Centre stand brace

Could someone with a late type centre stand (with the welded gusset plate on the operating leg), please just run a tape measure over the said gusset plate, and give me the length/height ?
Another little mod on my "to do" list, but I'd rather make it look like the factory job, than a back yard bodge up.

Well, I doubt you'll be able to mimic the original exactly. It's made from tubing or thin plate that's been doubled over. Here's some dimensions .....





Instead, you'll most likely just make it from plate steel. That's all I do and they look fine if you grind a curve in the top .....



And it needn't be quite as big as the original .....

Many thanks 5twins !
I didn't realise that Yamaha used a U section pressing as a brace.
I've got oxy-fuel available at work, so it's possible that I could conjure up something very close looking to Yamaha's original (maybe some bent tube + sheet infill), but TBH I'm not building a concourse show bike, so I reckon a simple piece of plate will do nicely.

Yes, grind the curves in the top and bend the plate a little so it follows the tang bend, and it will look like a factory job. If you just cut the plate off at a straight angle along the top, it won't.

5twins said:

Yes, grind the curves in the top and bend the plate a little so it follows the tang bend, and it will look like a factory job. If you just cut the plate off at a straight angle along the top, it won't.

Click to expand...

5T, did you use 3/16” for the gusset? I need to do this.

Honestly, I'm not really sure what it is, but that sounds about right. I had this scrap length of flat bar about 2" wide that I was cutting all the braces out of (yellow bar in the foreground) .....

Thats a nasty break in the lever. That yellow bar looks like 3/16 or 1/4. I don’t use the center stand too often so it should buy me time to get it done. The lever tube wall thickness is pretty thin. Is that an aftermarket stand?

I don't think so, it's off my buddy's '80 SPII. The one on my '78 broke too, but the foot came off along with the tang, lol. When I got into repairing it, I could see it was broken and repaired once before but they ground the repair welds down so much, they thinned the tubing out even more. That made it weaker than it was originally. Also. they didn't brace it. Besides strengthening the stand, the bracing also makes it deploy better and easier. When you apply your foot to the tang, all the force goes into deploying the stand and none gets wasted through tang flex. My 650s are the easiest bikes I've ever owned to put up on the centerstands. I use them all the time, seldom parking on the sidestand for more than a short time.

The braced tang contributes quite a bit to the easy stand deployment but there are other factors at work here too. Another biggie is the well greased pivots. This really makes a big difference .....



The last factor are my slightly longer than stock rear shocks. I don't have to lift the bike as much to get it on the stand.

Thx, officially on my “to do” list.

Put the grease fitting mod on your list as well. More welding practice for you, lol. The pivot tube isn't thick enough for the fitting. It will stick through and hit the shoulder bolt. So, you need to build up a little blob of weld where you're going the put the fitting (right where the leg meets the pivot tube), grind a flat spot on it, center punch, drill, and tap .....

IMO it would be neater to weld a nut on rather than build up with weld...not that anyone will be looking that close.

Mimicking the plate won't be hard. Mimicking the welding will definitely be difficult though. Grab a cheap welder from your local hardware store and take it to the nearest blind school, they might be able to help. Just make sure whoever you pick to do the welding has never welded before!