Check your kick-stand

[Tom of VA]

I never dropped a bike.... until today! It did't realize it but my kickstand does not always lock forward completely when put down. I moved my FJR to the oposite side of my driveway as I've done many times but did not pay enought attention to the kick stand position. It does not lock in down and forward position every time. It looked down and when I took my foot away it should have locked forward or sprung back to the up postion, but there seems to be a spot where it stays down but is not locked. I just took two steps away (just far enough to see it falling and not be able to do anything). The sound of breaking fairing!!!! Ahhh! I am now in the market for a lower and upper left side fairing, left mirror, generator cover, left side case, left turn signal. If anyone know where I might find some of these items please let me know. And check your kickstand to make sure it does hang up in the middle!

:bad: :russian: :russian: uke:

 

[FJR_pig]

Sorry to hear the news

Good luck on those parts and get well soon!

 

[BrunDog]

No sliders??

-BD

 

[RTSR1/FJR]

You need to take it off and clean & grease it! Mine was doing the same thing. When I took it off, it was bone dry and no grease what so ever, even some rust. Clean and grease and all will be good!

 

[luvtoride]

No sliders??
-BD

+1 on this. Would've probably saved your lower & possibly the upper. Not sure about other stuff.

 

[Tom of VA]

My first thought was that I wish I had sliders! I think the damage would have been limited to the rear case if I would of had some good sliders and bar ends. The turn signal got punched through the fairing. My bike was mint with only 3,500 miles.

You need to take it off and clean & grease it!

Great advice! My kick stand lacks a good, postive movement.

 

[twowheelnut]

The other thing you wanna do is kick the stand in place twice and then roll the slack outto of the tranny. There's a good 1 or 2 inches of travel which can easily translate into a folding stand and the 'crunch'.

Just don't put your toes under the foot... :blink:

 

[huron52]

The other thing you wanna do is kick the stand in place twice and then roll the slack outto of the tranny.  There's a good 1 or 2 inches of travel which can easily translate into a folding stand and the 'crunch'.
Just don't put your toes under the foot... :blink:

When I am parking the bike on a surface that appears sloped in either direction I do as TWOWHEELNUT says.

I must say that I have never tried the foot trick !

 

[FJrider1]

  I just took two steps away (just far enough to see it falling and not be able to do anything). 

I had the same thing happen 2 weeks after I got the bike!

I ground down the kickstand stop a few millimeters, kickstand was too vertical!

 

[Tom of VA]

FJRider 1,

That's a good idea. I think I'll take a look at shaving the stop back a mil or two. I'm gonna be OCD about checking this stand in the future. I'm used to my R1, which was more stable on the sidestand. Did you repair your bike? How much did it cost you?

 

[dcarver]

I often wonder why other mfrs don't follow Harley's lead on side kickstands... the stand LOCKS into place with a vertical pin and thus physically can't fold back under or forward thsu allowing the bike to drop.

I always thought this was a great design. Of course the Harley does not have a center stand which is stupid beyond belief. So it goes.

 

[markjenn]

I often wonder why  other mfrs don't follow Harley's lead on side kickstands... the stand LOCKS into place with a vertical pin and thus physically can't fold back under or forward thsu allowing the bike to drop.

Because these stands are a royal PITA to use and will nail your shin if the pop back unexpectedly. Harley (and many Ducati) stands are hated with a vengence by many, including myself.

I feel for the folks who have dropped their bikes - no fun. But the FJR's kickstand is about like most and works fine IF you exercise reasonably care when deploying - basically make sure it is fully forward and don't use on a downhil incline or when there is a lot of unfavorable camber to the road. Sorry, but the reason most folks drop bikes off kickstands is because they're not paying attention.

And before you decide that you can design a kickstand better, keep in mind that stands with aggressive over-centers are dangerous in another way - if you ride away with the kickstand down, they'll prevent you from turning the bike in the first left-hander. I run a Kawasaki H2 350 into a cornfield in my youth with the kickstand down. Sure, most bikes have interlocks now to prevent this sort of thing, but it's often the first safety feature defeated by a new owner.

- Mark

 

[FJrider1]

FJRider 1,
That's a good idea. I think I'll take a look at shaving the stop back a mil or two. I'm gonna be OCD about checking this stand in the future. I'm used to my R1, which was more stable on the sidestand. Did you repair your bike? How much did it cost you?

I had bent my leftside mirror which I replaced with the FZ-1 mirrors (Highly recommended!) I just had some scrapes on the upper/lower fairing. At the time the bike was relatively new ('03) I scored the lower fairing on ebay for $80!

Once it falls over you become extremely aware of pushing that kickstand forward when putting it down AND leaving the bike in gear!

 

[NoCage]

Bad break there Tom. I've been happy with the prices and service from Gary McCoy at University Motors.

I do the same as TWN on slack out of the tranny, and also leave my foot behind the stand on the ground as I dismount.