self-retracting sidestand on '84 R65

Hey, all....

The '84 R65 I just bought this past weekend is wonderful, except I am having a problem with the sidestand, which is self-retracting. I have difficulty trying to get it extended and it keeps popping back under the bike, and it has caused me to drop the bike once so far (no damage, just embarrassed). I had an '81 R65 that did not have this feature, which I like much more. What would be involved in converting the sidestand I have on the bike now to be like the '81 model I had? Can I just remove one of the springs on the stand (there are two on it presently), or do I have to get a different stand altogether, or what? Help! Thanks! John

One spring is not enough to pull the stand back. You need both, otherwise that sidestand could be extended when you are least expecting it.....like a nice left hand sweeper at 60mph.

You might want to look into a Luftmeister extended sidestand for your bike. They're out there in the classifieds and such.

You can easily disable the "auto retract" function by cutting off the pin against which the spring mount (the sheet steel piece) bears when the stand is down. On the other hand, this is a risky strategy IMO, as the fully-down stand, pointing forward as it does, is sure to lever your rear tire right off the ground when you forget to retract it. (That's the reason Oilheads have a sidestand electrical cutout.)

A better solution is a Brown Motor Works type stand (Brown's has an external spring; someone else made one which had an internal one - looked better). The pivot forward from the rear of the motor, and are longer, so the sanction for leaving the stand extended is much less severe.