Oh sure... Don't reveal the
pertinent details until the 60th post on the subject.
Maybe that's it. Easy enough to yank that thing off on the left side and try it without, right?
Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't realize what was going on sooner.
The front and rear crashguards were one of the first farkles I put on there. I got them for both my bike, and Martine's. I guess I sort of forgot those weren't part of the stock bike.
Its easy enough to take the left one off... but I'm not going to try it until I can get a volunteer to do it for me. I'm still recovering, and feeling a little dumb from doing the same thing to hurt my back twice.
I've got the 905s front and rear, but I don't come into contact with the rear one, so I'm missing something. I've got my left hand on the left handlebar, the right hand on the left grab rail (find it easier for me than the cut out handle) and my right foot on the centerstand tang with bike evenly balanced on both sides of the centerstand. It comes up pretty easy and the crash bar never comes into play for me.
doctorj
Really? Are you trying to get me to hurt my back again
I guess my understanding of trying to lift something heavy is not as good as I'd hoped it was. Here's what I understand: Whenever you lift anything as heavy as a motorcycle (even if you're only lifting a fraction of the weight), you should be using your legs exclusively.
That said, I think I understand the concept of how grabbing the handle
should work. The way I think it should work is that you should have a straight back, and that your arm should be at full extension, so when you press down with your leg, you are simultaneously lifting with your arm, keeping the back straight the whole time. The upward force is transferred through your straight back down the fully extended arm, which lifts the bike (so you get lift from pressing on the centerstand while also getting lift from your arm, using the quadricep exclusively for lift).
Just for an experiment, I did this in the bathroom with the counter just a minute ago. I bent at the knees until I could grasp the bottom of the countertop (with straight arms). Keeping the back straight, I lift with my legs. I pressed myself up a little, and even with one hand, to see what I think I should be doing with the bike. The advantage in the bathroom is that there are mirrors all around, so I could see what my back was doing, and see what lifting should look like. I didn't actually try to pickup the counter, but I could have, and I didn't feel any stress in my back (even though I can still tell that I'm recovering).
When I go out to my bike, and put my foot on the centerstand, I can't reach the lower grab location without bending at the waist. And if I grab my givi rack (which I can reach without bending over), my arm is not at full extension - so if I press down only, I won't actually be lifting the bike up (I would need to either lift with one arm - which probably isn't going to do much, or twist/bend backwards at the waist, which is probably part of my problem).
When I'm reaching for the lower grip, I bend my knee as much as I can, but I still can't quite reach the grip. My shin is actually pressing up against the rear crash guard, so I think that might be why the crash guard is causing me problems.
I think if you're not having any problems with the rear guard, that you either must have significantly different length legs than me (which I think it pretty likely), or that you're lifting using your back.
I had actually gotten both my FJR and my wifes up on the centerstand at home numerous times. I just can't remember exactly what technique I used. I'm pretty sure though that it involved rolling the bike backwards onto the centerstand, probably in combination with a little lifting (both with the arm, and with the foot pressing down). I do remember noticing that it was difficult, but until last week, it was never a real problem.
