Some side stand questions

I have a 73 850 Interstate and a 69 750. Neither of them have a side stand.
Now, I've been told for a long time that it's not a good thing to leave a Commando on it's center stand as that is really hanging the weight of the bike on the isolastics.
I'd really rather remove the center stands and just use a side stand.
Was the side stand a clamp on affair? Or am I just missing something here?
I've got a ton of parts in boxes and have never seen a side stand. I also have not ever seen a lug to which one would be attached on the bikes I own.
I'm confused...

There are early (68-70) sidestands and 71 up sidestands (propstands). The early ones were subject to bending the frame and the later ones are better. Go to the Old Britts site and look up the sidestand upgrade, it is all explained there. There are also early (frame) centre stands and late (cradle) centre stands. Pretty much the same issue. I'm not sure which is better on the isolastics.

Dave
69S

On your 69 model there should be a rectangular plate welded to the left lower frame rail just about level with the gap between the crankcase and the gearbox, It has two holes in it and accepts a forged bracket to which the side stand is attached. On your later bike the side stand mount should be a triangular shaped bracket with a hole in it which is welded in the right angle formed by the left frame down tube and the lower front cross tube. The earlier bikes have a fairly short stand the later ones quite long.

Older Commandos can rest on the centerstand cause it's mounted on the frame.
I had a clamp on side stand. The PO actually welded it to the frame (yuk). I can imagine why. It worked ok but it was time to change it. I got the sidestand lug from Old Britts and did the work earlier this winter. I ground all the ole crap off and put the $90 Harbor Freight flux wire feed welder to work. It is perfect for this mild steel work. I also purchased a kick stand and hardware from RGM.

http://www.oldbritts.com/38_200002.html

Just a tab welded on the tube is not much better than just clamping on to the tube, which must restist the tube twisting. In '72 they added a back up brace, a triangle piece the tie the back of the lug to the cross brace.

hobot said:

Just a tab welded on the tube is not much better than just clamping on to the tube, which must restist the tube twisting. In '72 they added a back up brace, a triangle piece the tie the back of the lug to the cross brace.

Click to expand...

You mean like this? What do you think I am? Some sort of back woods bumpkin from Arkansas?
Looking underneath from the timing side.

1968, 1969, and 1970 the sidestand use a cast boltup attachment. They are functional, but are attached to the frame without a lot of rigid supporting structure, allowing the lower frame rail to bend up, and the bike to lean excessively. The sidestand on the 1971 was the troublesome one, subject to sudden failure. OldBritts sells a nice upgrade for this. Most 1971 sidestands mounts are broken, unless they have been upgraded.

Period reviews on the early center stands (1968) complained about lack of clearance. The stops on my 1968 centerstand don't let it go as high as it should. They make it hard to haul the bike up on compared to later ones. Cradle mounted centerstands were an improvement, but the 750 examples are weak. The only cradle mounted center stand worth buying is for an 850.

The thread asked about storing the bike on the centerstand. On the early Commandos, the centerstand is mounted on the frame, and when the bike is on the centerstand, the isloastics carry the weight of the engine and gearbox.

On the later Commados (1971 on) the centerstand is mounted on the cradle. And when the bike is on the centerstand, the isolastics carry the weight of everything except the engine and gearbox.

Stephen Hill
Victoria, BC

Hey, I'm a bumkin first, then moved to comfort zone in Ozarks : )

'72's came welded with the extension tab inside corner to cross brace, not me.
But Peel has center stand blues because fouls rear rod link on RH frame attach.
I tired to figure out a way to get two side stands to be able to get tires off w/o a jack or ski hook. There's lots of leverage on Norton long mostly horizontal stand. Best i could figure if stands to carry most the whole mass was to extend a bar across the bottom to tie both stands together putting most stress length ways through brace rather than torque on thin tubes.

Side stand deforms iso donuts skewed, center side evenly flattens them.

>>Side stand deforms iso donuts skewed, center side evenly flattens them.[/quote]<<

After 34 years on its side stand when I took out the iso's the steel sleeve had migrated 1/8" off center!

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad82 ... CF9623.jpg

Bob

I never had a centre stand for 36 years and here are my original rubbers. You can see one of the rear ones is offset more than the other, I assume the left one.



Dave
69S

DogT said:

I never had a centre stand for 36 years and here are my original rubbers. You can see one of the rear ones is offset more than the other, I assume the left one.



Dave
69S

Click to expand...

Dave, isn't your centerstand mounted to the frame or are am I missing something?

Well, I went out to take a pic or two yesterday only to find the battery in the camara was flat.
On the charger now. I'll have some pics in a bit. My Interstate has no lug that I can see.

pvisseriii,

Yes, my cetre stand mounts on the frame, but I just got it on last year. What I am indicating is one side of the iso's rubber is compressed more than the other, from resting on the side stand for 36 years. Looks like they don't last forever too.

Dave
69S

Nothing lasts forever, and a lot less long on a Commando. I've two Combats that showed similar skewed donuts, LH side seemed most skewed I assume d/t side stand storage. Need changing like tires batteries and gear box bushes. Bob Patten the inventor of the rear rod link found his rear donuts sagged too soon which misaligned the linkage squareness - so he stuffed in 6 large rubbers to forestall that but still found them distorted after a season or so. I took his lead and fitted two of my old distorted iso rubbers in the rear, 4 total, but flipped to reverse the sag factor. Did not transmit vibration thank goodness and may have helped stave off hinged handling some too. I also fudged compliance by beveling the donuts
front and rear sets.

With late style stands the rubbers support the weight of the frame (26#), fenders, fuel tank, etc. With early stands or side stands, the rubbers support the engine, trans, and rear wheel. My guess is it's pretty much a wash either way. With age they will sag and distort to one side or the other.

Stephen Hill said:

. . . . On the early Commandos, the centerstand is mounted on the frame, and when the bike is on the centerstand, the isloastics carry the weight of the engine and gearbox.

On the later Commados (1971 on) the centerstand is mounted on the cradle. And when the bike is on the centerstand, the isolastics carry the weight of everything except the engine and gearbox.

Stephen Hill
Victoria, BC

Click to expand...

So . . . . just guessing here, if a Commando weighs 440 pounds, more or less, the engine and gear box weighs, what? 240? The rest of the chassis, gas, oil, wheels, forks, frame, battery, what? 200?

Looks like either way, frame or cradle, the iso's are going to get compressed. They probably should be replaced about every 3 years anyhow, if not Sooner (like Oklahoma). 5 years max? I'm not sure there was a wear date for them, maybe when the rear wheel moves too much.

Dave
69S

Beside the plastic deformation, I've found cushions to age in two ways, one, getting soft and rotted, maybe oil contamination, two, hard as old pencil eraser.