Sidestand Problems ( ST1100 )

[KoTAOW]

Sidestand Problems

Question by Jon Ransom:

My sidestand has too much slop at the pivot.

Stopped at Costco for gas this morning.  Put her on the centerstand for fueling.  Before remounting, I put the sidestand up.  Got on, put her in neutral, and fired her up.  Sidestand light was lit.  Checking the sidestand revealed it was hanging limply and wouldn't stay up.  So I shut her down and pushed her away from the pumps and put her back on the centerstand.

The sidestand spring was caught on the centerstand spring and was not on its upper catch.  The spring seemed fine otherwise. Having no pennies, I used as many keys as I could to lengthen the spring...not enough.  So I popped the seat and got my tools.  Using two straight tools (screwdriver and T-handle allen wrench) I was able to lever the spring onto its lower catch on about the fifth try...without a loss of skin.

So, those of you riding vintage STs may want to carry a roll of pennies.

Now my sidestand is operating better than before, but still has slop at the pivot. 

I assume I'll have more problems if I don't take care of it.

What's the WOTL in fixing that?

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Comment by Don Cortez, STOC 2525:

Sounds like it`s gotten loose enough where it bolts to lose the spring. I`ve  heard that you can remove the stand and tighten the slack by tapping lightly with a hammer. The pivot bolt may also have some wear, maybe check and replace if necessary.

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Comments by Dick Pfeiff, STOC 1578:

Seems to me to be simply a lack of maintenance, exacerbated over an extended period of time. When your kickstand will not return to its *at rest* position with a flip of the toe, it's telling you it needs a bit of lube, which we all seem to ignore until it's too late.

When that happens on my bike, I shoot a bunch of WD40 or brake/contact cleaner into the pivot area and work the stand around a bit to clean the grunge out, then apply some heavy oil to the pivot joint and work it in. Works wonders, cheap too.

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Comments by Ted Norris, STOC 658:

Got an old set of feeler gages?

Find the right thickness and cut it to size, so it will wrap around the pivot bolt and insert it.

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Comments by Tom Melnik, STOC 346:

I had the exact same problem with my 1996.  The hole in the frame for the pivot bolt for the sidestand got too sloppy and the sidestand would knock off the centerstand spring.  After struggling to get the centerstand spring on twice I finally decided it needed fixed.

There were only two GOOD solutions.  Find somebody to weld the sloppy pivot hole closed, grind it flat, re-drill it or cut off the entire tab from the frame, weld on a new one.  Both of these solutions appeared too extreme for me.  Your pivot bolt could be part of the problem, if so, just get a new one.  But my problem was with the pivot bolt hole.

Here's what I did:

I made a bracket that would keep the sidestand away from the centerstand. 

Here are some pictures.

Bracket shown holding the sidestand away from centerstand and exhaust pipe.


Bracket shown mounted under bolt.


Bracket shown from side, showing slight bend.


Short piece of fuel line mounted on sidestand to cushion from new bracket.


Another view of sidestand against new bracket.


End of sidestand in UP position showing clearance to exhaust pipe.
NOTICE:  Old scrape marks where sidestand use to rub exhaust pipe.


The top of the bracket I made has a large clearance hole ( maybe 3/4 inch ) drilled in it so that the mounting bolt could countersink thru it.

I have ridden over a year with this mod and have no problems.  A lot cheaper than finding a good welder and cutting into the frame.