Shortened my center stand

jaydee75 · Jul 16, 2020

Weigh 150 pounds and just cannot lift my bike onto the centerstand. The Mark III stand is fairly complicated in it’s fabrication and difficult to cut down. There is three-quarter inch of straight pipe marked by the tape in my photos that allowed me cut three-quarter inches out of its height. For insurance I put a spool piece inside to reinforce the weld. Back together now and it’s better than I had even hoped. I can easily roll the bike onto the Centerstand now.

baz · Jul 16, 2020

Do you have the standard wheels/tyres/shocks on your bike?
Cheers

ILLF8ED · Jul 16, 2020

Over the years of Commando ownership I found if you stand on the tang of the center stand then lift gently on the rear frame loop the bike goes up easily.

swooshdave · Jul 16, 2020

I can sometimes get my 750 up on the centerstand just by putting my foot on it. My 850 fights me a bit more even after replacing most of the parts with new.

jaydee75 · Jul 16, 2020

baz said:
Do you have the standard wheels/tyres/shocks on your bike?
Cheers

Yes, I've got the standard Dunlop rims, Avon Roadrider 100/90/19 tires, and Koni shocks.

swooshdave · Jul 16, 2020

jaydee75 said:
Yes, I've got the standard Dunlop rims, Avon Roadrider 100/90/19 tires, and Koni shocks.

Prior to shortening the center stand was the rear wheel on or off the ground when on the stand?

Peter R · Jul 17, 2020

Good job, I intend to do the same modification since I find it harder to get the bike on the ctr stand as I get older.

CanukNortonNut · Jul 17, 2020

As swooshdave mentioned above hope you don't have a flat that you need to fix while on the road. It will be kind of hard to remove the rear wheel then. If you don't have enough body mechanics to lift at the rear loop, then grab the footrest with your right hand, left hand on your handlebar and foot on the center stand tang. With one motion push with your foot and lift up with your hand while pulling back.
regards,
Tom

jaydee75 · Jul 17, 2020

swooshdave said:
Prior to shortening the center stand was the rear wheel on or off the ground when on the stand?

Yes, the rear tire was 3/4" off the ground.
After shortening, it now barely touches the ground. I can turn it but it won't "spin". This makes oiling the chain a little different: To oil the chain, I will rock it over and place a 1/8 or 1/4" thick shim under each leg.
This is a minor, occasional inconvenience to me, while ease of using the stand is appreciated several times every day.
Knowing what I know now, maybe I should have taken 5/8" off, but I only got one shot at it and I'm glad I got what I got.
Jaydee

Craig · Jul 17, 2020

Having a difficult to operate centre stand takes a lot of joy out of using whatever bike .... I suffered with such an issue on my ‘72 , after too many years of limiting use of the offending CS, I finally got a new one that has the arm/tang to aid lifting from AN , once fitted was kinda ticked I had left it so many years , a joy to use now , other than the pointy end of tang that points in wrong direction .... glad to hear by shortening yours you now have a usable CS , good on you ! Nice job too I can’t really see your repair in photo !

swooshdave · Jul 17, 2020

Ok, @jaydee75, you might want a stiff drink before watching this. If it makes you feel any better there is no way I can do this with my 850.

If there is one thing wrong with the 750 it's the center stand stops are worn so the rear tire is too low. At least that's what I think the issue is.

Size, for once, doesn't matter.

Peter R · Aug 3, 2020

Last week I also shortened the center stand by 18mm, and what a difference it makes, I could hardly use the centerstand the last few years, and now it moves on the ctr stand with ease.
The tire of the rear wheel now just can be turned around with the bike on a flat garage floor, but I will have to place the ctr stand on some pieces of plywood to remove the rear wheel, but that is only a minor inconvenience.

Shortened my center stand

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