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embarrassed to say... Help me with center stand!

K1600_gtl

New member
Ok, I'm a 210lb male, very able bodied, but for some reason it takes me 3-4 (sometimes more) tries to get my R1200R up on the stand! Why? what am I doing wrong? I swear I've seen 120 girls do this with less effort?

anyone got a trick to this to make it easier?
 
Jerk and stomp. I combine inertia of the bike and my body weight thrown backward followed by putting all my weight on the centerstand lever.
 
Much, if not most, of the work is done by putting your weight on the centerstand with your foot. Think of yourself pushing the bike up, not lifting it up. Be the bike, Grasshopper..... :p
 
Occasionally I forget about the dynamics of getting my R1200GS up on the center stand and I have to give the rider's manual a quick check, it is all about "...Place full weight of body on center stand while pulling motorcycle toward rear."

Once in awhile I'll try to pull it up instead of pulling it toward rear. Once I get that, it is a piece of cake.

From the rider's manual...

1. Switch off engine.
2. Dismount and keep your left
hand on left handlebar grip.
3. With your right hand, take hold
of the rear frame.
4. Using your right foot, press
center stand toward rear until
feet rest on ground.
5. Place full weight of body on
center stand while pulling motorcycle
toward rear.
 
Or, just say NO. Your bike doesn't have to go on the center stand. The side stand works just fine.

Voni
sMiling a Million on the side stand
 
Or, just say NO. Your bike doesn't have to go on the center stand. The side stand works just fine.

Voni
sMiling a Million on the side stand

no truth to the rumor of higher oil consumption on startup due to oil seeping thru the downward side rings then? :bolt
 
Or, just say NO. Your bike doesn't have to go on the center stand. The side stand works just fine.

Voni
sMiling a Million on the side stand

Spoken by a lady that has a fulltime, dedicated and adoring mechanic at her beck and call 24/7.
 
no truth to the rumor of higher oil consumption on startup due to oil seeping thru the downward side rings then? :bolt


Maybe if you leave it on the sidestand a long time and the piston is just in the right position. I leave both my R bikes on the side stand for weeks at a time. Only once did my R100GSPD smoke noticeably at start-up and that went away quickly. If I know a bike is going to be idle for a month or more I will maybe put it on the centerstand. Nothing a little LC 20 oil additive won't fix........... :p
 
Don't know how much different they are, but my GSA has to be the World's easiest bike to put on the center stand. I just stand on the stand and lightly pull up and it pops right up. I can even just ever so slowly take the bike up or even stop mid-way if I want.

Put all your weight on the center stand, take left foot off the ground, and pull up on the bike. It pops right up.
 
My BMW's are so perfectly balanced I don't use either stand. I just walk away and they remain upright. ;)
 
Don't feel too badly about it. Had a person on an older UJM recently want to know how to perform the same operation on his bike. I asked him to demonstrate what he did. Then I told him that he needed to get off the bike first.
 
Both my bikes smoke noticeably for a minute if left on the sidestand and started in that position.
 
Occasionally I forget about the dynamics of getting my R1200GS up on the center stand and I have to give the rider's manual a quick check, it is all about "...Place full weight of body on center stand while pulling motorcycle toward rear."

I have an older model (88 R100 RT), and I've found that pulling up AND to the rear is the easiest way to get the bike on the center stand. This is done while stepping on the center stand.
 
I have to say after the myriad of bikes I have owned over the years, my new to me R1100RS is the largest bike I have owned and easiest to put on the center stand ever.

Now my old XS650 and CB1100F, those were a total PIA! (go figure)
 
Check Out You Tube

As a new rider with a F650GS, getting it up is never an issue - getting it off is the issue (I know, my problem - lol). One time I dropped it off to the right side as it came off the stand. You Tube has some great videos of people demonstrating.

I went to the BMW Peformance Center class in SC. They taught us to turn the wheel to the right (taking the bike off the stand) and put the bike in gear. Putting it in gear definitely helps it from rolling when it comes off. I could not remember the rationale for turning the handle bars to the right (one reason is to make it easier to also squeeze the brake when you roll it off the stand.) Here is what they said:

"The reason we push the bikes off the center stand with the bars pointed to the right is so we have a better reach to the bars. Think about when you have the bars straight forwards, you are already reaching over to the front brake extending your arm giving more opportunity to lose balance. When you push the bike off the center stand with the bars locked to the right, you are not reached over and have better manipulation to the controls. Also if you would lose balance, the bike will fall towards you with the bars pointed to the right instead of away from you allowing you to the hold the bike upright with your body weight even if you have lost grip with your hands.

Keep practicing, the center stand will become your best friend."

Check You Tube though for good videos.
 
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