Main stand electric lift?

Hi

When i started riding to work this year i hurt myself. The weight of the ST1300 made a muscle i my leg hurt. (Yes i am getting old... )

Now i cant use the bike due to i cant lift it on the main stand.
Some bikes has electric lift on the main stand. Is there any solution to this problem for the ST1300?

Regards
Crippa

Very interesting idea. I've never heard of a power center stand. I would think you are going to have to design and fabricate something yourself. There is a company out there - I forget the name but someone will surely chime in since it appeared in another thread - that makes hydraulic or air powered 'training wheels' that deploy when you slow below 6 mph. These stabilize the bike and allow feet up stops. Surely they can adapt one of these systems to do what you want. Only problem is the cost - north of $2 thou.

A couple of years ago I bought a modified center stand from another STOC member. He took a stock center stand, cut the 'foot lever' off and lengthened it by welding in a 3" (roughly) piece of steel. His idea was to increase the lever arm and thereby ease getting the bike up onto the stand. I had the modified stand powder coated and I installed it on my bike. Voila - it is indeed much easier to get the bike onto the stand now. This cost was $40 for powder coating plus the cost of a used center stand. A home run for under $100. Note that greasing the stand's pivots with water resistant brake grease helped a lot too.

Be aware that most tings in life are a compromise. The center stand 'foot' now sticks up higher than the OEM one and takes up space a passenger's foot would occupy. When riding long distances and moving around on the saddle, shifting my feet, I can sometimes feel this metal 'foot' with my heel. Since I ride alone, it is not a problem, but might be for a passenger unless you can modify the rear peg. (Or the passenger's foot.)

My wife and I go to a gym most days. I've also been doing some weight training to specifically address my difficulty lifting the bike onto the center stand. Part of the process is technique - it is not all muscle and grunt, as I am sure someone else will point out.

forth said:

Hi

When i started riding to work this year i hurt myself. The weight of the ST1300 made a muscle i my leg hurt. (Yes i am getting old... )

Now i cant use the bike due to i cant lift it on the main stand.
Some bikes has electric lift on the main stand. Is there any solution to this problem for the ST1300?

Regards
Crippa

Click to expand...

1. Use the side stand?
2. Use the other leg?
3. Place a 1/2" or 3/4" board just in front of the rear tire and drive the bike onto the board and then use the center stand.
4. Learn to get the bike on the center stand correctly, it shouldn't take muscle just down force on the foot. (comments from a man who has had a compound foot fracture)
5. good luck finding that electric stand, I know they are made but I've seen ONE in the last 20 years (on a Goldwing).

The board method works.

Didn't BMW have an electric center stand on one of its models? The old LT? Maybe its design would yield some ST applicable ideas.

I also use a board, mine is stepped 1/2" up to 1". Works great, and it's cheap.

ReSTored said:

The board method works.

Didn't BMW have an electric center stand on one of its models? The old LT? Maybe its design would yield some ST applicable ideas.

Click to expand...

The K1200LT from 2004 onward had an electro-hydraulic powered center stand as an option.

I saw a guy with a BMW so loaded up with travel gear that he could barely be seen on the bike. But he rolled up and put the bike on the center stand so easy it was fascinating. I think taking it off the stand was also powered.

As I've said many times before I'd like a version of the Bates Ride-Off stand to fit the ST. But a power stand would be fine too.

I have used a cedar 2x6 cut with a angle and both sides and cut about 6 inches long. The cedar wood is a full 2 inches and cedar is lighter. I can put the ST on the center stand without getting off the bike by just pushing down on the stand arm and pulling the bike back while sitting on the bike. This method also takes a little practice so you do not dump the bike. I also have the same set up in the garage with a 2x6 screwed to a piece of plywood. Right now my old wing is using the plywood parking spot because it is much worse than the ST to get on the center stand. I am diabetic so my feet a very sensitive. The ST would just kill my feet with my old riding boots until I purchased a pair of Chippewa riding boots. The soles are harder and have a steel shank in the soles. Now I can push down on the stand without any problem.

Crippa,
I think it might be time for either a BMW K1200LT, later model or a smaller bike.
Many are right, it is more technique, but how can you practice that with a buggered leg.
Good luck,
Upt'North.

Take a look at this. This unit looks pretty interesting and wonder if this would work on a STeed?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUHQ5sf5tco

Interesting but wow, that takes a long time to deploy

Ok, the grand solution. The flies in the ointment might be the ST's fairing; this thing needs to be attached to solid frame members. The second might be the price. LANDING GEAR

Bmacleod said:

Interesting but wow, that takes a long time to deploy

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing. It was so slow I didn't even notice what was the active part and had to watch the video again.

And that was painful. Cheezy music and really annoying guitar.

SMSW said:

The flies in the ointment might be the ST's fairing; this thing needs to be attached to solid frame members. The second might be the price.

Click to expand...

Yeah that's a lot of kit just to have a powered 'center stand'. Sure it does a lot more but more than I'd need. So far.

The fairing would be the problem for the Bates Ride-Off stand I had on my GL. It was really slick. The legs had spring loaded bits that were strong enough to support the bike. Just put the stand down and roll back while still on board then dismount. The bike had four points of contact with the ground. Get on start the bike and ride off. Coolest thing ever.

ST Gui said:

I was thinking the same thing. It was so slow I didn't even notice what was the active part and had to watch the video again.

And that was painful. Cheezy music and really annoying guitar.

Click to expand...

I think this thing is powered like a scissor jack - a screw driven by a motor deploys it. The idea is a good one. All someone needs to do is cobble together an air cylinder to the factory center stand and then find space on the bike for a compressor and air tank.

Why do you "need" to use the center stand? There are many cruisers out there that do not have a center stand and they park just fine without it. The only time I use the center stand is at home in the garage for space saving.

The doctor said two weeks before the leg will be better.

Thank you all for very good thinking and presenting solution to my problem. I loved the videos, the first one showed me how i should have done when parking the bike
My immediate solution was to use my wife:s bike. An old Virago 750...... 100kg lighter bike.
The snow has come back to Gothenburg i Sweden right now so i went back to go by bus to my work. At least this week.

Regarding the side stand so do i have to place the bike on the central stand because it s parked outside in a windy place. I strap it down every day just as one does when traveling by ferry.

Thank you all, i will be more careful in the future, an maybe even train a little. Hopefully my trip to Italy this summer will allow me to use the central stand

When parking my bike at home the center stand in needed because using the side stand takes up too much room that can't be spared. When I worked there was convenient nearby space for four bikes if we all used center stands. But one guy had an H-D and if he parked in the MC area only three bikes could fit. So those of us with center stands made sure to get to work early.

forth said:

Regarding the side stand so do i have to place the bike on the central stand because it s parked outside in a windy place.

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It was pointed out to me that in the case of wind parking on the side stand is actually more stable than the center stand. The reasoning was threefold:

1) basic geometry shows three points determine a plane so on an uneven surface there is still a lot of stability regardless of wind direction.

With the bike at vertical it takes less wind to push it over on either the port or starboard side. When it's leaning on the side stand there's a little less surface area for the wind to act on. It'll take pretty strong wind to push it up and over from port to starboard or down on the side stand.

2) drawing a line from the points of contact with the ground on both methods the side stand's triangle is much wider than the center stand's narrow diamond.

I haven't seen wind strong enough to move a bike (while parked anyway) so that's a good thing. I also have a parking brake on the front brake so that would help the bike from rolling regardless of how it's parked.

Using the side stand might be easier that the center stand and further anchoring the bike but whatever works for it is the way to go.