Bike Leaning on Kick Stand

[Gobux]

Do you think the bike is leaning to much? I am new to the Valkyrie.

[0leman]

My I/S leans that much,   I do have a 205/65 tire on, so it leans a bit more than if I had a smaller CT or MT on it.  I do put a 3/4" board under the kick stand in my garage.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Probably slightly more than mine. Turning the wheel to the right will help a little.

[98valk]

here is my cheap easy fix.
http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,93955.0.html


also check the cross member. might be bent
http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,52977.0.html

[Jess from VA]

That is normal. 

And shimming the stand (with a piece of 2 by 4 or 6) will make the bike fall over to the high side if you get a rear flat.  So if you don't need the extra room, or don't put the bike so it will lean on a wall or something (right) with a flat, don't shim the kickstand.

Shimming it up to work on it or other temporary use is one thing, but doing it as a matter of course is not a great idea (or modifying the stand permanently to sit the bike higher same thing).

Another way to go, is to slide the jack and adapter under and jack it to just level with the tires touching, but you don't want it sitting on hydraulics alone, so either use the safety bar catch or jam a board or something between the jack scissors, and let the hydraulics off pressure (while the bike just sits there level).   

[Avanti]

I prefer a center stand. When parked on a center stand you can preform most any service you need to and it is always with when you need it.

[bikerboy1951]

Turning the wheel to the right makes for a motorcycle that tips over very easily.  If you don't believe me, try it and see how easy it moves.  I have seen a bike parked like that and it blew over in a wind.

Brad

[klb]

Here's mine with the wheel all the way to the left.

[Jess from VA]

Turning the front wheel to the lock (either way) when parked is much more stable if the bike (wheel) is jammed up against the back wall.  And leave it in gear.

I also forgot to mention a (front) wheel chock as a way to store it upright safely.  You don't have to shoot holes in the concrete, just mount it to a big flat piece of wood.

Hey KLB, it that Ted's brother (and can he mow straight lines)?  

[klb]

Turning the front wheel to the lock (either way) when parked is much more stable if the bike (wheel) is jammed up against the back wall.  And leave it in gear.

I also forgot to mention a (front) wheel chock as a way to store it upright safely.  You don't have to shoot holes in the concrete, just mount it to a big flat piece of wood.

Hey KLB, it that Ted's brother (and can he mow straight lines)?  

   That is his Brother. Yard looks like Crop Circles when he is done. 

[Jess from VA]

 

[MarkT]

I make a kickstand extender I call Bigfoot.  Kinda spendy because I have to provide an OEM sidestand "core" - used but cleaned and clear powder coated.  If you return yours you can get the core charge back.  Bigfoot has 2 positions, high and mid, 1-5/16" and 11/16".  I pretty much break even on this as it takes a while to make. Not as fancy as the sculptured "eagle's foot" ones, it's polished SS - my M.O. is mostly "form follows function."  Intended just as a service to help, not a money maker for me.  I use one on Jade which has a tall Austone tire.  Be careful the angle of the pavement especially if you use the high position.  (Shown)

BTW the pic by the OP shows the bike leaning a LOT.  More than normal even with an Austone tire, I'd say.  Mine did not lean that far before I installed my Bigfoot in the high position.  I also dropped the bike last year by not watching the pavement angle which was angled to the right - so yeah, be careful on that.

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,100297.0.html

[DGS65]

I use my center stand anytime the bike is going to sit for a while without use.

[Jess from VA]

I thought it looked fairly normal.  One of my bikes leans more than the other, and that is also normal.  Despite Honda quality, it is common that they do not all lean exactly the same, and of course tires, and shocks (different lengths and age) lend to inconsistency of lean.

When I noticed the difference in my bikes (with identical shocks and tires), I made it a point to carefully inspect my kickstands and structural cross-members underneath, as banging and bending them is not unheard of (at all), and both my bikes were bought used, and one of them was slid down the road on its side by a prior owner.  I could find no damage or hits (which can happen from hitting speed bumps too fast/hard). 

Looking at the picture again, I think I agree with Mark that it may be leaning more than most.  So you should also get underneath and check out the cross-member kickstand mount for any hits or bends.

It gets pretty cruddy under there, and can use some cleaning and lubrication from time to time anyway.

And it's not a bad idea to get a spare spring and special bolt the spring hooks on, which can get snapped off on an underneath hit (and keep them on the bike). 

Which I think is numbers 4 and 6 in the link: 
https://www.procaliber.com/oem-parts?aribrand=HOM&arian=MOTORCYCLE#/Honda_Powersports/GL1500CFA_(99)_VALKYRIE_INTERSTATE%2c_USA%2c_VIN%23_1HFSC410-XA000001/SIDE_STAND/61347acc-638e-40e4-aa4f-0fceb839ab88/7be6241c-9b6f-4ca2-9059-941baebcddb3/y

One last thing is that the kickstand helper arm (or whatever it's called) that you use your foot to put the stand down can get a bit bent.  When the stand is up, that arm should fit into the dimple in the exhaust on that side.  If it needs adjusted, stick a pipe over it and bend it back into proper position.   

[Tfrank59]

 the lean on your bike looks normal to me. I went through this whole thing my first year with my bike and I actually measured how much lean it had on level concrete and it was like 24 degrees. Some of the guys were explaining that Honda did that in part so that if you ended up with two flat tires-- I know pretty remote chance --but if you did the bike wouldn't fall over the other direction. I made my own Bigfoot shim to go under my kickstand and it raised up the bike about 5/8 of an inch. It still seems to lean quite a bit but it's fine with me the only issue is once in awhile on a left-leaning curve I'll scrape the Bigfoot. Also it's a little harder for the spring to hold up the kickstand when it's a little bit heavier with the shoe on there.My Bigfoot is made out of aluminum however and is fairly light.

[MarkT]

the lean on your bike looks normal to me. I went through this whole thing my first year with my bike and I actually measured how much lean it had on level concrete and it was like 24 degrees. Some of the guys were explaining that Honda did that in part so that if you ended up with two flat tires-- I know pretty remote chance --but if you did the bike wouldn't fall over the other direction. I made my own Bigfoot shim to go under my kickstand and it raised up the bike about 5/8 of an inch. It still seems to lean quite a bit but it's fine with me the only issue is once in awhile on a left-leaning curve I'll scrape the Bigfoot. Also it's a little harder for the spring to hold up the kickstand when it's a little bit heavier with the shoe on there.My Bigfoot is made out of aluminum however and is fairly light.

A couple+ points.  As I've observed and Jess mentioned, lean can vary due to several factors - the sidestand mount point can bend, and tire diameter and shock length will vary the lean.  I have not been concerned with the rare chance the tires will go flat and the bike fall over - given the tradeoff of the much more convenient standing-up effort being reduced all the rest of the time.  Particularly if you park on a left-leaning slope while getting older so you have less strength than you used to, and/or have a tall back tire (I run Austone).  If you have a mono-tire trailer, it adds to the stand-up force needed (my trailers are conventional, and I also have a swivel hitch).  You need to pay attention to not park on severely right-leaning slopes if you set it pretty high.  My Bigfoot never scrapes for me and I sometimes drag footpegs.  It's lightweight enough (is hollow SS box tubing with a bolt holding it) that the spring has plenty of excess pull to hold it in place.  And the lean is adjustable - from none (remove it with a 3/4" or 19mm wrench), to 11/16" to 1-5/16".  Lastly, "Bigfoot" is my trade name for my sidestand extender.  Kinda like calling  acetylsalicylic acid products "aspirin" when that was originally Bayer's trademark name, or calling a moving stairway an "escalator" when it was originally a trademark of the Otis Elevator Company.  Not like I care a lot about my trade name which I didn't bother to register with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office - "just sayin".  But I would care if someone else produced a kickstand extender and named it Bigfoot.

[Tfrank59]

Yeah I've never called my kickstand shoe a Bigfoot until that post sorry. And it's very lightweight I don't think it weighs 1 pound because it's aluminum. and I think a guy should check and see if the mount is bent or if the kickstand itself is bent, but if the base of the kickstand runs parallel to the ground on level ground, like mine does, then that's exactly how the OEM intended it to sit, whch in my opinion is a little bit excessive lean angle.

[jdp]

My interstate leans way over too, I just clamped a piece of aluminum stock to the bottom of my kick stand looks good and works fine

[psckam]

Might want to check the pivot bolt, mine was a little loose and she was listing to the port .

[cookiedough]

That is normal.  

And shimming the stand (with a piece of 2 by 4 or 6) will make the bike fall over to the high side if you get a rear flat.  So if you don't need the extra room, or don't put the bike so it will lean on a wall or something (right) with a flat, don't shim the kickstand.

Shimming it up to work on it or other temporary use is one thing, but doing it as a matter of course is not a great idea (or modifying the stand permanently to sit the bike higher same thing).

Another way to go, is to slide the jack and adapter under and jack it to just level with the tires touching, but you don't want it sitting on hydraulics alone, so either use the safety bar catch or jam a board or something between the jack scissors, and let the hydraulics off pressure (while the bike just sits there level).    

I think it looks not normal but pretty close, leaning over a smidge more than it should to the left.  Like said,  turn front wheel pointing to the right will help some, but still looks too far to me.

YUP, NEVER knew this about putting a 1/2 inch or so (NEVER a full 2x4 being over 1 inch thick) piece of plywood under the sidestand is a VERY bad idea.  About the time this post was out,  my I/S first time EVER tried it after owning 8+ years,  did a stupid thing before cold WI winter putting a thinner 1/2 inch tops plywood under sidestand and knowing my rear tire has a very, very small air leak around the rim over one month or more caused my I/S over the winter to tip over to the right in that -20 degree winter night cracking my I/S fairing hitting my ladder hung on the wall when rear tire went say 10-15 psi.  Was a bitch pulling upright on the handlebars near 45 degree angle to the right leaning/hitting the wall/ladder on the right side, plus had leaking gas all over the concrete floor under bike.  NOT good, NEVER do that plywood thing EVER again knowing now that if you may get a near flat tire tipping cycle over to the right off the sidestand.

I would check into on why the bike is leaning IMO slightly more to the left than it should.  I know though if I put my I/S on sidestand with front wheel facing left (not right which I do 99% of the time unless pavement angled down on right side), it looks like it does in your pic, but appears your wheel is facing head on straigh almost right?