Centre Stand - Safety

robs ss

robs ss

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Some would argue this is not a safety issue, but...

Riding behind a mate on his Mk3 recently and noticed his centre stand was bouncing down and hitting the road frequently in corners on a back road we ride.
It's unlikely to cause a problem but there's small chance it will "hook in".
He's ordered a new spring.
I wonder how many forum members have a weak centre stand spring and don't know it?
Of course, you bastards in the developed world don't have bumps - but maybe?
Cheers
 
robs ss said:
Some would argue this is not a safety issue, but...

Riding behind a mate on his Mk3 recently and noticed his centre stand was bouncing down and hitting the road frequently in corners on a back road we ride.
It's unlikely to cause a problem but there's small chance it will "hook in".
He's ordered a new spring.
I wonder how many forum members have a weak centre stand spring and don't know it?
Of course, you bastards in the developed world don't have bumps - but maybe?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Have you been to the U.K. lately?
 
robs ss said:
Some would argue this is not a safety issue, but...

Riding behind a mate on his Mk3 recently and noticed his centre stand was bouncing down and hitting the road frequently in corners on a back road we ride.
It's unlikely to cause a problem but there's small chance it will "hook in".
He's ordered a new spring.
I wonder how many forum members have a weak centre stand spring and don't know it?
Of course, you bastards in the developed world don't have bumps - but maybe?
Cheers
Click to expand...
How about a poll to see how many of us on this site are bastards?
 
robs ss said:
Some would argue this is not a safety issue, but...

Riding behind a mate on his Mk3 recently and noticed his centre stand was bouncing down and hitting the road frequently in corners on a back road we ride.
It's unlikely to cause a problem but there's small chance it will "hook in".
He's ordered a new spring.
I wonder how many forum members have a weak centre stand spring and don't know it?
Of course, you bastards in the developed world don't have bumps - but maybe?
Cheers
Click to expand...
A different story. I bought Trident that was "ready to ride". The side-stand pivot was worn, and the PO was proud of the extension he welded on it so that the bike would stay more upright on it. Of course, this made the side stand quite a bit heavier.

One of the first times I went around a left corner it scared the crap out of me. A tiny bump in the corner caused the stand to hit the road, jack the bike up a little and throw the rear wheel out a little (felt like a LOT!). Fortunately, I didn't go down. Needless to say, I got the bike back home and properly fixed the side stand!

I'm very careful of both side and center stands now!
 
My Commando did a worn CS spring in 1979 it was bouncing, the first time I knew about it was when hooking into a corner and the leg of the stand dug into the corner and lifted my rear wheel off the tar, fu cking sh it myself, a new spring fixed it, springs can lose their tension, some sooner than others.
 
Last edited:
Check to see if the hole in the frame where the spring is hooked in is not getting too oblong. Many years of vibration will cut a
groove in the spring which is a breaking point and slot the frame over time taking the tension out of the spring.
My nickel's worth.
 
Brings back a memory, my older brother had his 70 Bonneville and he rode without the center stand but put it on to adjust the chain. His route to Cape Cod community college went through a 'rotary' which is Massachusetts terminology for a roundabout. Well, he had the thing leaned over the same as always and he lifted the rear tire off the ground and high-sided. Open face helmet and a bit of a face plant, but nothing terrible. A good lesson in a way. He's 71 and has been street riding since he was 16. That was his only getoff. Has me beat by 1, but I've only been street riding 44 years, ha!
 
robs ss said:
Some would argue this is not a safety issue, but...

Riding behind a mate on his Mk3 recently and noticed his centre stand was bouncing down and hitting the road frequently in corners on a back road we ride.
It's unlikely to cause a problem but there's small chance it will "hook in".
He's ordered a new spring.
I wonder how many forum members have a weak centre stand spring and don't know it?
Of course, you bastards in the developed world don't have bumps - but maybe?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Cheeky bastards.
 
robs ss said:
Some would argue this is not a safety issue, but...

Riding behind a mate on his Mk3 recently and noticed his centre stand was bouncing down and hitting the road frequently in corners on a back road we ride.
It's unlikely to cause a problem but there's small chance it will "hook in".
He's ordered a new spring.
I wonder how many forum members have a weak centre stand spring and don't know it?
Of course, you bastards in the developed world don't have bumps - but maybe?
Cheers
Click to expand...
This bastard takes the centre stands off and bins them 😁😁😁😁
 
I was going to start a new thread but this one is recent and I'm going through this problem right now so I'll just add my drivel to this thread.

I recently modified my notoriously short side stand on my early frame rare '70 model interstate 😏 I fit a side stand from a Yamaha motorcycle which was longer than the stock norton one that is working much better. It's not beautiful, but it works and the stock one does not. I was under the impression that the heavier side stand was deploying on hard left hand sweepers because I could feel it bouncing off the pavement. It was very disconcerting. I thought I was going down the first time it happened. I actually wound a stronger spring for my side stand thinking that it was the cause of the problem.

I also had taken the center stand off at the same time I was modifying the side stand. I welded 2 small pieces of pipe on the feet of the center stand in an attempt to make the center stand longer, so the center stand would also be workable too. Then I would have an early model bike with both a working side stand AND a working centerstand in an attempt to fix both notoriously horrible stands. I painted the extension pieces black like the rest of the center stand.

After a few more scrapes of the asphalt, it turns out the left foot of the center stand shows marks where it was dragging on the pavement.... So I'm removing it for now. It was scaring the shit out of me. I'm old. I can't afford to face plant into any asphalt. I'd like to have a working center stand,... so I'm going to figure out something. At least I know the problem is the center stand now. Welding 2 small pieces of metal on the bottom added just enough weight to the stand that it's bouncing now. I'm thinking of skeletonizing it to lighten it, or maybe making a stronger spring for it..... It never ends........😞
 
Last edited:
o0norton0o said:
I was going to start a new thread but this one is recent and I'm going through this problem right now so I'll just add my drivel to this thread.

I recently modified my notoriously short side stand on my early frame rare '70 model interstate 😏 I fit a side stand from a Yamaha motorcycle which was longer than the stock norton one that is working much better. It's not beautiful, but it works and the stock one does not. I was under the impression that the heavier side stand was deploying on hard left hand sweepers because I could feel it bouncing off the pavement. It was very disconcerting. I thought I was going down the first time it happened. I actually wound a stronger spring for my side stand thinking that it was the cause of the problem.

I also had taken the center stand off at the same time I was modifying the side stand. I welded 2 small pieces of pipe on the feet of the center stand in an attempt to make the center stand longer, so the center stand would also be workable too. Then I would have an early model bike with both a working side stand AND a working centerstand in an attempt to fix both notoriously horrible stands. I painted the extension pieces black like the rest of the center stand.

After a few more scrapes of the asphalt, it turns out the left foot of the center stand shows marks where it was dragging on the pavement.... So I'm removing it for now. It was scaring the shit out of me. I'm old. I can't afford to face plant into any asphalt. I'd like to have a working center stand,... so I'm going to figure out something. At least I know the problem is the center stand now. Welding 2 small pieces of metal on the bottom added just enough weight to the stand that it's bouncing now. I'm thinking of skeletonizing it to lighten it, or maybe making a stronger spring for it..... It never ends........😞
Click to expand...
I was wondering if you could double the spring up like they do on Japanese bikes
This would maybe take care of the extra weight
 
baz said:
I was wondering if you could double the spring up like they do on Japanese bikes
This would maybe take care of the extra weight
Click to expand...

That's one of the things that I'm looking into at the moment. The standard spring winding looks like it's about 1-1/4" diameter. I was thinking of winding a spring to fit down the middle of it to make the double spring set up.

The other thing I didn't like is the little foot lever bangs up against the frame hoop. I'd love to "tack" a little doubling plate onto the frame so the stupid foot lever isn't bouncing along and chipping away at the frame
 


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