another dumb kickstand topic

[Eagle 1]

I have noted many on this site complaining about excess lean of the Valks., I too have the same complaint, every time I set the stand and set the bike on it I have this sinking feeling it is going over, of course not except the time I set it on a graveled road, and you guessed it the dam thing did go over and the gravel was hard packed thus telling me it would take very little more lean for it to do that. In looking at my stand I am not sure what the actual kick stand is made of, it almost looks cast (hope not), If not I think it might be possible to heat just below where the ball shaft connect to the foot and bend it down thus getting it closer to the ground and my case making the foot contact more of the surface and raising the bike up at the same time. Has anyone tried this if so what were your results? By the way have checked and the bar the stand is bolted to is not bent and I can find no other items bent or out of place. thanks for any help you can give

[Pete]

No I have not done anything.
But I will caution, that if you stand it too straight up and have a flat it may turn over to the right or the kick stand may not be usable with a flat.

Just FYI.

[Steve K (IA)]

I have noted many on this site complaining about excess lean of the Valks., I too have the same complaint, every time I set the stand and set the bike on it I have this sinking feeling it is going over, of course not except the time I set it on a graveled road, and you guessed it the dam thing did go over and the gravel was hard packed thus telling me it would take very little more lean for it to do that. In looking at my stand I am not sure what the actual kick stand is made of, it almost looks cast (hope not), If not I think it might be possible to heat just below where the ball shaft connect to the foot and bend it down thus getting it closer to the ground and my case making the foot contact more of the surface and raising the bike up at the same time. Has anyone tried this if so what were your results? By the way have checked and the bar the stand is bolted to is not bent and I can find no other items bent or out of place. thanks for any help you can give

People in the past have put washers between the kickstand bracket and the frame.

I don't know if they put them on both sides or just the left side.  I'm thinking both sides would be best so you won't put a bind on the bracket.  All your doing is dropping the assembly down some. 

I really should look into doing this myself.  My I/S leans so far, at times it's hard to get it upright.  Always parked in the garage with a 2x4 under the stand.

[Firefighter]

I added a Side stand Pad from Cruiser Customizing years ago. Cost 37.95 then and helps, I don't worry about it falling anymore. I have seen cool things over the years, I remember a dragon foot with claws as a pad. Some people are talented.

As for bending I don't know, but make sure you take into consideration that if your rear tire goes flat the bike don't stand to straight.

[Eagle 1]

I too put a 2X4 under mine and it is just about the right lean, about the exact same as my Goldwing, I don't have a problem getting it off the stand but I really do not want to pick it off the ground again especially on slippery gravel, already have one hernia do not need another. I am not too worried that by bending the foot down will get the bike too straight up as I do not believe I could bend it that far short of bending it completely straight, If it is "bendable" I would bend it enough to get about an inch or a bit more if possible. any know the if it is made of steel and not cast?

[Tfrank59]

I too put a 2X4 under mine and it is just about the right lean, about the exact same as my Goldwing, I don't have a problem getting it off the stand but I really do not want to pick it off the ground again especially on slippery gravel, already have one hernia do not need another. I am not too worried that by bending the foot down will get the bike too straight up as I do not believe I could bend it that far short of bending it completely straight, If it is "bendable" I would bend it enough to get about an inch or a bit more if possible. any know the if it is made of steel and not cast?

I'm pretty sure that the side stand on a Valkyrie is forged steel, and I would not try messing around with the metallurgy of it by heating and bending, but that's just me.  I'm really not bothered by the lean on my bike – I don't try to stand it up on the grass or anything – but if I was bothered I would either shim it like some have suggested or buy/make a pad that goes under it.

[trout dude]

This is what i did to solve the problem I used a kickstand pad for a 1800 VTX and added 1/2 inch aluminum plate cut out to fit. Then drilled and taped and countersink from the top of the pad and polished it this is how it looks.










Hope this helps Dennis

[Eagle 1]

Thanks Dennis: Beautiful job, looks like a good idea and a great solution. Where can I get the VTX pad ?
Thanks again

[Dusty]

 Welded a 1/4" thick plate on the bottom of the original  foot then shaped it with a grinder and re chromed. The only issue is the side stand is wider and sometimes drags in the corners    

Dusty

[trout dude]

Eagle 1 the VTX pad came from Cruiser Customizing Its a Rivco part# RIV-VTX013 Hope this helps. It was $39.95
  Dennis

[cantom]

I bought one of those jacking adapters off of ebay...a great thing that is, means I can just roll my motorcycle lift under the bike, line one of the pads up with the adapter and jack the Valk up.

Of course, that adapter installs under the sidestand mounting. You have to back the bolts off a fair bit, then slide it in and then tighten it up.

This would of course space the stand down a fair bit.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/LOOK-VALKYRIE-HONDA-JACK-LIFT-ADAPTER-1-BEST-MOTORCYCLE-ITEM-Save-/181170677159?hash=item2a2e9d25a7&vxp=mtr#ht_2202wt_922

[cookiedough]

In the 95+ degree heat one day at dentist office, the blacktop became so soft after 1 hour that my entire kickstand sunk in 3 inches, NO joke.  I was shitting my pants thinking there it goes over was tilted so much to the left I had one heck of a time prying the kickstand out of the black tar. 

I remedied that by going to local hardware store and bought a 4x4" electrical box panel dirt cheap and keep 1 or 2 in my saddlebags for that 'just in case moment.   A taller kickplate used under the OEM kickstand would be better for your needs.

Are your shocks set low, not OEM either maybe higher up aftermarket shocks,  or do you have a normal sized tall OEM tire size as well?

My stock I/S with stock kickstand and stock tires/shocks same size is not leaned over too bad, about normal, except when the heat gets to blacktop, best put a plate under the kickstand or not good. 

[cantom]

So what's it like when you go darkside with the 1" or so taller Austone Taxi Tire?

It'd lean over worse yet...

[larryh0841]

To answer the original question........yes, you can heat and bend the side stand with no problems.  I heated mine near the pivot point and used it for several years and have since passed it on to another Valkyrie rider as the bike is now a trike.  It did not even ruin the chrome.
                                                                         Larry

[Tfrank59]

I'm glad that heating and bending did not negatively affect your side stand.  I'm not a metallurgist or an engineer, just a machinist, but I do know that heating and bending a forging does change the grain structure in it, and it compromises some of the strength. That's a metallurgical fact. That yours didn't snap or do something bad over the years, that's a good thing. Not everyone would necessarily have the same result though.

[Hoosiervalk]

Cantom does the prolift jack adapter interfere with doing any of the routine maintenance ? and is any of the adapter visible without getting down to look for it?