Side Stand Blues

[Jim]

So... I'm one of the worst when it comes to not raising the side stand before riding off. When the bike makers decided to add safety features to the side stand, well... there was a poster of me on the wall.
Had a bike once spit me off the right side when it somehow dug in on my first left turn. Thinkin' it was a Norton, but kinda hazy on that. anyway...

Never really worried about it on the SG 'cause it's not really a problem. Read that; I do it all the damn time.
Finally figured out why it's never been a worry. Was cleaning up the garage today, went to move the SG and noticed that the side stand dropped straight down an inch or two as I raised the bike upright. Yeah, pretty sloppy pivot huh? Near as I can tell, that's why side stand down left turns are a non-issue. Before the stand can dig into the tarmac, it has to raise that amount to make solid contact with the frame. And by the time that happens, it's pushed back far enough the spring retracts it. That all make sense? I'm so bad that whenever I take off and realize it's down, I don't even bother to stop and retract it, I jus' lean left a little and it takes care of itself. Hakuna matata.

The Beemer F650 on the other hand, is a whole 'nother ball game. A few days after I got it home I rode off with the stand down. Startled the bejesus out of me when it dug in. Not pants wettin' startled mind you... but not far off it. Enough though to realize that this is a beast that'll slap me off the right side iff'n I'm not holdin' my tongue just right. I'd like to think it taught me a lesson, but I doubt it. If it ain't took in 50+ years of riding, I'm prolly hopeless.

There's a side stand safety circuit on the Beemer, but it's broke. There's a little pin that slots into a hole on the stand and rotates as the stand rotates. The mechanism got so stiff the pin sheered off, so a PO turned it to the "stand up" position and left it that way. Judging by the grime accumulated, that was eons ago. A new replacement is well north of a hundred bucks... got a used one off Ebay for 20 and change.

Installed it and it works good as a new one... drop the stand and the engine dies. That's it... drop the stand and the engine dies... full stop. Neutral light on... clutch in... first, second... it don't care... drop the stand and the engine dies. Fuck me. Cold morning and you want to warm the bike up while you do other stuff? forget it. Your options are putting it on the center stand, or sit you butt down on it.

'Nother problem? Nope, it's designed that way. To me it's unbelievable that in 1997, one of the premiere brands would put such a dick assed system on a bike. I figured a workaround that includes the neutral light power should be pretty easy to do. Did some lookin' and sure enough, someone has already done it with just the addition of a Bosch type relay. So there's no call for me to reinvent the wheel here, I'll jus' do what he did.

That's about it really. Just wanted to vent a little over my wasted time spent this afternoon. As you were...

 

[Mailman]

When I saw the headline of this article and first began reading it, I thought “Oh no! He crashed his bike! ” So happy that was not the case! I watched that video and that was a very creative solution that guy came up with. Every modern bike I’ve ridden has the side stand switch kill the motor when you put it in gear. The first modern motorcycle I owned that had a side stand safety switch was a 2007 Triumph, the first time I started the bike and put it in gear , with the side stand down, the bike died and I thought the bike was broken!

My Suzuki side stand folds up too easily, if I park it nose down on even the slightest down hill grade, I risk it rolling forward and snapping the side stand up! But that’s another story.

 

[bosco659]

This summer I was riding with a friend who is into his second year on two wheels. He’s becoming a better rider but is still quite cautious. Over a coffee we were comparing stories of dropping our bikes. Fortunately for me, I only had one while standing still and really didn’t do any damage. My friend then shared his sided stand mishap. Instead of driving off with the stand down, he was riding, stopped, got off the bike and let go of it, forgetting to put the side stand down . I asked what the first thing he did after the bike went down and he said he looked around to see if anyone saw him do it. That’s exactly what I do after I do something dumb! lol.

Both the Moto Guzzi and Honda have the side stand safety switches, but fortunately can be left to idle with the stand down, in neutral.

 

[5twins]

My old '70s Beemers all had spring-loaded sidestands that automatically retract when you take the weight off them. Kind of a pain to deploy when seated on the bike, what with that (hot) cylinder sticking out in the way, lol.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I know someone on another forum who launched himself into his neighbor’s pickup truck parked in the driveway. He was injured quite seriously.

My XS650SK has the sidestand safety bits, but I was unable to keep it functional.

 

[Raymond]

When I find the side-stand safety switches annoying, they get disconnected or by-passed. Likewise clutch safety switches. Buell guru Maz Matsell asked about bypassing the side-stand switch on a Buell X1 for me? Yes please, I'm not in the habit of riding off with the stand down anyway. Sorry, @Jim.

I have dropped a bike by forgetting to put the flaming stand down when I stepped off it. Back yard of the house we lived in back then. And yes, first thing I do if I drop a bike is look to see if anybody saw . . .

 

[willis]

Many years ago I had a bobbed cb550. I still vividly remember leaving the breakfast spot and trying to turn left and it kept bouncing me to the right. Scared the bejesus out of me. Once I stopped to collect myself I realized I had left the side stand down.

 

[gggGary]

Neutral light on... clutch in... first, second... it don't care... drop the stand and the engine dies.

one of the premiere brands would put such a dick assed system on a bike.

BMW: It's not that we have made a mistake, it's that you do not have the wisdom to understand our engineering greatness.
Rode a CB900F off a LH curve at speed. I had stopped, done some small thing and rode on, forgetting I had put the sidestand down.
very minor issues to bike, was a large grassy hillside.
Ulysses has a large flex area like the XS side stand doesn't "lock til the stand has come up quite a bit.
I had JUST found and repainted a factory fairing for a Yamaha Vision for Allison, parked it in the sunny driveway, (red like this one)

went to get a camera, came out to watch the bike roll forward off the side stand and bust the fairing, F_K me!
Side stand stop got some serious angle grinder therapy.

 

[bosco659]

BMW: It's not that we have made a mistake, it's that you do not have the wisdom to understand our engineering greatness.
Rode a CB900F off a LH curve at speed. I had stopped, done some small thing and rode on, forgetting I had put the sidestand down.
very minor issues to bike, was a large grassy hillside.
Ulysses has a large flex area like the XS side stand doesn't "lock til the stand has come up quite a bit.
I had JUST found and repainted a factory fairing for a Yamaha Vision for Allison, parked it in the sunny driveway, (red like this one)
View attachment 258503
went to get a camera, came out to watch the bike roll forward off the side stand and bust the fairing, F_K me!
Side stand stop got some serious angle grinder therapy.

Not a good story but love the look of that bike! Just googled the bike and the fairing is a must have. Not keen on the naked model.

 

[Grimly]

My old '70s Beemers all had spring-loaded sidestands that automatically retract when you take the weight off them. Kind of a pain to deploy when seated on the bike, what with that (hot) cylinder sticking out in the way, lol.

Yep, there's nothing like the feeling of seeing the wind lift your bike off the side stand, the BMW Rheinmetall efficiently snap itself back and up and the wind calmly drop the bike on its side.

 

[Mike G]

My Honda NT650 has a little rubber foot “thingy” that sticks down farther than the steel foot. If you start to turn left, the rubber hits the ground and snaps the side stand up. No switch IIRC.

 

[JOHNDADDY]

Gotta admit it, no side stand guy.
A friend and I stopped at a diner, hopped off Thumper and headed to the door. Fifteen feet or more away I hear crash.
Turn around and look, course it was mine. Tires a square as a cars, them were the good ole days of counting the cord rings,
two rings showing means I still got four good ones left. Still I'm amazed how far away I got before she went over.
Live and learn.