Paddock Stand Newbie needs advice...

Never had a bike without a centre stand before, so:

Should I look to buy one that fits the bike, or do they all work? (Sprint
RS, hence double-sided swingarm)
Do they vary in quality? What's the difference?
How do I use it, since there's only me here to get it on it (this is a
detail question, I know *in principle* how they work)
Can you use them on slightly not very level ie sloping ground, since I
don't have a lot of very level ground round here?
Any recs re models/makes?

TIA...

 

Don't, get an Abba Superbike stand. They lift from the swinging arm pivots,
you can have either or both wheels up and they supply different size prongs
if you change the bike. £99ish.
It's a one man job to get it on that stand with no wobbles and no risk of
dropping it over.

 

They should all work.

If your bike will take bobbins then a cheap stand with forks should do
fine.

With bike on sidestand stand to left of bike at rear, locate bobbins
in forks, then keeping paddock stand in position with right hand push
bike upright with left hand. With one foot behind paddock stand wheels
push down on large end of stand until it hits the ground, when the
forks should be over-centre.

Possibly facing uphill.

 

You can get an aftermarket mainstand which would be my preference as I
would like to be able to adjust the chain easily if I went touring.
£130 from a Triumph dealer http://www.jacklilley.com/newcart/view_part.asp?category_id=13&category_type_id=152&part_id=493

When I had the TDM I used a paddock stand (Micron universal job with
cups that fit under the swin arm. I could operate it solo but it was always
easier to have someone to hold the bike upright.

My drive was gravel. To create a flat surface I used a large sheet of
chipboard which doubled as a reinforcement for the wooden shed I kept
the bike in. If your drive has only a gentle slope with a smooth surface
then you should be okay if the front wheel is facing up the slope.

Every bike I have had since came with a mainstand as a requirement and
I've moved on to shaft drive too. Saves a lot of faffing about.

 

wessie secured a place in history by writing:

Is it that big a deal to adjust the chain with the bike on the sidestand?
Won't the bike just move slightly as you turn each nut a notch or two?
(never tried it, but would have thought it would work OK, just a bit harder
to turn the nut....)

Probbly wrong, someone set me straight...

 

wessie secured a place in history by writing:
Is it that big a deal to adjust the chain with the bike on the sidestand?
Won't the bike just move slightly as you turn each nut a notch or two?
(never tried it, but would have thought it would work OK, just a bit harder
to turn the nut....)

Probbly wrong, someone set me straight...



I think most figures in manuals for the amount of slack in a chain are
quoted with the rear wheel off the ground. If you apply them to a bike that
has it on the ground you may run into problems with too much slackness
(don't know why but after that last sentence I've just started thinking of
my first 'proper' girlfriend, weird).

I agree that the stand that pivots off the swingarm errr .... pivots is
better. Have one for m ZX9R. Easy to get on and off (there she is again!!)
and you only have to find space for one bit of ironmongery.

 

And if you want to get an idea of how such a stand works:
http://www.highlandmotorcyclehols.com/abba.html (I'm not affiliated in any
way with this site)

Me? I've got somebody making approximately this stand, for half the
price....suited to my bike. I will paint it yellow....obviously.

 

Spete said...

I've got one similar that I bought from a Norwich firm for 90 quid in
1998. I got it when I had my Firestorm and have made new adaptors to fit
just about all the bikes I've had since. One thing my stand does that
the Abba doesn't is give you the capability to remove both wheels at the
same time. It does this by adding a couple of bracing struts to the rear
of the stand and straps holding the back end down.

 

I think that you are precisely wrong on this point - at least as far
as modern bikes go.

 

Ah yes, I have to add a scissor jack for this

 

I think most figures in manuals for the amount of slack in a chain are
quoted with the rear wheel off the ground.

I think that you are precisely wrong on this point - at least as far
as modern bikes go.


You are precisely correct, I'm talking bollocks. My old GPZ900 was but just
checked the handbook for my Ninja and it's on the side stand. How
embarrasing :{

Still, If you can't make a tit of yourself on a public forum where can you?

 

Don't be so cut up about it; that's why I specified _modern_ bikes,
see? But it does make sense wrt sports bikes that only have a
sidestand(1,2).

I just use a Scottoiler myself - and adjust the chain when I have a
new tyre fitted. If it needs it.

Well, absolutely. While we're on the subject *cough* could you sort
out your newsreader a little? Whilst you are perfectly fine in most
respects, attribution lines (who said what) are irrelevant (or at best
misleading) without the attribution string down the side. This is the
(conventionally) arrowheads which run down the LHS in front of every
line and which relate directly to the attribution lines.

Correctly set (which your OE should manage automagically) then each
quoted line should have one fewer arrowhead than its corresponding
attribution line, making it easy to tell at a glance who said what to
whom, even in a complex and interleaved discussion between three or
more people.

<reads back>

****, am I making sense, here? Never mind, by the magic of uk.r.m.,
someone who can explain clearly will be along shortly to tear me to
shreds (or just tell me to stop nitpicking ;-)).


1. Cue some wise fucker turning up now to tell me that Italian
exotica is wheel-in-the-air.
2. I bet the real expensive stuff specifies their own approved stand
that suspends the jewel of miniaturisation at precisely the right
height/angle/dangle(3).
3. Tension to be adjusted only at the correct phase of the moon, to
boot.

 

Grimley_Feindish wrote

Gimley me ole son, see this:-

it is a thing wot is used to help the rest of us work out which **** is
talking what bollocks.

Hopefully somebody who gives a **** will possibly tell you how to fix
that heap of shite you use for a newsreader so that it uses them.

 

**** it, I'm going down the pub

 

Grimley_Feindish wrote

Good move.

 

If he's buying, we're up for one, eh?

 

Well, if you ever find yourself in Norwich with nothing to do I'd be happy
to buy you a pint.

 

Sorted.

Hey steve, we gotta date!

 

Pip wrote

Threesome. Yummy.

 

Steady, I'm not that 'sort' of bloke.