[Jim1203]

My new bike arrived and I'll give a proper intro later once I'm able to take it for a spin. But for now I have a quick question.

When parked, it looks to me like it's standing virtually straight up. There's almost no lean at all. Here's a photo of the bike on it's kickstand with my yellow flood light next to it. For comparison, the yellow pole is straight up and down.

What do you think? Do I need a longer kickstand? Or bolt on some wedges to the kickstand mount to increase the angle?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Antibilly]

I had the same problem. If you feel its unsafe at that angle save yourself the headache of having it on your mind. Heat the stand and bend it to a proper lean

 

[caffeine]

heat it and bend it a little.

 

[Flatironmike]

I'm not a fan of 'heat and bend' - especially for kickstands.

2 choices. Buy a shorter kickstand (1" under) or add a kickstand plate, adds 5 degrees - J&P link to the pages below. Hope this helps.

MC

http://www.jpcycles.com/catalog/2006HarleyCatalog/0894.html

http://www.jpcycles.com/catalog/2006HarleyCatalog/0895.html

 

[TP Cycles]

I'm not a fan of 'heat and bend' - especially for kickstands.

2 choices. Buy a shorter kickstand (1" under) or add a kickstand plate, adds 5 degrees - J&P link to the pages below. Hope this helps.

MC

http://www.jpcycles.com/catalog/2006HarleyCatalog/0894.html

http://www.jpcycles.com/catalog/2006HarleyCatalog/0895.html

I would agree with Mike on this one.

 

[Jim1203]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try out the angle plates and see if I can get it to lean over more.

Hope I'm not being too overcautious about it.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Panhead Jim]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try out the angle plates and see if I can get it to lean over more.

Hope I'm not being too overcautious about it.

Thanks,
Jim

You're being too over-cautious about it. Grab the bike and wrench it over until you like the lean. It will be OK, I promise, kinda.
JIM

 

[Mike V]

I ran into the same problem....kinda. The trump had no lean what so ever when on the kick stand. I heated and bent it to give me the proper lean. Perfect.

then....

I took off the legs to shave and polish....I took apart the legs and found that whoever had the bike before me had cut the springs but failed to put spacers back in.....I put some back in and not only gave the frontend the proper feel but it raised the front up about 1.5" that was needed anyway. Now the angle of the lean on the stand was no good. So I had to fix it....again.

 

[lilbill]

just have a prospect stand by it and tell him that if it falls over you're gonna kill him

 

[Trent]

I'm not a fan of 'heat and bend' - especially for kickstands.

2 choices. Buy a shorter kickstand (1" under) or add a kickstand plate, adds 5 degrees - J&P link to the pages below. Hope this helps.

MC

http://www.jpcycles.com/catalog/2006HarleyCatalog/0894.html

http://www.jpcycles.com/catalog/2006HarleyCatalog/0895.html

thats my suggestion too.

 

[Irish Rich]

Heat the kickstand, and bend it out some, then heat the foot, and bring it back down. If you heat it between a dull and a cherry red, bend it in one smooth motion, and let it air-cool, you'll be fine. They had to heat the cold rolled bar to form the foot and the bend in it for your frame mount, they didn't form that cold. Making these parts isn't an exotic process.

It might be just from the picture angle, but I think I'd want to find out the reason the centerline of the tire is so far to the right of the frame centerline. The wheel/fender combo looks to be way over from the tank/seat line.

 

[Jim1203]

Solved

Sorry to dig up such an old thread. A year and a half later I finally solved my lean problem.

I recently found an old Santee "extra short kickstand for use on lowered rigid choppers". CCI part number 695039. $23 for the kickstand and a few dollars at the hardware store for bolts. Not sure if they still make these, mostly only see 1" under and all the adjustable ones are for a different frame mount.

Lean angle is 100X better and I don't have to worry when parking on a slope. No wedge in there either. It looks really short- doesn't extend out far from the bike, but it feels solid. Bike doesn't budge once the kickstand tab gets locked in.

Thanks,
Jim