Side stand too long?

Have searched the forums and haven't seen this mentioned. My side stand seems to be maybe 5mm/ 1/4" too long. Does any one else have this issue? Regularly when parking the bike I have to be very aware of the tilt of the road/pavement etc. especially when I have my givi side and top cases mounted. It went over once as I was loading the cases as I hadn't noticed how close to vertical the bike was.
I don't have this problem with my other bike, (2000, Ducati M900).
So is there a quick fix, an aftermarket side stand, or do I have to get a custom guy to do a shorter leg for me?

This shows my usual touring setup.

 

This is likely the result of the bike being lowered in the past. I assume this bike was purchased second hand? How does the ride height fit you?

Rollin

 

+1 with rolling
If you have the bike straight up and deployed the side stand and it hit the ground then your bike have been lowered.

 

Yes I bought it second hand. I have no idea if the bike has been lowered. It seemed quite tall when I bought it and I had to narrow the seat so that I could stand easily with both feet on the ground. (I'm 5'8" tall - medium build). How would I check if it has been lowered?

 

Take some pictures of the dog bone (link) and the triangle under the rear shock posted here so we can do further examination :tongue:

 

I would buy an aftermarket one or you could get a welder to cut and weld the old one. I lowered my bike and bought this one for mine..VFR800 Adjustable Kickstand Side Kick Stand 2010 2011 2012 lowering Soupys Lower | eBay

 

Here are the photos, not sure if they help.

 

Triangles are in the original orientation for the bike. Arrow on top pointed to the front of the bike. No way to tell about the dogbone without measuring it.

 

Yeah those picture look normal............

 

Before I put the shock on my bike I played around with the ride height quite a bit and cut some washers oot so I could slide them in and oot of the the top shock mount, Easy to change them oot on the road and only takes a few minutes.

 

Thanks for all your input. Would adjusting the rear shock help change the height? or should I bite the bullet and get a new stand.

 

The adjustable side stand is nice and at the right price consider $350 for my BMW GS
Can you post a picture of your bike from the front at a flat surface so we can see the lean angle?
Anyway if you don't like the way it lean then adjustable is the way to go. Good luck :thumb:

 

Raising the rear would be the quickest fix, but if the current seat height is right for you I would go the shorter kickstand route. These are pretty heavy bikes and not being able to firmly plant your feet can make keeping them upright a real challenge.

My wife's bike has been lowered to the point that parking spots have to be chosen carefully, yet she still needs the bike about a half inch lower. I think we need to look into a shorter kickstand, too.

 

Figure how much you want cut and take it to a welder....cut under the tab sticking out and have it heli arch...thats what I did and charged 20 bones. JMO

 

Here are 2 photos of my bikes, one with load, one with out

As you can see the bike is very close to vertical, when compared with the M900. I've never really looked at the 2 side by side like this. I think I'm looking for a modified kickstand.

 

I will take picture of my and compare.......BRB

 

Much of this has been covered in earlier posts but in case it helps I have taken a few pictures to give you an idea of what is normal.

Firstly there does not appear to be any specific tilt/lean angle for motorbikes when on level ground. Thankfully my garage floor is dead level and as you can see with the steering turned fully to the left, the lean angle comes out at 9.5 degrees on the VFR whilst the Street Triple is a bit more upright at 8.0 degrees.



The stock side stand length measured direct from the tip to the centre of the pivot bolt is 26 cm (about 10.5 inches).

Hopefully this will allow you to check for certain if your bike has been lowered, and decide whether you want to shorten the side stand and if so by how much.

If you have(can borrow) pretty much any smart phone you can download a spirit level app, which once calibrated, will allow you to determine the bike lean angle. The filler cap provides a nice flat surface to measure from and the keyhole cover can be flipped up to support the smart phone whilst you take measurements. If the tilt is too small then run the bike up onto a plank of wood (ie both wheels raised by same amount, put side stand down and re-measure. Keep adding planks of wood under the wheels until you get the right tilt angle. Once you are happy, place a long spirit level on the plank and use it to mark the cut line on the stand. NB that mark will be where the bottom of the footpad needs to be! Obviously you will need to make two cuts - take a piece out and then you reweld the footpad section on so it is at the same level as the mark. Provided you detach and clean up the side stand first, any competent welder will be able to cut and reweld the piece in under half an hour. So £20 should easily cover it.

Hope that helps


SkiMad

 

:whoo::banana: Awesome Skimad :thumbsup:

 

Thanks very much for the suggestions. Now off to the garage to start messing with levels, boards and much head scratching.

 

If you still want to lower you bike a bit and get the adjustable stand I would suggest that you buy the full lowering kit. Here is a link to the full kit. I put on my bike and I love the fact that I can touch the ground flat-footed on both sides at a red light. I am only 5'7" and am a 200LBS. I had to adjust it a few times but I have it perfect now (it is easy to adjust with two wrenches). It is worth the money in my opinion to get the bike where I can safely control it when stopping/starting in traffic.

VFR800 lowering Link Kickstand Discount Kit 2006 2007 2008 2009 Side Kick Stand | eBay