Wobbly sidestand

[Bill_Walker]

How much "play" is normal for the sidestand of an 1150RT? Mine has seemed excessive since I dropped the bike this summer while riding someplace an RT should never go (at least not with me at the controls). I noticed it seemed loose, and the bike seemed to lean over farther on the stand, a couple of days after this "incident". But, never having messed with it before, I gave it a look and couldn't figure out how to tighten it (whaddya mean the bolt goes in from underneath?). I discovered this the hard way a few thousand miles later when my sidestand fell off. Luckily, my buddy saw it, and we found the bolt, too.

 

Since then, I went and looked at the fiche at Max BMW's site and ordered some fresh sidestand parts: bushing, bolt, washer and circlip. However, even with the new parts, it still seems to wobble too much. It feels to me like there ought to be a thin teflon washer between the sidestand and the mounting boss, but the fiche shows no such beast.

 

I thought maybe the, umm, bracket at the top of the stand itself might have spread open due to impact. There was a very small spread, which I corrected, but it didn't fix the problem.

 

So, anybody got any guesses? What am I missing here?

[Tony_K]

You most likely bent something as you surmised but it may not be clearly visible. You need to get down on the ground and really look. I don't think you lost any parts.

 

I have one bike that leaned over so far it was impractical! It took up two bike spaces in my garage. Some hammer wacking took care of that.

 

Check again looking at weld points for cracking

[Blake]

I had a support bar break on the sidestand of my '96 1100RT last summer and just recently replaced it.

 

It's a relatively simple fix, all things considered. The most importantly of which is that you don't HAVE to take the entire left side tupperware off . Well..., unless you want to.

 

I don't recall there being much play with the mounting hole, but if it's the weld that took the impact, anything is possible. Although, I suspect if it was tweaked, the screw / bolt wouldn't go back in as it used to and you'd notice the difference.

 

The most difficult part for me was getting those %^*$& - *@^& springs back on (thx Gary!) once it was screwed in place.

 

HINT: It was later mentioned that I should have put a coin or washer between each rung of the springs for easier installation (DUH!) .

[Jameseo]

After having reassembled and torqued the side stand with no improvement, I would say that there's a good chance you have cracked the sidestand mounting bracket. Look at part no. 3 on the fiche, here:

RealOEM center/side stand fiche

 

All of the bike's leverage is exerted on the welded joint of the tab that hangs off this adapter plate, part no. 46522325381. It's a stout weld but if you've had a jarring impact it might have been enough to cause a hair-line crack that will only get larger each time you use the sidestand.

Unfortunately, this part is NOT cheap! If this turns out to be the problem, you may just want to find welder in your area.

I would recommend you only use the ceneter stand until you discover the problem.

[Bill_Walker]

After having reassembled and torqued the side stand with no improvement, I would say that there's a good chance you have cracked the sidestand mounting bracket. Look at part no. 3 on the fiche, here:

RealOEM center/side stand fiche

 

All of the bike's leverage is exerted on the welded joint of the tab that hangs off this adapter plate, part no. 46522325381. It's a stout weld but if you've had a jarring impact it might have been enough to cause a hair-line crack that will only get larger each time you use the sidestand.

Unfortunately, this part is NOT cheap! If this turns out to be the problem, you may just want to find welder in your area.

I would recommend you only use the ceneter stand until you discover the problem.

 

No, that part's dead solid. The stand leg itself moves relative to the adapter plate. Now, it _may_ be the case that the bracket is worn. Then again, in my recent work (bike's still apart in the garage for other stuff) I have yet to torque the bolt to its rather substantial torque setting. I'll try that and see if it tightens things up.

[Clive Liddell]

That highish torque for the side stand bolt allows the two "sides" of the stand to pinch up against the little bush so that it (the bush) turns with the stand.

 

A few years ago I found this under torqued on my R bike and the bush was turning in the side stand. A retorque also restored some firmness to the stand.

 

Unfortunately on the RT it's easiest torqued with the fairing off on that side.

[Bill_Walker]

Yep, once I got it all torqued up, I found that it's really not that wobbly after all. I'm guessing it hasn't been tight enough for some time. Thanks for your help, folks!