break the side-stand.

I find that getting the bike off of the centerstand can be equally scary when attempted alone, particularly if the floor is smooth, such as a smooth concrete garage floor. It's for this reason that when I can get my VFR up on its centerstand with the assistance of a 2nd person, I first place a thick non-skid rubber mat under the bike, and that's what the feet of the centerstand rest on. This way, when the bike is "humped" or pushed forward in order for it to come off the the centerstand, the centerstand's two feet won't just slide along the floor (instead of collapsing) since otherwise they have nothing to grip.

It seems to me that a well designed centerstand ought to have some type of geared mechanism that creates a maximum amount of cranking force through the use of a fulcrum, such that it would make it so much easier for physically smaller and less brawny riders to more easily operate the centerstand with some confidence.

 

OK folks. I too had difficulty when I first got into this scooter hooter thing in Aug 06. And I am 5'11" and 205 when I am lying about my weight. So here is a play by play that someone gave me and it works well. If you are very light, it may be a bit of an issue but you should be able to overcome this.

1. Bike on it's side stand. From the left side, grab hold of the left handlebar and the left passenger foot peg bracket, (Not the foot peg). Ensure the handlebars are pointed straight.

2. With right foot, put the center stand down. Very gently rock the bike left and right keeping your right foot on the center stand. You will feel when both sides of the center stand are touching the ground.

3. Once you have stableized the bike with both sides of the center stand touching the ground, step down with your right foot placing all your weight on the center stand and pull up with your two hands on the bracket and handle bars.

The bike should come up onto it's stand fairly easy. Develope a momentum as you learn and it gets even easier.

Now as far as getting the bike off the stand. I always am astride the bike when I do this. Usually about to drive away so the bike is running as well. Just sit on the bike and have both feet down and one or two good rocks forward and the bike will come off the center stand easily. Be sure you are ready to catch the ground with your feet.

Good luck and may God bless your soles.

PS Open the garage door before you rock off the stand.

 

Seriously guys, it's all technique. If my wife can put the VFR on the center stand with no assistance, so should anyone else. It IS NOT about strength. It is about leverage. I can put the VFR on the center with only my right hand on the subframe (never touching the grip) & my right foot only. I can put my Hawk on the center stand in bare feet. From reading this & other similar threads, I can surmise the problem is using the passenger grab handle. When you do that, you are taking away about 50% of the leverage advantage you would normally have. Think of swinging a hammer. Do you swing with you hand at the end of the handle or right next to the head?

1) Grab the left grip with your left hand & feel for the bare metal of the rear subframe with your right. The fairing is cut away in the place where your hand should be. On 5th Gen's, it's just forward of the passenger peg. It's most likely the same place on a 6th. DO NOT TOUCH the passenger grab handles. In fact, when you practice, put the seat cowl on just to get them out of your train of thought.

2) Place you right foot on the center stand & push it to the floor.

3) Once the stand touches the floor, push the bike upright with your left hand until you feel both feet of the center stand on the floor. Steady up everything.

4) Once your ready, simultaneously push down with your right foot while pulling straight up with your right arm. Straight down just like you are using a shovel & pull straight up with your right arm. Not back, not a jerk, just simply pull straight up. It needs to be one fluid motion.

5) The only thing your left hand should be doing at this point is steadying the bike. If you have the stand on the ground, with your right foot on it, there is very little chance of the bike going over to the right.


I guarantee once you get it the correct way the first time, it will become second nature. The single biggest mistake is not pulling straight up. If you try pull the back backward onto the center stand, you're in for a long day.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

Head shaking here, Wow, so many having a bit of trouble? I don't get it other than.. if your VFR is lowered or has a low profiler tire or flat LOL it will be a bugger other than that it's practice the technique, pretty straight forward too. I'm not bashing anyone, just find this one interesting, who'd guess.

 

KC... I completely agree with everything in your post, especially the last parts. I agree it is a simple fluid motion. I also agree with your advice on using the frame... it will definitely give better leverage. I started doing that yesterday and could feel that with a little practice I would have it. So far, I have not had any fear of the bike falling to either side. Once balanced on the center stand, using the correct technique of pulling up will not allow that to happen. Everything you mentioned in your post is how I've gotten bikes on center stands in the past, and you are right, if done correctly, it is one smooth, fluid motion, no jerking, bumping or banging. I just needed that one last part that you provided... using that frame for the right leverage. I KNEW I wasn't getting the right leverage and that will do it. I have not doubt with a little bit of practice I'll have it down in no time at all. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond and spell this all out. This should go in the archives!!

 

You killing me

Joey, He from Canada, I don't think he have juridicsion. Unless you are american most wanted...............lol:ncb: