Turn bike on side stand

[Bimbim18]

I do it all the time also. One reason you may have to do it:

I parked at a McDonald's and ran inside for some food and came out to see a Ford F250 parked right behind me to block me in for "taking up a whole parking spot with my 'Lil' motorcycle".

It's a 2019 GT so not really little and I'm 5'5" so back pedaling is not an option. I geared up, spin my bike, hopped on and accidentally punched his tail light on the way out.

I also know first hand how thin the kickstand material is. My mother in law backed into my tracer and snapped the kickstand. After seeing someone else's (broken in the same exact spot) I think we came to a consensus we think there is an intentional weak spot to control the break location. I have faith in my kickstand. I can't throw a leg over my bike I literally have to climb up on it, and I sit on top of my bike all the time with both legs up either on my pegs or crash bars and the kickstand down so I've put a good amount of stress on it. 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Bimbim18

[micah2074]

I'll say this, my 2015 FJ is a lot easier to spin on the side stand than my son's 2012 SV650. You'd think the Wee-strom weighs double.

[Wintersdark]

Yeah, for sure it's very strong for direct loading - putting weight on it I have no problem with at all. While I'm 6'4", I'm old and pretty broken and have to step onto bikes most of the time (step onto one pedal and over) to avoid looking hilariously feeble trying to get onto the bike.  

The issue I have with spinning the bike on the kickstand is you're putting a lot of weight on the stand (ok, in and of itself) but then rotating the bike, applying a lot of rotational strain that it's not intended to take.  That thin spot probably is a point to control breakage and prevent damage to the frame, but still: the kickstand breaks there when you just push the bike backwards while it's leaning on the kickstand, and it breaks rather than dragging/sliding on the pavement.  

Because that's all that happened with mine: the spare tire on the rear of the jeep pushed the bike backwards while it was in neutral on the kickstand.  No hard impact (she was backing up slowly), and the tire softened what impact there may have been.  Just backwards pressure.  Which is exactly what you're doing when you brace the kickstand and pull the bike back to lift the rear and turn it around.

With all that said, I expect you'd be fine spinning the bike around on the kickstand.  People do it all the time, and have no problems.  But after that happened to me, I'm really reluctant to risk it happening while I'm manhandling the bike around.

 

[knyte]

32 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

Just backwards pressure.

I think this is the key point - not to disagree or anything, I get that you're leery after that experience, completely understand that.

Similarly:  My dad trucked his BMW to Edmonton this past summer, and, after our tour and he loaded up to go home, he insisted on strapping the bike down TIGHT with the kickstand down.  Guess what...by the time he got home, the kickstand was bent or stressed somewhere because of all the vibration and such.  We ratchet-strapped it down to the truck box like I'd strap down any other bike - three points; two from the handlebars and one from the rear.  However, with the kickstand down, there was no room for the suspension to 'give' at all - placing a LOT of pressure on the kickstand and the stand mount area.  With all the vibration and bumps and whatnot - now it leans WAY over on the stand.  He's committed to the centre stand until we can fix the sidestand.  I had a good look at it (should have shot some pics), and the stand itself isn't bent at all - it strained the stop somehow or another.  When you flip it down, it stops far more forward than it used to, instead of resting more vertical.

I can't see how just a gentle spin or two on the stand with just the weight of the bike (even loaded) would do that...that'd be a pretty feeble construction, imho.  It'd take a LOT of extra downward / backward  energy to bend something.

[Wintersdark]

16 minutes ago, knyte said:

I can't see how just a gentle spin or two on the stand with just the weight of the bike (even loaded) would do that...that'd be a pretty feeble construction, imho.  It'd take a LOT of extra downward / backward  energy to bend something.

That's the thing, though.  All the Jeep did was push the bike backwards.  Not down, or over, or anything else crazy that way, just pushed it backwards (downhill!) with the only rolling resistance being the kickstand on the pavement - the wheels could freely rotate.  

But you're probably right, and I'm just been needlessly worried.  As I said above, people all over the world do this all the time, and I've literally never heard of a kickstand breaking when it's done.   But the nature of how it broke, well...  Not confidence inspiring. 

[knyte]

100% agree.  I can only guess the lip of the stand must have snagged a rock in the asphalt or something and *SNAP* instead of just skidding along.

I'll certainly be a bit more careful after hearing your experience.

[aeg]

This my genius plan to assist the spin in my garage. Its size above 5 inches in diameter. 🤓

Edited December 14, 2021 by aeg

[Wintersdark]

This is mine.  Many sturdy, much rolling, such wow!

 

[aeg]

Can’t beat that one for sure. 

[piotrek]

I will have to practice the side stand technique. Haven't really had to do this, and the times I tried... it felt sketchy. Could come handy one day... and I'd like to be able to do this without drama or tears.

In the garage I use a scrap piece of fibreboard fixed to a $15 CAD Lazy Susan. Serves a single purpose... turn bike around in the garage. 3 years on... works like a charm, and stows away easily.

My inspiration... a $200 CAD Turncycle Centre Stand Disk. I am sure their prototype looked just like mine. 😁

[roadrash83]

I wonder how engine cases that are also the mounting point for the side stand are hold up to spinning?

 I know that's the way it is with my Pan America and I'm going to let somebody else find out😉

[PhotoAl]

I'd be careful with the PanAmerica.  I really working hard to resist saying something about HD doesn't know because ....  

I've done it with my sport bikes in the past.  Don't recall if I ever did it with my BMW F800GT.  It's side stand was cast and pretty spindly looking and would actually flex a bit but never had only trouble with it.  Have seen lots of folks on sport bike do it and Yamaha makes a lot of them so probably is aware of the practice and would think it would work. Haven't done it with my Tracer 900 GT but if I get in a bind I'll do it.  

Doing it the like the video showed it is mostly compression forces on the side standard the twisting forces are not that much if it is slowly walked around.  I did park on the side of the road one time where the slope was to my left.  Bike was fully loaded and I was a little surprised it would actually stay on the side stand and not tip over.  It was pretty tough standing the bike up to ride off.  Says to me the side stand is plenty beefy.  I stopped because it was raining and I was getting wet, visor was fogging and generally miserable.  Road was fresh chip tar so all in all not fun - but memorable!

[Heli ATP]

After I lowered my 2017 FJ it stood up too straight on the side stand. I asked a friend to shorten the side stand by 1.25". When he cut it open he called to tell me how shocked he was to not only find it was hollow but also how thin the tube exterior was. He put a steel bar inside to add strength before welding it back together. He also moved the hook for the spring and finished with a powder coating. It feels more solid now and gives me confidence to learn this spinning technique.

I found a lazy susan on ebay by searching (6" Lazy Susan Turntable 500 Lbs).

$12 and I can copy Piotrek's idea with some boards I have in the pile.

Lazy Susan

Edited December 15, 2021 by Heli ATP

[piotrek]

12 hours ago, Heli ATP said:

I found a lazy susan on ebay by searching (6" Lazy Susan Turntable 500 Lbs).

You want the disk to be at least 12" OD and thin (like this). You need that load spread over as large an area as possible. If you mount the board on a 6" spinner the thing will wobble and board will overhang too much and flex.

Be prepared for a bit of extra effort when setting the bike on the spinner. It is just under 1" in height. You could use a steel plate instead (thinner, but $$ + heavy). The strip across the board on mine is to prevent the stand from shifting.

[koth442]

On 12/14/2021 at 9:05 AM, aeg said:

@koth442I bought a cheap metal ashtray from Walmart to protect the floor from the kickstand. It has perfect shape with rounded edges and a flat bottom. 
My main concern is the connection between the kickstand and the frame. Will it get damaged over time?

In my opinion, you'll be fine.