RS sidestand question

Question from a former airhead owner:

I saw what looked like a relatively late model airhead RS in a parking lot the other day (no indication of displacement but the fiche list on the A&S website lists only r100's in the RS configuration). It was parked on the center stand but had two (?!) side stands mounted: one looked stock-ish, with a "duckfoot," and the other, mounted to the rear of it, looked like the Brown's extended-length cylindrical stand I used to have on my R100RT. I assume the Brown's unit was added because it leans the bike over farther than the stock one, which is why the previous owner of my bike had installed it.

Just curious...is this at all common? I hung around for a while, hoping the owner would come out, but I got impatient & left before s/he did.

The second side stands are used because the OEM stands are self retracting and will do their retracting trick with the slightest provocation such as a strong breeze or bump from a passerby.

Sometimes to remove the stock side stand you have to remove the left exhaust pipe. It may be easier to just leave the stock one there when adding a Brown.

k12lts said:

Sometimes to remove the stock side stand you have to remove the left exhaust pipe. It may be easier to just leave the stock one there when adding a Brown.

Click to expand...

Yup, I think you hit the nail on the head. When I installed a Brown on my RS I left the OEM stand on for the entire riding season because the left header pipe had to come off to get the stand removed. Then I realized my exhaust system was long in the tooth and the crossover was not going to come off without a fight so both pipes would have to come off as a unit. I wanted the ride the bike so I left it alone till winter and then pulled the lower fairings off and the exhaust off which gave me easy access.

So sad that BMW installed substandard side stand to an other wise pretty well though out machine. To small of a foot, a pivot point that was a pain to lube and service, and the arm that is fairly easy to be bent. Nothing like seeing a bike that is laid to far over to be safe. Oh well, thank goodness for the after market for coming to the aid with workable stands and beer cans easily stomped into a good temporary
foot.

PS, I've ridden with a lot of Harley riders. Ride in to, usually a bar. Getting off my bike, I'm usually getting out a plastic or aluminum side stand foot. I unwrap the string, set the foot under the side stand foot, then lay the string over the handlebar as a reminder. More than once they walk over and say; Dude what are you doing? I go thru the usual spill. Bad sidestand; bike on the ground, radda, radda. They look at me in total bewilderment. U guys are totally nuts, that's the reason I ride a Harley. I just raise my arms and hands and give them the .
I

The side stand is about the only thing Harley does well. It locks in place and has a large enough foot so it will not sink into soft pavement. Most any other brand has a short stubby side stand similar to BMW. I road big four Japanese imports and I was always looking for a pop can to squash. Now if Harley could do something about the suspension and add 20 HP without having to spend $3k afterwards.

Side stand foot

Natty Daddy ( 8% alcohol Natural Light actually good beer) sidestand foot on friends xr1200 we put string on thing bmw guys laughing him just puzzled, later took string and used it for belt.

aftermarket sidestand available

I needed an aftermarket side stand because me legs are to short to reach the stock one mounted so far forward. Found one and copied it for the other airhead.
Now have a couple for sale. Left the original on in case the ground is soft then both could be put down. Aftermarket one is much stronger too.

Ray

I rode my '84 RS for 25+ years only using the OE sidestand. Never had a problem. Always leaned down and deployed it by hand.

lkchris said:

I rode my '84 RS for 25+ years only using the OE sidestand. Never had a problem. Always leaned down and deployed it by hand.

Click to expand...

With the fairing lower and a hot valve cover over top of the RS OEM sidestand I am having a hard time picturing that manoeuver! You must be really tall with very long arms...

I learned to do it with the toe of my boot to get it down a bit then lean over and push the bike back to move the stand forward. I always found it awkward. With the Brown I don't even look. My foot knows exactly where it is and I pop it down without needing to look down. I do look before I lean the bike over though!

Same goes for the R80G/S stand. I put a Flying Teapot sidestand and it is vastly superior both in strength and design than the OEM stand could ever hope to be.

I have a Flying Teapot sidestand on my 93 R100GS, love it! I Took off the stock one.

Darryl Cainey said:

I have a Flying Teapot sidestand on my 93 R100GS, love it! I Took off the stock one.

Click to expand...

I just smile when I ponder how some of these things get their names.

Aftermarket side stands are for riders who are un-able or un-willing to learn how the original side stands work.
When I buy a bike with an aftermarket side stand, I take it off and sell it.

There,... I said it...

James.A said:

Aftermarket side stands are for riders who are un-able or un-willing to learn how the original side stands work.
When I buy a bike with an aftermarket side stand, I take it off and sell it.

There,... I said it...

Click to expand...

Counterppoint: It was impossible for me to safely park my R100GS until I mounted an aftermarket sidestand. My leg was simply not long enough to put the OEM sidestand into the extended position - not even just straight down allowing the "good faith" lean and roll backwards. After the first couple of times the bike fell over with me astride it I installed a Brown sidestand which I called the big Schwinn. Others with longer legs might make that OEM stand work. I could not.

I would have been distinctly happy if BMW had hired the engineer that had designed Harley Davidson side stands back then. He would have been cheap because he would have already been retired from HD for 10 or 15 years.

There used to be an airhead on the rally circuits where the owner installed a 1/8" wire rope through some pulleys up to a handle on the fairing. He'd pull the handle and down would go the sidestand way past the terminating point of his short legs. He had a problem and he solved it. I thought it was cool. Even at 6'-2" I have a Brown's stand on my R75 and a Surefoot stand from the UK on my monolever. I retained the OEM stand on the monolever and deploy both when there is unsure footing for the stand.

The idea of removing either of these excellent stands to return to the original would require a high degree of factory engineer worship - much more than I possess.

PGlaves said:

I just smile when I ponder how some of these things get their names.

Click to expand...

I wondered why Carl's famous stand and company were named Flying Teapot when I bought mine years ago. I meant to ask him during the transaction back and forth but forgot. Yesterday when I ready your comment Paul I decided what the heck, I should write him so I did. First letting him know how great the stand was and how it solved my issues with OEM stand deployment. It's not that I could not deploy it; it's just that it was a total PIA and a real leap of faith to use your words! I also let him know I did some Googling and found three possibilities. One was correct.

He wrote back and told me the name comes from a trilogy of albums released in the early seventies by a band called "Gong". Here's a snippet of his reply:

Your research was well done. Yes, FTP is derived from the group Gong https://www.planetgong.co.uk/ . Sadly, Daevid Allen and Gilli Smythe passed on several years back. This isn’t from their ‘teapot’ trilogy, yet you may enjoy it as it has to do with motorbikes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Circus_(album)

So there ya go! It is an ear catching name that is for certain. And I stand by my assertion that his side stand for the G/S is far superior than the one BMW designed. Yes, you have to remember to put it up before riding. No automatic spring return on it. But I'm not a young rider and I remember most bikes I rode from 1969 on had no safety springs on the side stands. You either remembered to put them up before riding off or you found out about your mistake at the next left turn. Hopefully you were not riding too fast and got an adrenaline rush and not some scrapes and bruises; maybe worse! It becomes muscle memory after a while and you just do it automatically right?