Announcements

**brennan** · #1 21 Mar 2007

I have heard conflicting reports from reliable sources.

Is it harmful to ride your fully laden bike off of its center stand?

**oldbmw** · #2 21 Mar 2007

Dont see why, you have to get off somehow. On my r 80rt, i usually push it off the stand when i am astride, having by then got the motor running. Possibly if you do it very quickly the stand may slam a bit harder, but no idea what it would hit.

**gsworkshop** · #3 22 Mar 2007

I am sure you will do no harm to the bike or suspention doing this but the stand does take a lot more strain and will wear out more rapidly around the bush, when this happens you have to replace the entire stand. The stand might also eventually brake especially with a taller bike like the Adventure.
Just look at how the stand sometimes flexes when somoene else does it.

**Vaufi** · #4 22 Mar 2007

I do ride off the main stand sometimes when the bike is fully laden in critical situations. But then I've got an old GS where the centre stand flips back automatically.

The weight of the bike plus rider is pretty high, for the GS ADV with luggage at least way over 350 kg. I'd suggest to fold out the side stand and then push the bike from the main stand. This reduces the risk of dropping the bike.

**brennan** · #5 22 Mar 2007

It sounds like a NO! I don't want to do damage and definetly don't want to buy another stand at any point. It's just so much more fun! Bad habits are hard to break! I will stop though as riding money is an issue and I don't need any uneccesary expenses right now. Cheers guys thanks for the input!

**Sjoerd Bakker** · #6 24 Mar 2007

Ride off the stand whenever you feel like it, I say. The bike has to be taken off the stand nomatter, your body weight is´t going to add that much more strain. So instead of heaving it off by hand the motive force is the rear wheel ,same direction of forces. Just take it easy on the throttle and don´t spin the tire .
Sometimes it is impossible to use the side stand if the angle of incline is going to be so severe as to risk toppling over , or being a real strain to wrestle it verical and then try swing a leg over.
And it is not as if you were landing from a big-air supercross jump with the stand still down. Sure it wears around the bushes , but that happens regardless and that can be repaired eventually with a bit of work like welding and drilling , not necessarily a new stand. If it does break , the bike will still travel.

**brennan** · #7 26 Mar 2007

That was just what I wanted to hear. I agree that the force from the rear wheel couldn`t be any more of a strain on the center stand than pushing it off. You have to get it down anyway. I never spin the tire, most of the time just getting it off the stand then putting my foot down for, gloves, GPS, etc.

I was having trouble with it recently, this is why I posted, and wondered if it was skewed in anyway. Nope, it just needed some grease and now she is like new. I though I would double check though.

I wish the sidestand was longer. Any incline at all, while the bike is loaded, makes it unusable unless you get off and hold some of the weight with your hip while you put it on the center stand. I might rig some sort of elevated big foot sort of device.

Thanks for the advice.

**AliBaba** · #8 27 Mar 2007

When you take your bike of the centerstand you lift it upwards and forwards. The force you use upwards might differ but on my bike (lighter) I will estimate 200 N. When you sit on your bike you add maybe 80-90 kg. When you drive off the stand most off the forces will go directly forward.

This means a weight-difference somewhere around 100-110 kg.This number is only valid if you manage to drive off the centerstand in a smooth way….

**colebatch** · #9 29 Mar 2007

Well the BMW off road instructors at Hechlingen all ride straight off the stand, standing up ... and encourage the "students" to do it as well.... how bad can it be?

**brennan** · #10 29 Mar 2007

I have heard the same from an English guy I rode with that did the 2nd BMW offroad course. That was the first that I had heard of it and I have been doing it ever since. I will continue to do so!

**Big Red** · #11 31 Mar 2007

I always ride off the centrestand whenever it's practical. Doesn't seem to create any problems, I've been doing it for over 60,000k's on my usually fully loaded GSA. I can't see that it's much different to sitting on the seat and pushing off with your feet, it's just that the engine and rear wheel does the work instead.