Drive off center stand

[Big Auggie]

One of my riding buddies has a "drive off" center stand on his Harley. I'v been looking at my center stand and thinking that it could be modified to be a drive off type also. These 1st generations have always been a handful getting it up on the center stand anyways so I thinks it is worth a shot. Anybody else tried doing this?

[snyper316]

One of my riding buddies has a "drive off" center stand on his Harley. I'v been looking at my center stand and thinking that it could be modified to be a drive off type also. These 1st generations have always been a handful getting it up on the center stand anyways so I thinks it is worth a shot. Anybody else tried doing this?

 

No but I nominate you to do it and let us know how it goes..... Better yet I want to be able to push button and lift my ass off the ground...

[Flyinfool]

This sounds interesting, I never heard of it, Now I have to do some research to see if I can find any pics and/or video of it.

 

No but I nominate you to do it and let us know how it goes..... Better yet I want to be able to push button and lift my ass off the ground...

 

With the right size of firecracker in your back pocket and an electric igniter, you can push a button and get your ass off the ground.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Flyinfool

[Flyinfool]

After looking at some pics of how this works, I do not think it would be to hard to modify the existing 1st gen centerstand to be a ride off. It is just a matter of shortening the legs so that both wheels of the bike stay on the ground while on the center stand.

 

BUT!!!

 

There always seems to be a BUT. Because both wheels are always on the ground, it will now be more difficult to fix a tire on the road. It will be harder to check air pressure in the tires and inspect the thread all the way around, If the surface is not smooth flat and level there is more of a chance of the bike not being as stable while parked on the center stand. This could be alleviated by keeping a piece of something (maybe a 2x4?) with the bike to allow the normal height of the center stand when needed.

 

This does sound interesting none the less. I will need to do some measuring to see just how much shorter the center stand needs to be to keep both wheels on the ground. Off hand I am guessing it only needs to be 1/4 to 1/2 inch shorter.

I have a torch a sledge hammer and a welder, I can fix anything............

[Condor]

Heck I used to drive off my '83 all the time. Lean back and put some weight on the rear tire and 'tweek' the clutch. Been doing it on the '99 too.

[Big Auggie]

After looking at some pics of how this works, I do not think it would be to hard to modify the existing 1st gen centerstand to be a ride off. It is just a matter of shortening the legs so that both wheels of the bike stay on the ground while on the center stand.

 

BUT!!!

 

There always seems to be a BUT. Because both wheels are always on the ground, it will now be more difficult to fix a tire on the road. It will be harder to check air pressure in the tires and inspect the thread all the way around, If the surface is not smooth flat and level there is more of a chance of the bike not being as stable while parked on the center stand. This could be alleviated by keeping a piece of something (maybe a 2x4?) with the bike to allow the normal height of the center stand when needed.

 

This does sound interesting none the less. I will need to do some measuring to see just how much shorter the center stand needs to be to keep both wheels on the ground. Off hand I am guessing it only needs to be 1/4 to 1/2 inch shorter.

I have a torch a sledge hammer and a welder, I can fix anything............

 

 

I'm thinking of measuring the distance the rear tire sits off the ground and cut off about 3/4 to a 1/2 inch less than that measurement. The nice thing is we're working with metal and the experiment can be undone if necessary.

[Venturous Randy]

What ever you shorten the center stand will reduce the rear tire to ground clearance by about double. Take a 1/2 inch from the stand and the tire is almost 1 inch closer to the ground. I took 1/2 inch out the legs on mine many years ago and it made a big difference in putting the bike up on the center stand, especially if I was running only about 25 psi in the rear shock. Another trick I did was to install a steel wheel on the outboard edge of the right leg of the stand that is about 1/8th inch lower that the foot. By doing this, when on smooth concrete like my garage, my 12 year old grand daughter could pull down some on the trunk and spin the bike completely around. I could pull the bike straight in, spin it around or spin it part way around to give more room for parking the car.

Randy