Center Stand or Side Stand, What your Preference?

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T95

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I am curious, what are the reasons you choose to use a center stand over a sided stand?
My motivation, I am trying to decide if I should do the side stand modification as I only used the center stand in the past.

I did find my cradle showed signs of wear around the mounting holes due to it's repeated use.
Any know modifications to prevent this from reoccurring?
 
I have a Pit Bull rear wheel stand I use for lubing and adjusting the rear chain, etc.


The rest of the time the bike is on the side stand. In fact, I took the center stand off 15 years ago, I see it as a negative, something that bangs up and down, and can potentially loosen or fracture, spring can break somewhere
and the stand can fall while riding. I just don't like it at all.

Even before I bought the rear stand, I kept it off and put it on only loosely when I needed to do rear wheel maintenance.

But then, I am also paranoid about the speedo drive unit. I see it as poorly designed, can possibly fail and grab the
cable and rip it away. i took it off many years ago and ride only with the tach, and my speedo meter is always at
zero, never oscillating, and nicely ignored.

I have read some people say that putting the bike on the center stand takes the downward pressure off the ISOs and as such they might not as quickly develop their natural weighted sag.

Maybe true, but not enough of a reason to balance out the negatives I personally see in having a center stand fitted.
 
Long long ago I threw the side stand away because it drug on the ground in lefts and it's lug prevented the left side header from being tucked in further. On my first Commando, a '71, I had the lug tear the frame and break off and then the bike fell over too. So now with my '73 750, you can call me prejudiced.

Yes, my center stand does bang on the ground and, I'm told, that when I go over bumps in turns, it throws sparks. Maybe it'll catch on a man hole cover. I'll get a stronger spring some day. And, yes, I have had to repair/reinforce it two times and now I should fill the divots that the stops have made in the engine/trans mounting plates. Fixing the divots will help, but not solve, the spring tension/banging on the ground issue.
 
I just replaced the centerstand on my '72 with the later 850 type and used the non-shouldered bushings (that used to be supplied as an upgrade kit for those with older stands) so I didn't have to drill the cradle. There was a previous thread about this. (British Bike Connection had the centerstand and these bushings in stock. They were from Andover Norton.)

We used to laugh when a bunch of us rode together with the centerstands bouncing up and down on the bumps but I think the new one is much improved. It is much farther away from the muffler so the foot pedal can't rub a hole in it and also the later spring is much more robust so I don't think it will do much bouncing. The spring was a killer to get on. I used to do one side loosely then put the spring on and use the centerstand as a lever to stretch the spring. But I couldn't do that with this spring which is shorter and fatter. I had to wrap a wire around an old fork tube and wedge it in my rear wheel spokes to stretch the spring. I was on my back with my feet pushing against the bike. Wild. Too old for this kind of s**t.

I mostly use the sidestand but the centerstand is useful when working on the bike. I roll my bike onto a wooden stand about a foot high to work on it and with the centerstand it is very easy to dangle the back wheel off the end for tire changing or brake work.

So after this lengthy and maybe not much to the point explanation -- I like both.
 
I use em both in equal measure but for different reasons. I like the center stand for when I fill up at the gas station and for parking in the shop. In both instances the pavement is smooth, level and I can be careful how I put it on the stand. When out and about I use the side stand exclusively. The bike is much harder to get on the center stand and I am lazy that way. Two things I never do, run the bike while on the center stand, or kick it on either stand. These stands were never designed to bear my full weight as I kick through to start the Beast. I also take care to extend the side stand by hand and to retract it just as easily so as not to let it bang back against the stop. I have had the side stand lug strengthened on the frame and I had the center stand welded and strengthened after it broke.
 
Can't imagine being without either stand; I use them both constantly. I guess if I was forced to give up a stand, it would be the center stand but then I would have to get a pit stand of some sort. I had a front and rear pit stand I used on my 996 Ducati so that's workable but I'd find it annoying. The bike sits in the garage on the center stand and I park it that way on reasonably level ground. But I have to put a small piece of 1/4" plywood under the centerstand if I want the rear wheel to reliably clear the ground.

I kickstart the bike on either stand and have never worried about it much. I don't really think there is much pressure on the sidestand when starting since the "kick" tends stand the bike up vertically. It appears to me that it actually unloads the stand when kicking.
 
I did and the side stand mod from Old Britts and got the side stand with bushing and bumper from RGM at quite a saving. Works and looks great. However, center stand is indispensable.
Both gets my vote.
 
I haven't read of any standard center stand modifications. Am I missing something?
 
Pvisserilli - Was this the Old Britts weld on tab for solving the 71 sidestand problem that you grafted onto your '72? I need to do basically the same thing. The stops are worn and the hole in the sidestand is wallowed out. Was thinking my son could add some weld to the existing tab to build it up.
 
batrider said:
Pvisserilli - Was this the Old Britts weld on tab for solving the 71 sidestand problem that you grafted onto your '72? I need to do basically the same thing. The stops are worn and the hole in the sidestand is wallowed out. Was thinking my son could add some weld to the existing tab to build it up.
Click to expand...
My 72 was very early 2001xx to start with and had the 71 lug. It was unusable and had of those clamped on units that you see on ebay in place and tacked to keep from coming loose. I ground and cut both off and add this,
http://www.oldbritts.com/38_200002.html
 
T95 - Sorry I wasn't all that clear. See this link for a lot of detailed info. I went to the 850 stand and used bushings 064873 which did not require engine cradle drilling. This is fine if the bolts are kept tight. I also have the 850 bushings which I will keep until major teardown and frame painting time.

center-stand-model-fitment-t6763.html
 
I like having both, as well as a bike lift and rear axle stand (pit bull)

More options are always preferred over fewer...
 
Come on Paul, you don't need any at all if you never quit riding!
 
Just got a side stand. No breakages yet.

I put a block under the stand in the garage to keep the bike a bit more upright and stop the oil pooling on the LHS in the head and have a jacking stand if I need to get wheels off the ground.

Works for me.
 
To my mind, a bike should be parked on its main stand whenever ground conditions permit, and the prop stand at other times when necessary.

I once witnessed a side stand pivot bolt shear when the owner was standing on the footrests trying to start it. He was most embarrased and we bystanders couldn't stop laughing...
 
I always thought of the center stand as excess weight and removed it. I placed wood blocks under the frame rails if I ever had to lift the rear wheel. I even rode for a year or 2 with no stand at all and always managed to find a place to park where I could lean the bike against a building or something or find a curb that the frame rail would rest on. The side stand offers some convenience though so I like to have one on the bike.
 
I like using my bike's center stand when I have it parked in the shed (or some place shaky) because it's impossible to get it off the stand with my alarmed disc-lock in place...it will only travel about an inch before the disc-lock bumps up against the bottom of the fork and can't go any further. Besides, the deployed center stand allows the rear wheel to spin freely, making the rim, spokes, etc. easier to clean & polish. Otherwise, on weekend jaunts, it's the side stand...easily deployed and retractable & I never start it on either. In my opinion, it best to have both.
 
cmessenk - I want my 2nd Norton to look like yours. Which fairing is that? Does it accept a headlight?
 
MexicoMike said:
cmessenk - I want my 2nd Norton to look like yours. Which fairing is that? Does it accept a headlight?
Click to expand...

It requires clip ons. Ask your back if it wants that. :mrgreen:
 
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