‘83 r80rt

[2slowwheels]

Airhead side stands are a simple matter of practice and a loud R80 is an oxymoron. I've only owned 33 moto bikes (30 bmw's) so I'm still a wanna be. "My name is .... and I have an addiction." But for most of us there is always another one out there with our name on it.

 

[vark]

Hey thanks for that input. I appreciate the perspective you guys offer on the sidestand and noise volume. Much appreciated.

On a lighter note, they probably have a 12-step program for some of you guys.

Seriously, I have no problem with someone who wants to own a dozen bikes at once or has owned 30-40-50 of them in their lifetime. It’s your life and money do what you want.

But understand that when someone tells me they own or have owned that many bikes, I don’t view that as a sign of valuable experience that I want to tap into. Exact opposite. Alarms go off. I view that as advice coming from someone who is indecisive, compulsive, doesn’t know what they really want/need, doesn’t do their homework, is never happy with what they bought/have, etc etc. That’s not the sort of resource I want to tap into.

I see much more value in input from folks who have owned a small number of bikes, because they considered carefully and found good candidates that worked well over the long haul. They will have long term experience with the few given models they’ve owned.

I only belabor this because it’s something encountered regularly on internet forums. The folks making these statements about their vast ownership experience don’t seem to realize that for many of us that sort of ownership experience is an immediate red flag.

 

[20774]

In case it wasn't mentioned, the reason for the auto retract feature is because there are no warnings or interlocks found on later bikes to warn you that your first left hand turn may put a brown stain where the sun don't shine...or worse. I mentioned that the over center spring can be defeated, but in the tragic case of an accident, lawyers will seize on the modification to safety by the owner. As I recall a company by the name of Schneider was legislated out of business as a result of their side stand product being implicated in an accident.

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/FarleyBrownSurefoot.htm

 

[vark]

In case it wasn't mentioned, the reason for the auto retract feature is because there are no warnings or interlocks found on later bikes to warn you that your first left hand turn may put a brown stain where the sun don't shine...or worse. I mentioned that the over center spring can be defeated, but in the tragic case of an accident, lawyers will seize on the modification to safety by the owner. As I recall a company by the name of Schneider was legislated out of business as a result of their side stand product being implicated in an accident.

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/FarleyBrownSurefoot.htm

Odd that a premium brand like BMW didn’t just use a defeat switch that kills the engine if the sidestand is down when placed in gear. But the spring is an acceptable alternative.

The real issue I’m getting at here is the location of the sidestand and the difficulty of deploying it while seated on the bike.

 

[pglaves]

Time for a story. 34 or so years ago I had a friend in a local club. To dismount, he always pulled to a stop, swung his leg over the seat, stood beside his R80RT, and put the sidestand down. He was fairly short and putting the sidestand fully forward was a reach with his leg length. He also often made snide remarks about my aftermarket Brown sidestand which he called a "big Schwinn."

So one weekend he and Voni and I headed off to a rally. And Voni's sister was going to come along with us as our friend's passenger for a surprise birthday shindig for one of Voni's other sisters. So, he bungee-netted a spare helmet for Elaine to the seat of his bike. Our first stop, before we picked up Elaine was for fuel. Attempting his typical dismount prior to putting the sidestand down he tangled his foot in that bungee net holding the helmet to his pillion seat. But the RT was saved from any damage by his body under it as it lay on its left side.

Fast forward to our arrival at the rally site 500 or so miles later. Once inside the gate he spied a couple of flea market style vendors with stuff spread out on a couple of tarps under some shade trees. Instead of heading to registration he rode straightaway to the vendor tarps. He found, purchased, and installed one each used Brown sidestand to his motorcycle before proceeding to registration or setting up his tent. Thus ends my tale of his sidestand woes. Except I got to congratulate him on his "big Schwinn."

 

[vark]

Time for a story. 34 or so years ago I had a friend in a local club. To dismount, he always pulled to a stop, swung his leg over the seat, stood beside his R80RT, and put the sidestand down. He was fairly short and putting the sidestand fully forward was a reach with his leg length. He also often made snide remarks about my aftermarket Brown sidestand which he called a "big Schwinn."

So one weekend he and Voni and I headed off to a rally. And Voni's sister was going to come along with us as our friend's passenger. So, he bungee-netted a spare helmet for Elaine to the seat of his bike. Our first stop, before we picked up Elaine was for fuel. Attempting his typical dismount prior to putting the sidestand down he tangled his foot in that bungee net holding the helmet to his pillion seat. So the RT was saved from any damage by his body under it as it lay on its left side.

Fast forward to our arrival at the rally site. Once inside the gate he spied a couple of flea market style vendors with stuff spread out on a couple of tarps under some shade trees. Thus instead of heading to registration he rode straightaway to the vendor tarps. He found, purchased, and installed one each used Brown sidestand to his motorcycle before proceeding to registration and setting up his tent. Thus end my tale of sidestand woes. Except I got to congratulate him on his "big Schwinn."

Outstanding! Great story.

That would be me going down with the bike, too, if I can’t deploy the sidestand prior to dismounting.

 

[pglaves]

But understand that when someone tells me they own or have owned that many bikes, I don’t view that as a sign of valuable experience that I want to tap into. Exact opposite. Alarms go off. I view that as advice coming from someone who is indecisive, compulsive, doesn’t know what they really want/need, doesn’t do their homework, is never happy with what they bought/have, etc etc. That’s not the sort of resource I want to tap into.

You are entitled to jump to whatever conclusions suits your fancy, but you probably have a good bit of this one wrong. I have not had 40 bikes but I have had 19 or 20 including 16 BMWs. This is 49 years of riding, not counting the Moped I started on 60 years ago. Most of those bikes saw considerable miles including a K75 I rode 370,000 miles and an R1150R I rode 180,000 miles. Several others each saw between 50,000 and 100,000 miles. Of them all there was only one which I bought, decided I didn't like, and sold within a year. Just doing basic math, the average miles I put on those 16 BMWs was a bit over 59,000 miles each.

 

[20774]

Odd that a premium brand like BMW didn’t just use a defeat switch that kills the engine if the sidestand is down when placed in gear. But the spring is an acceptable alternative.

The real issue I’m getting at here is the location of the sidestand and the difficulty of deploying it while seated on the bike.

BMW did use "devices" later. There are extenders or foot expanders that can help with deployment. I've seen some pretty clever weld-on extensions that basically solve the problem. If you're inseam-challenged then likey an aftermarket stand is the way to go. But I would think anyone above say 5'-6" or so should be able put the stand down safely.

There is so much to like about an Airhead...but we can also find things we hate!

 

[pglaves]

It is my carefully considered opinion that with rare exceptions BMW has used 1st year Public Relations interns to design side stands. The K75 and K100 stands were OK. The F800 stand has a bottom plate smaller than a nickel, almost the size of a dime: OK on concrete, a problem on asphalt, and a disaster on turf. Our new G310GS bikes came with sidestands which were both too tall, and prone to breaking off the frame. This was solved with a recall, but the new design are still too tall. Oilhead sidestands also suffer from bottom pads sufficiently miniscule so as to have launched the lucrative aftermarket for add-on sidestand bottom plates.

 

[20774]

It is my carefully considered opinion that with rare exceptions BMW has used 1st year Public Relations interns to design side stands.

Opinion notwithstanding, that's the first time I've heard that bit of "lore"!

 

[khittner]

Opinion notwithstanding, that's the first time I've heard that bit of "lore"!

Dang! Someone could'a/should'a pinged Hans Muth to explain the crappy side stands while we had him at the R80G/S-R65LS event a couple of weeks ago . . .