Spring Bolt on Kickstand

[RonW]

Below, every pic tells a story. Not necessarily a good one, but I was on my way home when I heard a *metallic sound* after I kicked the sidestand up. I found the kickstand bolt in the pic under the bike. And the coil spring. And even the little washer. The end.





I think there's enough of the stub left that I'll can unscrew the stub out from the backside after removing Nut 19. My question is, does Bracket 10 have to be completely removed from the frame to do this?

[Valker]

Direct answer is “no”.  The left over bolt piece easily unscrews from the backside. Screw the new one in, affix the spring. You’re done. Some folks use some special technique to reattach the spring, but I use pointed vise grips. Whole thing only takes minutes after the first time learning curve.

[Bone]

I think your question has been answered. Do you know why the bolt broke ?
On my Tourer the spring was real soft looking under the stud was bent.
Made it home and after looking at the bike decided I had bent the bolt pushing
the bike lift under the bike a little to far.

Buy 2 bolts if you can find them a spare spring wouldn't hurt.

[indybobm]

You can insert nickels or quarters in the coils to lengthen the spring. Makes it easier to put on.

[F6BANGER]

I think your question has been answered. Do you know why the bolt broke ?
On my Tourer the spring was real soft looking under the stud was bent.
Made it home and after looking at the bike decided I had bent the bolt pushing
the bike lift under the bike a little to far.

Buy 2 bolts if you can find them a spare spring wouldn't hurt.

I broke the bolt on my Valk because of my homemade wood lift adapter. After I noticed the adapter was hitting it, I promptly notched the area.

[MarkT]

FYI - if you have my mountable lift adapter -you won't break that spring post with the lift - it clears the end of it.  At least while the bike is level.   If you push the lift too far underneath.  Still be careful if your bike leans too hard left - I have my "Bigfoot" sidestand mod on Jade which levels the bike more when on the sidestand.  As I also run an ATT tire which is taller so the bike leaned more than usual before the Bigfoot mod - while it also stood higher which raised overall clearance.  Also your shock heights can affect this - I run std height 13" Progressive 444's.  Shorter shocks will make the bike lean less but sit lower.



If you have a brake spring pliar ($10 at Autozone etc) you can use it with a long jaw visegrips (HF) like this:



Or if you know you'll always use it on this spring on the bike and you weld, you can modify it like this:



Or modify it, and if your next use is not this spring and the "V" is inappropriate there, UNmodify it with a metal cutter.  I often weld things as a temp holder, then cut the weld.  It's faster and stronger than using something like a bolt with a needed hole.

[RonW]

It's possible that the spring bolt was damaged by the lift jack. I can't think of anything else. The last time I used the lift jack, I wasn't able to find the L-bolts that secures the Valk adapter to the engine. Instead, I tied the lift adapter down to the engine with some solid copper wire, but it wasn't battened down firmly as when using the L-bolts. So my mind was on keeping the lift adapter from shifting while I was fumbling around positioning the lift jack arms under the adapter. Duely, I wasn't vigilant about the lift jack banging into the spring bolt. With my lift jack, the sidestand has to be in the down position for the lift jack to fit under there. With the kickstand down, the spring bolt is in a vulnerable position (pic, below). If the sidestand is UP, perhaps the spring bolt might be less in the way. And yes, I did buy 2 bolts ($4/each). It takes a week for the spring bolt to get here in the mail and meanwhile the bike isn't safe to ride.




Btw, I'm using the method below to hook the coil spring to the kickstand. Some days it works. Some days it doesn't work. Dunno why. You'll still have to pull the spring with the screwdriver shaft like you're starting a lawn mower to get the screwdriver far enough for the screwdriver to reach the hook on the kickstand. After that simply row the coil spring onto it's perch. Just make sure that screwdriver shaft is smooth. The spring puts a lot of force on the screwdriver shaft, and you don't necessarily want to nick the hook when pulling out the screwdriver.

[F6Dave]

You can insert nickels or quarters in the coils to lengthen the spring. Makes it easier to put on.

That method works well. I used washers. I think the bolt will break eventually even if your lift never touches it. I've replaced one on each Valkyrie. It's not the strongest part on the bike.

In a pinch you can make one from a hardware store bolt. I did, and slipped a short piece of plastic tubing over the bolt so there would be a groove for the spring to seat in. It's been there for over a decade.

[Bone]

When I saw the bent stud I was curious I didn't hit any thing on the roads or parking lots.
I laid down on the side stand side after sticking the jack under the bike. Puling the jack toward
me it made contact with the spring holder.
I cut a piece of 2x4 laid it on the floor with one end against the side stand. I was surprised how many
times the jack made contact with the 2x4. I didn't measure the axel height maybe the CT is smaller
diameter. I keep the 2x4 on my jack and use it when I use the lift.

[MarkT]

Btw, I'm using the method below to hook the coil spring to the kickstand. Some days it works. Some days it doesn't work. Dunno why. You'll still have to pull the spring with the screwdriver shaft like you're starting a lawn mower to get the screwdriver far enough for the screwdriver to reach the hook on the kickstand. After that simply row the coil spring onto it's perch. Just make sure that screwdriver shaft is smooth. The spring puts a lot of force on the screwdriver shaft, and you don't necessarily want to nick the hook when pulling out the screwdriver.

From your pic - that method has a problem as the screwdriver shaft is fulcrummed where the destination for the spring hook is.  Screwdriver in the way for the spring to get seated.  I tried that before I picked up the brake spring pliar - and that was my problem.

[hubcapsc]

You can insert nickels or quarters in the coils to lengthen the spring. Makes it easier to put on.

That method works well. I used washers. I think the bolt will break eventually even if your lift never touches it. I've replaced one on each Valkyrie. It's not the strongest part on the bike.

In a pinch you can make one from a hardware store bolt. I did, and slipped a short piece of plastic tubing over the bolt so there would be a groove for the spring to seat in. It's been there for over a decade.

I did it on a gnarly lawnmower belt spring a few months ago, it worked great... I
think I used dimes at first and they didn't stretch the spring enough, then
did it over with nickles... there was some fiddling, I think putting one coin on
one side of the spring, then one on the next coil up on the other side and so on
that did the trick.

-Mike

[cookiedough]

You can insert nickels or quarters in the coils to lengthen the spring. Makes it easier to put on.

yep, that is what I did with some nickels, surely makes it a ton easier to make spring longer.  good trick to know for sure. 

nothing last forever and holding up an 800lb. bike for 20 years something has gotta give and thin metal is one of them....

[MarkT]

It's possible that the spring bolt was damaged by the lift jack. I can't think of anything else. The last time I used the lift jack, I wasn't able to find the L-bolts that secures the Valk adapter to the engine. Instead, I tied the lift adapter down to the engine with some solid copper wire, but it wasn't battened down firmly as when using the L-bolts. So my mind was on keeping the lift adapter from shifting while I was fumbling around positioning the lift jack arms under the adapter.

Ron, I can't find you in my Quickbooks using your name or Newport Beach.  I don't know of other adapters that use L-bolts but there could be some I don't know of.  Or you could have won my adapter at an InZane I have given several away at their drawings.  Or you could have bought it 2nd hand.  Anyway, if it's my adapter and you've lost your bolts, I can send you replacementts for the cost of postage.  Send me $9 via paypal to my email listed at www.horseapple.com (I get too much spam already) and I'll send you 2 L-bolts that fit my adapters via priority mail.