Either I'm super weak, or this bike is HEAVY!

Handkphil · Jun 4, 2018

GreginDenver said: ↑

Here's something I noticed about my 5th Gen VFRs...

In the Fall of 2016 I purchased a '99 VFR and began riding it. Just like you I immediately discovered the bike was a lot harder to put on its center stand than I anticipated. I didn't ride the bike more than 5 or 6 times before I took it into the garage for a thorough refurb, which included a Jamie Daugherty rear shock (rebuilt from a 954, I think). After my refurbishment efforts were done (with the properly adjusted rear shock installed) I discovered that my '99 VFR was much easier to put on the center stand.

Then, in the Fall of 2017 I purchased my second 5th Gen, the '00. On this bike I did a similar refurbishment effort, but I did not upgrade the shock. Just like my '99, when I first began riding it the '00 was hard to put on the center stand. But after I adjusted the rear shock pre-load to match my weight and riding style the bike was much easier to put on the center stand.

Also, on both the '99 and the '00 I rebuilt the front forks with the Daugherty cartridge upgrade package, and I set the fork up for my weight and riding style.

In both cases I believe my VFR's rear suspension was set up with too much static sag, and probably the front fork sag was contributing also. To put it another way, the prior owners had the rear shock pre-load setting adjusted way too soft, which made the bike sit lower to the ground than a properly adjusted bike would do.

This meant that when I tried to put the bike up on the center stand I was starting out from a lower overall elevation which brought the legs of the center stand into contact with the ground earlier (at a flatter angle) and required more actual lifting of the bike to reach the "overcenter" point.
Click to expand...

You are 100% correct. Most of the 5th Gen bikes that seem super-hard to put on the center stand have too much static sag. In the case of my 5th Gen (a 2000), I literally think the spring has also compressed from sitting in a garage for the last 18 years. Jamie's re-springing my stock shock for me right now, for my 220 lb. weight. I'm fully anticipating that it will be much easier to put on the center stand after I get that re-sprung shock installed...

shank · Jun 1, 2018

I have a 2001 with same problem i will check rear shock makes sense thanks

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