Something's wrong with my side stand?

Afan

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[video]https://youtu.be/IIuS6d_sfzg[/video]

As you can see on the video, I have to lean the bike to the right to be able to put it on it's side stand. It caused me a lot of trouble on my recent trip when I made a stop on the side of a road. And specially if the road is slightly declined towards side of the road and I had to lean the bike a little bit more to the right. And if I successfully extend the side stand, it would push the bike to right, to the point that the bike will fall to the right.
Something's wrong... :(
 
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Afan

Afan

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Yesterday was checking on friends BMW RT1150 and you put the side stand down without moving the bike to the right. And when I parked his bike on the side of the road BMW still was leaning to the left.
 
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It looks to me like your rear suspension sags an inordinate amount when you get on the bike... It might be time to get that shock serviced or replaced, or at the very least increase the preload. I replaced my stock spring and shock 1300 at 25,000 miles, and it made a huge difference.

Garry
 
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1. what size rear tire? (lower profile than stock will make bike ride lower)

2. measure distance from top of lower fork tube to bottom of lower triple clamp (suspension adjustments can also lower ride height)

3. if you can see the top of the fork tubes, are they flush with the top triple clamp, or do they rise above it? (another variation on #2)

4. non-stock rear shock and/or spring could also lower the ride height (measure distance between the upper/lower mounting bolts)
 
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If you are not running factory sizes and you are running low profile tires such as a 160/60/17 rear compared to the factory recommendation 160/70/17 you will have just a hair over 1 1/4" height difference. The 160/70/17 being taller.

This will cause much grief when parking the ST1100, especially where there is a slight angle in the parking surface. If you changed the profile of the front as well that will impact this issue too.
 

970mike

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Time for some upgraded suspension on that 1100, looks like you may also have a lower profile tire which makes it tough to use the side stand without cutting it down.
 

ST Gui

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Something's wrong...
Yes it is. All the potential causes have been named. (Except for gremlins sneaking in at night and swapping out your kickstand for a longer one!) I'm curious though. Did this just happen recently? Did it always do this? Did you notice the stand scraping the ground when you used it? Is there a recent pasta problem?
 
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You need a new Shock/spring on the rear at a minimum. If you have never serviced the front suspension, you should address that also.
 
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Afan

Afan

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It looks to me like your rear suspension sags an inordinate amount when you get on the bike... It might be time to get that shock serviced or replaced, or at the very least increase the preload. I replaced my stock spring and shock 1300 at 25,000 miles, and it made a huge difference.
Garry
I never serviced it. I bought it less then a year ago and did almost 10K (it was 49K when I bought it).

1. what size rear tire? (lower profile than stock will make bike ride lower)
2. measure distance from top of lower fork tube to bottom of lower triple clamp (suspension adjustments can also lower ride height)
3. if you can see the top of the fork tubes, are they flush with the top triple clamp, or do they rise above it? (another variation on #2)
4. non-stock rear shock and/or spring could also lower the ride height (measure distance between the upper/lower mounting bolts)
1. I don’t have the size in my head but I ordered both tires through the local bike shop and used the numbers from the manual that comes with the bike, and from Clymer Manual (same sizes)
2., 3 and 4. have to check when home.

Yup...all of the above, and that suspension is compressing WAY too much for just sitting on bike.
I hope my 240 lbs don’t have anything with it?
:D

If you are not running factory sizes and you are running low profile tires such as a 160/60/17 rear compared to the factory recommendation 160/70/17 you will have just a hair over 1 1/4" height difference. The 160/70/17 being taller.
This will cause much grief when parking the ST1100, especially where there is a slight angle in the parking surface. If you changed the profile of the front as well that will impact this issue too.
Nope, didn’t change anything. I don’t remember previous owner mentioned anything like that. But the tires, I know that one for sure, are original, standard sizes.

Yes it is. All the potential causes have been named. (Except for gremlins sneaking in at night and swapping out your kickstand for a longer one!) I'm curious though. Did this just happen recently? Did it always do this? Did you notice the stand scraping the ground when you used it? Is there a recent pasta problem?
When I bought it it was my second bike, no experience. I assumed everything’s as it supposed to be. First time I had hard time when I tried to park on the side of the road, of course, but I was thinking it supposed to be that way and I’m clumsy. :) And I’m paranoid: “… bike’s not gonna fall down, it’s ok… stop paranoia... “.
I was parking usually on the flat surface so didn’t make a big deal.
On the last weekend trip, it really pissed me off because I missed several nice spots to make a stop and “explore” because I couldn’t figure out how to put the bike on the side stand without a chance to fall on the right…
 
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OEM is only good for around 40k miles. Your rear shock is smoked. Get a new one. Until your new one arrives, adjust your rear spring pre-load to maximum and set the rebound to full hard. This will get you through.... With your physical size / weight, It should have been that way a long time ago.

Replace the fork springs with a minimum of 1.0-1.1kg. Change the oil and use a viscosity to suite your taste. Your physical size dictates this....

Side stands do wear and bend a little over time. The pivot yoke can be put into a vise, or hammered back into original shape to tighten up any slop. Do this and grease the pivot while your in there.

I'm 6'1" - 270 lbs and have a Progressive 465 cranked about 3/4 of the way down the adjustment collar. Sonic 1.2kg springs with 5wt and still have one inch of sag at both ends....
 

ST Gui

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As you can see on the video, I have to lean the bike to the right to be able to put it on it's side stand...
And if I successfully extend the side stand, it would push the bike to right, to the point that the bike will fall to the right.
Can you extend the side stand while standing next to the bike? Can you grab the rear of the bike while on the side stand and lift it enough to extend the shock and see if it leans to the left appreciably/sufficiently? If you can then it's the spring(s) at the least.

You got the bike used. You should rule out anything the previous owner might have done to "customize" the bike. Was he a shorter guy?

And Clymer manuals often have incorrect info. You might want to double check the tire size. And maybe post a pic of the side stand just to insure it's the correct stand? Maybe the shock as well.
 
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I was parking usually on the flat surface so didn?t make a big deal.
On the last weekend trip, it really pissed me off because I missed several nice spots to make a stop and ?explore? because I couldn?t figure out how to put the bike on the side stand without a chance to fall on the right?
There are lots of times when the road crown is such that you WILL find this to be a problem on the side of a road. That is not unusual. If the side stand is working fine on a flat area, then I suspect you are not considering where you park closely enough. If there is space at the side of a steeply crowned road for you to park sideways (90 degrees to the road) that will eliminate the problem for you.

You may still need to see if your suspension is up to snuff though.
 

ST1100Y

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You may still need to see if your suspension is up to snuff though.
+1...
Pre-load is probably on "sofa"-setting #1... the minimum is 2, better 3... and adjust the damper accordingly.
You'll need the hook-wrench with the tube-handle from the on-board tool-kit and the/a flat screw driver...
Refer to pages 24 & 25 in below *.pdf link if you don't have the owner's manual avail:
http://campaigns.hondampe.com.au/Motorcycles/manuals/ST1100.pdf

While not worn down, the OEM shock is not "bad" per se... when properly adjusted it serves quite well for the not too ambitioned rider...
But the even better way is a full suspension upgrade, rear shock + matching fork springs... in combination with some other tweaks the ST will handle like a completely different motorcycle...
 
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Afan

Afan

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There are lots of times when the road crown is such that you WILL find this to be a problem on the side of a road. That is not unusual. If the side stand is working fine on a flat area, then I suspect you are not considering where you park closely enough. If there is space at the side of a steeply crowned road for you to park sideways (90 degrees to the road) that will eliminate the problem for you.

You may still need to see if your suspension is up to snuff though.
First, this is not me, I picked up the image on internet :D.
So, I'll be able to park it like this guy, just next to the white line but I would have to lean the bike to the right 10-20 deg. first - very uncomfortable move, to be able to extract the side stand. And to park a little bit more to the right, on the unpaved part, is impossible.

 
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Also didn't see anywhere where you said as to what spring pre-load setting(notch) shocks are set at? Sure, you'll get a 'cushy' ride in third notch from bottom, with little to no aggressive 'twisty' riding, but you'll find overall that the top two spring preload positions is the better, and likely will drasicly reduce the 'squish' just sitting on it:). Dampening preload has NOTHING to do with INITIAL load carrying ability;).
 
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First, this is not me, I picked up the image on internet :D.
So, I'll be able to park it like this guy, just next to the white line but I would have to lean the bike to the right 10-20 deg. first - very uncomfortable move, to be able to extract the side stand. And to park a little bit more to the right, on the unpaved part, is impossible.

Well, of course, I wouldn't even THINK about trying to park in a place such as depicted in that picture! So many ways to be asking for trouble. Imagine putting your right foot down on a rounded pebble there, as you lift the bike to raise the side stand, or, as you stop there and put the feet down to balance on that precarious narrow shoulder and you have a momentary loss of balance to the right. Once that 700 pounds is going over, that slope would be a disaster! Also, the bike is hanging right into the lane of traffic!

Choose parking places wisely, where's there's lots of flat paved, or flat gravel, beside the road. Even some city streets have a high crown and in a permitted parking space by the curb, I will often have to turn the bike at least 75 degrees to the road to allow a decent side stand deployment.
 

rjs987

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Being the previous owner, but not original/first owner, I can say I really didn't notice any issues with putting the side stand down while I had the bike. I did notice a very little bit of the side stand wear that has been mentioned on this forum, but just a little. I also did note the beginning of the rear shocks wearing but nothing that warranted replacement nor improvement for many miles yet... that I could notice. The rear shocks were adjusted a bit firmer and pre-load increased a bit from when I bought it, but I really didn't pay attention to what the pre-load was set to before. Maybe the added 10,000 miles made that difference. I also am about 30lbs lighter than your stated weight and a little shorter (maybe?). That may be why I didn't notice any need to lean right to put the stand down. Don't know if that would make a difference. I agree to check how it comes down while just standing next to the bike without you sitting on it. In the video the tail does look like it's dropping a lot when you climb on. More than it did for me (that I remember). So maybe it is time to service or replace the shocks. The ST1100 does lean less than many other bikes I always thought. My current ride leans so much more while on the side stand I was paranoid about it falling to the left. But now I'm used to it that way. About that photo... I agree that I would not park the bike in a place like that. Or at least I wouldn't get off the bike while stopped there. I would also have moved ahead to be next to one of the guard rail posts just for my own comfort if I really wanted a photo from there. I know a lot of the roads you were on for your trip and there is even less that could be called a shoulder on many sections. No white line even, just a drop off to the right... just where some of the best views are to be found.
 

ST Gui

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The ST1100 does lean less than many other bikes I always thought.
I've been wondering about this bit. The OP stated that from the beginning on level ground on the side stand off the bike that he felt just a slight push to the right would tip the bike over on the right side. This has never been the case of any bike I've ever owned. On an H-D I thought the bike was going to fall on the left side before I finally felt the side stand do its job.

I'm still curious: with the bike unladen and on the side stand can the back end be lifted significantly higher than when at rest? Does the lean angle increase noticeably?
 
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Afan

Afan

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So, I checked when I get home and found that shocks were still adjusted a little bit firm - 3. Hard to believe, right? :)
And, also, I was holding the bike strait up while my kid was putting side stand and he WAS able to put the stand without touching the ground, but it was about 1/8" - 1/4" from the lowest point to the ground - what I think it's still not enough.

While checking the shock adjuster, I was trying to figure out how to put the side stand down without me sitting on the bike. I couldn't :D.
 
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