As one of my now dwindling list of refurbishment tasks, I'm starting to think through swapping the slightly shabby and rusty centre stand on my ST1100 ABS/TCS/CBS with the nicely refurbished one that I bought on Ebay. I know that to get the existing center stand off, and fit the new one without the hassle of removing the exhaust downpipes, I will need to remove the rear wheel. That means supporting the bike safely with a block under the engine that will allow me to take off the rear wheel, remove the silencers, remove the split pin on the RHS and push out the centre stand pivot shaft towards the LHS, remove the springs, and slip the stand back over the collector box and away from the bike. Then reverse the steps to fit the refurbished stand. I've practiced removing and re-fitting the springs using a wire loop and a long crowbar as a lever, which went quite well. Has anybody out there completed this task who could share any tips gathered from their experience?
Centre Stand Replacement
- Thread starter Nicksquid
- Start date
I did this on one of my GL1000's. Bought a motorcycle jack...with a square, padded surface and lugs for cargo straps. The whole thing looked like a disaster in the making so I removed the front wheel assembly, used a section of rebar and two jack stands to support the front end (tape up the contact points on the rebar to eliminate scratches)...fork caps back into place. Then this setup served as a pivot for the lift, which I positioned just in front of the center stand. Whole lot more stable/safe.
Pulling the spring off was a little chore but since I installed a new one, I used my largest set of vise-grips.
To reinstall the spring you can pull the spring into place using a piece of coat hanger wire looped onto the spring hook and vise-grips. pull on the wire, not the spring. Then just pull the wire out when the hook in engaged. OR...if you don't feel the need for the plastic sleeve, bend the spring until you can slip a nickel between a pair of coils. Repeat until the spring is long enough to engage the hook onto the center stand boss with the center stand retracted. Then put the center stand down. Most coins will fall out. Pull the rest of them out with pliers.
Pulling the spring off was a little chore but since I installed a new one, I used my largest set of vise-grips.
To reinstall the spring you can pull the spring into place using a piece of coat hanger wire looped onto the spring hook and vise-grips. pull on the wire, not the spring. Then just pull the wire out when the hook in engaged. OR...if you don't feel the need for the plastic sleeve, bend the spring until you can slip a nickel between a pair of coils. Repeat until the spring is long enough to engage the hook onto the center stand boss with the center stand retracted. Then put the center stand down. Most coins will fall out. Pull the rest of them out with pliers.
He's across the pond so substitute the appropriate Euro denomination for the nickel. :-D
Seriously, +1 on the coin tip. It makes reattaching the spring a breeze.
Seriously, +1 on the coin tip. It makes reattaching the spring a breeze.
Genius.
This is why I'm here... I can't wait to fix something with a spring now.
Just brilliant.
You're a genius! I struggled to get my springs on my revised center stand. Why couldn't you have posted this a year ago? (just kidding). Thanks for the tip - I'll remember it for the next time I play with springs.
This trick was taught to me by a retired Navy chief who also got me interested in rebuilding old bikes...back in 1966.
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Coins.....now THAT is a genuinely useful idea - thanks to you and your Navy buddy for it!
Pete
Pete