Using the Centerstand

Any good techniques for getting the bike up on the stand? I can't figure out how without feeling like I am going to drop it. I don't have rear pegs or passenger grab handles on my bike right now so hopefully those aren't used in doing this.:smash:

 

Not difficult. Stand on the left side of the bike. Hold the left grip in the left hand, the top of the bracket for the rear passenger foot peg in the left. Push the centerstand down with the right foot until you can balance the bike on both of its feet. Lift up with the right hand and stand on the centerstand foot HARD and the bike will roll right up on it.

The technique works for most any bike with a centerstand (except those with electric centerstands!).

 

Man hard to describe, not hard thou, more a juggling act LOL not really just have a knack for it..

 

I keep my bikes on the center stand most of the time. They take up less room in the garage. I hold the bike up right, press down on the stand petal just until it touches, insure that BOTH legs of the stand are on the floor, in one motion pull slightly on the rear of the bike then step HARD down on the stand petal. After doing this a few times you'll get the feel of it. It's more stepping on the petal hard than lifting the rear, however you'll have to pull up some on the rear. I do use my rear grabhandle, but any solid handhold should work fine.

 

Watch this video on my LiveVideo channel for how to get almost any bike onto it's centerstand:

http://www.livevideo.com/video/less...44DDAB12D/2007-05-19-2006-ninja-500r-oil.aspx

 

I think stepping down hard on the stand was the part I was missing. I'll go try it..... thanks for the help!!

 

yeah, the step is the leverage point, you'll pull your arm funny w/o good pressure on the stand leg.

btw... next time you park in a tight spot, you can do a 180 by pulling the bike around by the tail (a little down force to get the front wheel up) when on the center stand. I have a sheet of cardboard in the garage to do the nozzle round-table.

I've had bad luck taking bikes off the center stand without straddling it. So the getting the bike off the center stand is kinda comical since I'm inseam challenged. Basically teeter-totter on the stand until I can bounce it over onto two tires.

 

If you're light like me, you have to put all of your weight on the centerstand and still push/pull HARD. Hurts my feet if I'm wearing sneakers.

You only hold the grip hard enough to keep the wheel straight. You don't pull on it.

 

Warning

This is dunb ,The VFR is the first bike I ever had with a center stand. I wanted to take it off the stand and push it outside and leave it on the kick stand . So I left the kick stand down .Mistake #1 . I pushed it off the stand and did not want it to land on the extended kickstand so I biased the weight away from myself .Mistake #2 .I was standing on the left side of the bike instead of sitting on it . Mistake #3 .When the bike came off the stand it started to roll to the right witch caused it to steer to the right .I tried to catch it Mistake # 4 It just fell over and tossed my stupid a** agensed the wall :yield: I picked it up with out sliding it . it hooked the brake lever but only left a tiny scratch on the side:redface:

 

I've never tried to take any bike off the centerstand any way but sitting on it and pushing forward on the handlebars. I wouldn't recommend trying to take it of the centerstand while off the bike.

I just got my VFR800 yesterday and it's alot harder to get on the centerstand than my 500R. A goldwing they had at the dealer was easier to get onto the centerstand than the VFR800. It depends alot on the design of the stand and not just the weight of the bike.

 

And I'll add something here...it's much easier to put on the stand if the bike is facing a slight uphill. Not much standing force is required, just disconcerting when the bike rocks back onto the rear tire. :biggrin:

 

One thing that might be obvious, but what I didn't do the first couple of times-put the bike in neutral and keep the front wheel straight!

 

To get my VFR onto the center stand, I have to be wearing boots. Even then, I can barely do it; I weigh about 145#. Since I had the bike serviced, it's become harder. I'm thinking that the dealer adjusted the suspension so that it's slightly lower, making it harder to get it onto the center stand.

Yes, it's easier to get it onto the center stand if the bike is on a slight upgrade, but that that also makes it harder to get it off of the center stand. Recently at a motel, when I parked on an upgrade, I had to try many times and was about to get help before I succeeded. If I had first mounted the luggage, I wouldn't have been able to get it off of the stand.

The center stand lifts the rear wheel much higher than necessary. If there were some way to reduce slightly the amount of lift, perhaps by slightly shortening the legs of the stand, using it would be easier.

On a closely related matter, I'm thinking that I could not plug a flat tire if it became flat while not on the center stand. The bike would probably be too low for the sidestand to work so, if a tire became flat while I was on the bike, I couldn't get off. And, if I could get off, the flat tire would make it impossible to put the bike on the center stand so I'd be stuck holding up the bike forever! Is there a solution for this?

 

If you have trouble getting the bike on the centerstand, it helps to ride the bike onto a 2x4. Although it won't help you out on the road.

Is there a solution for this?
Possibly carry two blocks of 4" 2x4 in your saddlebags (1 for each tire)???

 

Hmmm . . . I have been thinking about removing the centerstand altogether and saving some weight. I would need to buy a paddock stand for a SSS, though. Is removal a bad idea?

 

Tis if you try and resell it without one lol, whole reason i bought one in the first place was the VFR had a c/s. VFR's are easy to get on their c/s, trick is put right foot on bottom of c/s, push down with your foot while lifting gently at the back, keep your back straight, its where the leverage comes from. As for pushing a bike off its centre stand with the rider astride, wil eventually bend the stand, so not recomended, always have the front brake covered and then its easy.

 

Don't wear sandals while trying to get the vfr up on it's centerstand. Bad things can happen...like tipping it over.

 

What I do to get mine off the center stand is start it up, lean back hard, put it in gear, and accelerate hard! I'm joking.:wink: I agree that you must be on the bike when taking it down. I learned this on my Yamaha XS750 when I weighed about 130lbs. I stood on the left side, pushed forward and when it came down it highsided and I landed on top of it. When I went to pick it up, I had to put so much into it, I threw it right over the other way.:frusty: When you go through something that ridiculous, you never forget!

 

I've heard you can put the centerstand back on with just the pivot pins (no spring) for maintenance. When you get done, take the centerstand off and store it.

Thinking about doing that with my 85 as the centerstand interferes with my left foot if I put the balls of my feet on the pegs.

 

I always stand on the bike's left when taking it down off the center stand.
I wouldn't try to decenterstand any of my bikes while on them. I will put the kickstand down so if it were to become unbalanced I could pull it toward me and it would rest on the kick stand.