Sidestand Play

[ambriel]

I've  recently aquired a '96 R1100RT and the side stand appears to have a bit of wear causing her to lean quite well over well on it.

On the centre stand there seems to be quite a lot of 'waggle' on the side stand. Is this something that can be easily corrected with washers or shimsm or would a new side stand be the better solution?

[dirtrider]

8 minutes ago, ambriel said:

I've  recently aquired a '96 R1100RT and the side stand appears to have a bit of wear causing her to lean quite well over well on it.

On the centre stand there seems to be quite a lot of 'waggle' on the side stand. Is this something that can be easily corrected with washers or shimsm or would a new side stand be the better solution?

 

Afternoon ambriel

 

As a rule you can tighten them up & remove the wiggle. You sort of need to take it apart & look at what is worn & what needs to be done to tighten it up.

 

Sometimes you can shim the fit with thin washers but that is a pain to get them in & if the problem is  wear on the bracket or inside stand U saddle then washers won't do much  to tighten the fit unless the washer center hole is large enough to go over the bushing.

 

I the past I have removed the pivot bushing then shortened that just enough to get the stand saddle to clamp together tighter.

 

It's one of those deals that you need to look at the fit & wear areas  then figure out the best way to remove the excess play.  

[Miguel!]

6 hours ago, dirtrider said:

 

Afternoon ambriel

 

As a rule you can tighten them up & remove the wiggle. You sort of need to take it apart & look at what is worn & what needs to be done to tighten it up.

 

Sometimes you can shim the fit with thin washers but that is a pain to get them in & if the problem is  wear on the bracket or inside stand U saddle then washers won't do much  to tighten the fit unless the washer center hole is large enough to go over the bushing.

 

I the past I have removed the pivot bushing then shortened that just enough to get the stand saddle to clamp together tighter.

 

It's one of those deals that you need to look at the fit & wear areas  then figure out the best way to remove the excess play.  

So what causes the center stand to wear? Is it acceptable to mount the bike by standing on the left footpeg while on the side stand or is that what cause the side stand to wear? Does turning the bike on the center stand while on smooth concrete cause center wear? I don't do that but a friend does this with his 2013 1200GS all the time in his garage. He simply pulls in, centerstands it, and rotates 180 degrees.

 

Thanks!

Miguel

[dirtrider]

8 hours ago, Miguel! said:

So what causes the center stand to wear? Is it acceptable to mount the bike by standing on the left footpeg while on the side stand or is that what cause the side stand to wear? Does turning the bike on the center stand while on smooth concrete cause center wear? I don't do that but a friend does this with his 2013 1200GS all the time in his garage. He simply pulls in, centerstands it, and rotates 180 degrees.

 

Thanks!

Miguel 

 

Morning Miguel

 

So what causes the center stand to wear?-- Basically usage, anytime you use it you are causing wear. Leaning the bike on the side stand causes wear, mounting bike with side stand down causes wear. It just has a plain bushing in a steel hole with steel to steel contact one each side of the U saddle. They don't wear much but with enough usage they will wear to be sloppy in the pivot area.  

 

 Is it acceptable to mount the bike by standing on the left footpeg while on the side stand or is that what cause the side stand to wear?-- That's a good question, on the BMW 1100/1150 BMW never addressed that & they didn't have a lot of issues with bending or EXCESSIVE wear. Now on the BMW 1200 bikes BMW did address that (sort of) as the 1200 side stands were bending due to mounting the motorcycle by standing on the L/H foot peg with  side stand down.

 

 Does turning the bike on the center stand while on smooth concrete cause center wear?

 I don't do that but a friend does this with his 2013 1200GS all the time in his garage.

He simply pulls in, centerstands it, and rotates 180 degrees.-- I have done this a few times when I need to spin the bike around in it's own length  in a tight area (not only on my BMW's)  but as a rule I don't make a habit of it. I can't see how it doesn't cause a little extra wear but to me stand pivot wear is part of owning a motorcycle so IF/WHEN the wear gets bad enough to bother me I just address it by tightening the pivot area back to being tight (it usually doesn't take much to make them somewhat tight again). 

 

 

 

 

[AndyS]

11 hours ago, Miguel! said:

So what causes the center stand to wear? Is it acceptable to mount the bike by standing on the left footpeg while on the side stand or is that what cause the side stand to wear? Does turning the bike on the center stand while on smooth concrete cause center wear? I don't do that but a friend does this with his 2013 1200GS all the time in his garage. He simply pulls in, centerstands it, and rotates 180 degrees.

 

Thanks!

Miguel

What causes the stand to wear? Well, as DR says, usage. But also lack of maintenance. On my 1150, I modified the spindle, securing bolts and bushings such that I could add a grease nipple in each mounting bolt. My center-stand pivot never rusted or exhibited wear (unlike many others).

 

Does turning the bike on the stand cause wear? Yes. Occasional use not so much. When I have had to do it, I heave leaned the bike slightly so it is only on one leg and it tended to pirouette around that leg.

 

Getting on and off the bike on the sidestand. That seems to be fine. Again regular lubrication with a good grease makes a difference. seeing as it took next to no time, I greased my sidestand and centrestand at every service.

 

centrestand.pdf

[ambriel]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, much appreciated.

 

I'll get down and take a good look at the side stand clamp and work out where the wear is.

I was wondering about turning it on the centre stand, too, as I don't fancy backing it out onto gravel on my toes and she's a bit heavy to manouvre in the barn. I've ordered a stand mounted on wheels so I'll be able to just turn her around on the spot.