Side Stand?

[scotty]

Please keep in mind I am not an engineer but this is what I see. ( my 2 cents)

I think that the failure is the the shoulder bolt at its weakest point, where it is machined at the shoulder. Once the bolt brakes the stand is easily pried apart until it brakes.

A bolt is just like a rubber band and has a "elastic limit". over torqueing the bolt will put the bolt beyond the elastic limit and near failure. I'll wait while everyone looks for a rubber band.

You will also notice that if the rubber band is over streched it losses it's elasticitey.

Squeezing the yoke may not gain you very much as it will likely pry the yoke out to the head of the bolt as soon as weight comes on to it.

For what its worth

[Condor]

I have the same question - my bike leans w-a-y over. The side stand seems to be loose. I was thinking about squeezing the yoke in a vise to narrow the gap a bit - but - don't want to break it! How much sqeeze can it take?

 

You're not going to get any less movement if you squeeze the yoke and narrow the gap.. Worn bolt and frame tab are where play is developed, and if it get's real sloppy it's the tab on the frame that's generally worn, but there'll always be a little slop in the stand. The shoulder of the bolt will bottom out against the opposite side of the yoke. I think the reason these bolts are snapping is that everyone is over torqueing them, trying to tighten the stand up. The bolt just needs to be snug, any tighter isn't accomplishing a thing. The nut on the back is a lock nut, and that's where you need to put a little extra. As far as bikes leaning waaay over, it's usually high pressure in the forks that causes the lean. The high pressure raises the bike a couple of inches and adds another 3-4 inches the lean of the bike. Same thing happens in reverse with low pressures. Bike leans less.

[friesman]

Brian

 

If you are having trouble getting it off the side stand try this.

 

Sit on bike and turn steering hard right. The bike will stand up for you...best trick I've found.

 

Thanks Rick, that does help a fair amount, Ive also reduced the amount of air in the class when I am riding around town to lower the bike a bit. Lowering it also helps this old fat boy get on the bike a bit easier, :rotf:

 

Brian:cool10:

[Gearhead]

Ditto what Condor and Scotty said! The shoulder bolt is designed NOT to squeeze the two tabs together.

 

Jeremy