Greetings,

I know some of you have fitted this stand and I'd really appreciate some advice on fitting it...

I'm struggling a bit with mine.

Basically the stand is designed to fits to the lower axle of the suspension linkage (connecting rod). You remove the old axle bolt, and replace it with a longer one which the stand can also hang off. That axle bolt & nut seems to be very difficult to loosen on my bike and I'm concerned that's not just because its a sticky bolt but because it's under tension from the rear shock. (I'm 'relatively competent' in terms of basic tinkering but tinkering with suspension is something that I've not tried before so I don't really know what happens if you start loosening the lower connecting rod). I'm a bit worried that either the bike will fall over or the whole lot will spring out of alignment with some force and once I've got the old axle bolt out - I'll never get the new one in...

I read an old thread on here where somebody said you really need to be supporting the bike with rear wheel off the ground prior to removing this lower connecting rod axle. That seemed to solve the previous poster's issue - in my case the axle nut/bolt seems no looser when the rear wheel is on or off the ground... Just before I start really going at this nut & axle bolt with some force on assumption the nut is just well locked onto the bolt, can any one assure me that so long as I'm supporting the bike with the rear wheel hanging off the ground - I'm lifting it using the rear foot pegs - the whole thing isn't going to go 'boing' when I remove it...

Andy

Hi, I fitted my centre stand a few weeks ago. Just make sure you have help to hold the bike, the bolt will come out and lines up easily, I moved mine around on the side stand with a hydraulic car jack under it and it slotted straight in. I wouldn't have attempted it on my own though.

Hope this helps,

Mark

Loosen the pre-load on the rear shock with wheel removed and you can move the swing arm any where.

Cheers from Oz.

__________________
I'm not getting older; I'm just progressing through LIFE!! Harleys do not have a throttle- they have VOLUME control!!!

This is what it looks like fitted...

It's so tight because the weight of the bike is resting on this bolt.

If you don't support the weight of the bike, it will collapse when you remove the bolt. If you havn't got the means to do this (MX Stand, blocks of wood etc) turn the fuel off, run the float bowl dry then lower the bike onto it's side.

Losening off the pre-load will help a lot too, as will getting a mate around.

If you think thats tight, wait until you fit the spring.. WEAR SAFETY GLASSES

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Hi All,

Thanks very much for your wise words they were all helpful...

I just finished fitting the stand.

Lifted the back of the bike off the floor by supporting it under the rear footrests. Cable-tied the front brake lever in the on position to stop the bike rolling forwwards. Wound off the pre-load on the rear shock - that seemed to help quite a bit - thanks. Managed to get the axle swapped & the stand on without too much trouble... had to adjust the height of the rear tyre off the ground using a few spare bits of wood to get the suspension link in the right place but apart from that was OK...

Even the spring stretching wasn't as bad as I expected - the small one went on without too much difficulty by hand using a screwdriver to pull it. I then used the small spring to hold the stand in the up position. To get the big one on I attached it at the front end, passed a 2m nylon tie down strap round the rear end of it, sat on the floor behind the bike - pushed with my feet off the rear tyre, and pulled it out and dropped it over the peg on the stand without too much bother.

The only thing that buggers up this fantastic tale of DIY genius was when I screwed the old grease nipple back into the new axle I overtightened it and sheared it off... LUCKILY I managed to get all the various bits of it out of the axle... but until I figure out where to get a replacement I guess its not sensible to be using the bike as a) the swingarm linkage axle is new and ungreased and b) the nipple-hole is open which will let crud into the moving bits where you don't want any crud...

DOH!!!

Thanks again for all your help...

Andy

Well done for getting it sorted out Andy.
I'm not sure where you're based but if in the UK then you might be able to get a grease nipple from a car spares shop, particularly if there's one of the old fashioned ones near you. Alternatively a Yamaha or Honda dealer could proabaly supply one as they're quite common on their dirt bike ranges.

Geoff

You can also buy a bag of 10 or 20 off ebay for £2-3 !!

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Harrison Lubrication Systems and Equipment - grease nipples: contact us

Got a few from this place for free when I turned up on the XT.
The OE nipples are made of chocolate so replacing them with
better quality items makes sense.

Me again,

Got a pack of 10 grease nipples off Ebay for about 1.50. After an hour - yes really - of mucking about with my new grease gun and tub of moly grease, neither of which I've ever used before... I got it sorted.

Got well frustrated as I wasted loads of time and made a right mess figuring out how to fill/adjust/use the gun, getting the balance between grease going everywhere/falling off the nipple/so tight on nipple you can't get it off/realising the 4-jaw clamp is adjustable/knowing what the signs of having properly greased it are etc...

Reckon it will take me about 5 mins to do the same job next time !!!!

Thanks again for all your help chaps... Andy

Great to see that you got it sorted Andy. It's a great feeling to successfully learn something new.

Geoff