n1acguy
Well-known member
I needed to shorten the center stand to make my lowered bike project complete.
So, for those that care, here's what I did.
After studying the design (with another stock stand in case I screwed up), I decided the easiest method would be to cut some off the top.
This meant duplicating the angle of the top of the stand and the distance of the shoulder bolt holes as close as possible to stock. This is critical because if the stops allow the stand to pivot too far the bike would be too hard to roll off the stand, not far enough, and the bike would be unstable when on the stand.
The amount I cut off takes into consideration the amount my bike is lowered. I have the 7/8" longer Kouba links on the rear, and I was able to raise the front fork tubes 7/8" since I have the Heli triple clamp with the extra risers. This seems to be as far as you can raise the front fork tubes without risking bottoming out on the bottom clamp.
This is how much I cut off.
After cutting and drilling another hole for the shoulder bolt. The stand has some extra stock welded to the inner sides at the mount points to make up width. I ground the welds off to remove it from the cut off pieces and then rewelded it to the shortened stand to be able to add the exact same thickness at the mount point.
Next to the stock stand.
Notice the extra Gen1 stand has the cross bar in a different position, but the stands interchange. The spring loop was rewelded, but somehow the distance didn't work out.
I ended up drilling out the threads and welding a large nut further down near the cross bar.
The spring was a real mother to get back on. I finally looped some safety wire to lever it on.
I had to modify the bumper to bolt it directly to the resting bracket rather than it mounting to the stand. I used a dremmel to grind a shoulder into the bumper, and used a screw and nut to mount it to the resting pad.
The bike now has the rear wheel about 1/2" off the ground while on the stand.
I'm happy with the way it came out. The bumper in this position makes the stand park a little lower, but that's fine since my heel now rests just on the foot of the stand while riding, since the foot of the stand is now closer to the foot peg. It doesn't interfere and the stand still isn't the lowest part of the bike.
If I did anything different, it would be to weld a bracket or drilled out bolt further down on the lowest portion of the cross bar, and use a beefy eye bolt with a nut on each side for the spring mount, because that spring is a real motha to get back on, and the distance is somewhat critical.
So, for those that care, here's what I did.
After studying the design (with another stock stand in case I screwed up), I decided the easiest method would be to cut some off the top.
This meant duplicating the angle of the top of the stand and the distance of the shoulder bolt holes as close as possible to stock. This is critical because if the stops allow the stand to pivot too far the bike would be too hard to roll off the stand, not far enough, and the bike would be unstable when on the stand.
The amount I cut off takes into consideration the amount my bike is lowered. I have the 7/8" longer Kouba links on the rear, and I was able to raise the front fork tubes 7/8" since I have the Heli triple clamp with the extra risers. This seems to be as far as you can raise the front fork tubes without risking bottoming out on the bottom clamp.
This is how much I cut off.
After cutting and drilling another hole for the shoulder bolt. The stand has some extra stock welded to the inner sides at the mount points to make up width. I ground the welds off to remove it from the cut off pieces and then rewelded it to the shortened stand to be able to add the exact same thickness at the mount point.
Next to the stock stand.
Notice the extra Gen1 stand has the cross bar in a different position, but the stands interchange. The spring loop was rewelded, but somehow the distance didn't work out.
I ended up drilling out the threads and welding a large nut further down near the cross bar.
The spring was a real mother to get back on. I finally looped some safety wire to lever it on.
I had to modify the bumper to bolt it directly to the resting bracket rather than it mounting to the stand. I used a dremmel to grind a shoulder into the bumper, and used a screw and nut to mount it to the resting pad.
The bike now has the rear wheel about 1/2" off the ground while on the stand.
I'm happy with the way it came out. The bumper in this position makes the stand park a little lower, but that's fine since my heel now rests just on the foot of the stand while riding, since the foot of the stand is now closer to the foot peg. It doesn't interfere and the stand still isn't the lowest part of the bike.
If I did anything different, it would be to weld a bracket or drilled out bolt further down on the lowest portion of the cross bar, and use a beefy eye bolt with a nut on each side for the spring mount, because that spring is a real motha to get back on, and the distance is somewhat critical.