Side/kick stand

[MattyP]

Someone lowered my Skorpion and didn't shorten up the kick/side stand. It stands too tall, and feel wobbly when parked on crowned roads. I could just use the centerstand, but would like to find a shorter stand. Has anyone dealt with such an issue. There are tons of aftermarket stands available, but none at my local shops that I can actually handle and see if I can make them work. Any suggestions?

[basser23]

Far easier to put the original dogbones in to raise the rear than to find a kick stand.
Chip

[samandkimberly]

How about shortening yours?

Sam

[MattyP]

samandkimberly,

I hadn't actually thought of that (cutting the stand down) as a viable option. I suppose I could cut some out of the middle and have someone tack it back together. Have you (or anyone else) done this?

[basser23]

When my skorpion was raised with shorter dogbones,I had the oposite problem...leaned too much..I had a new stand made from square stock. Now that it is back to
normal height it is a bit vertical,but not dramatically so...
If you have a center stand,use that and take your side stand to a shop and have it shortend...

[MattyP]

I've recently run across a number of references to heating good and red, giving it a bit of a bend and then re-tempering with a water bath...

Any comments?

[MattyP]

so I finally did it, took drunken neighbor who pushed the bike over (busted windshield and snapped off both mirrors) to convince me that 'now is the time' (or more properly yesterday was the time) but its done. Really easy to do... cut about a cm out the loop (the one your heel catches on) heated 'er up just below where the springs attach, whacked 'er with a hammer a few times (right on the weld where the loop attached) to put a barely noticable bend in it and quenched it. I added about 5 degrees of lean and the foot on the stand still sits well - enough to sure her up, but not so much that she's leaning like my drunken neighbor (who's paying for the broken stuff by the way). If the stand ever breaks I'll eat my words, but this seems like a good option.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

i must be lucky i don't have any neighbor's that get drunk
dave

[Bill Jurgenson]

Lengthening or shortenng the sidestand by adding or removing a section of tubing and welding is very common. Brnding as you did for slight corrections. No need to heat, tho.
With time the lean increases all by its lonesome due to wear of the bushing bracket where it hits the stop nose. In the 15 years with my blue Tour I rebushed with sinter bronze, rebent and packed with disc springs and welded a spot on the worn indent.
Adding a bit with an arc welder is an easy and quick way to decrease lean to a certian extent.

I don't know who spread the nonsense about "tempering" the stand after heating and bending. We're looking at mild steel. No amount of would-be heat-treating is going to have the slightest effect on it, at least no good effects. Annealing is OTOH always a good idea.

[MattyP]

Bill,

well I had this new torch so...

Glad to hear that the heat isn't necessary and that the tempering bit was nonsense - basically sounds like I didn't do any damage at least.

Matt