'78 R100/7 Side stand factory bends

[bbelk]

From my vast experience of two airheads about the age of yours (a 75 R90/6 and a 79 R65). Airhead kickstands fall somewhere between don't-work-very-well to stupidly-dangerous. For both of my bikes the cure was a Brownstand. They work and they are easy to use.

If you are one of those talented fellows who likes to dismount and then put the kickstand down, maybe the factory stand will work - as long as you don't live somewhere with temperatures that exceed 95 degrees fahrenheit when pavement gets to soft to support a factory stand or where there is wind in excess of 30 MPH and the bike will blow off a factory stand.

I love my airheads, but being true to some of their design features is not a good idea. Was the master cylinder below the tank in 78?

[SteveD]

I like the Brown aftermarket stand compared to the stock BMW stand. It kicks down like a Harley and is very visible, not hidden by the left cylinder like the stocker.

Then there's the Farley.
Similar to Brown, but better apparently...from some recent reading. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1025285
I have a Brown stand I'd sell for OZ$65 + postage.
Then there's Flying T-pot for later models. Not the cheapest. http://www.flyingtpot.com/sidestands.htm
I'm using the British made Surefoot.

[Snakeoil]

I thought about getting or making a Brown stand. Was not crazy about how it mounted. I assume that they came with a longer engine mounting stud.

I bought a original today for peanuts on fleabay. Will shorten it and problem solved.

Thanks,
Rob

[Snakeoil]

Stand from fleabay arrived today. Nice shape other than some rust. Compared it to my stand and there were some very slight differences in the bends. But slight changes make for big changes in lean angle. I played a bit with the new one and tweaked the bends as well as ground a bit off the stop so it would swing forward a bit more. Foot was not lying flat on the ground. Loos like I gained about 1/4" in added lean at the stand.

Bead blasted it and replated it. Had issues (a brain phardt on my part) plating and 20 minutes of work turned into a major project. Then the snow started and that pretty much killed working on the bike. Will return to the stand after Turkeyday and see if I gained as much lean as I am hoping I did.

I will say that the OEM stand is one strong piece of steel. I have some special tools made up for bending steel. They came from an old Buick dealer. I think they used them to straighten bent tie rods. I bent the handle trying to tweak that new stand.

Hopefully, this will fix my lean angle and I won't have to shorten the stand.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Rob

[Snakeoil]

Just thought I'd close the loop on this one. I finished replating the sidestand and put it back on the bike today. That 1/4 I gained made a noticeable difference. The bike leans a bit more and feels more secure. I think when I put inch size tires back on it, it will get even better.

I probably could have tweaked my original stand since I had straightened it out after I got the bike. But this one works fine for now so I'll put the other in the parts cabinet and hope I never need to use it.

regards,
Rob

[Duane Ausherman]

Snakeoil, in an earlier post I said, "You will find that the stock sidestand is made of some good steel. It really doesn't want to bend easily."

That is what I was talking about. I think that you had better tools for bending then we had. We had to jury rig up something as I remember.

[Snakeoil]

I probably should make a sketch of the tool I used. It was made by some mechanic at Capitol Buick, probably in the 50's or 60's. I bent the handle and have made a mental note to myself to weld a doubler on that handle.

I'm sure this tool was used in conjuction with heat to straight tie rods. But I've used it quite a bit for cold straightening. I actually have a pair, which were probably used together with the tie rod on the car.

All I used were my tool, a piece of EMT as a cheater and my vise, which is a behemouth that came off the railroad.

There is a slight tweak in my original stand and I could not get that out by hand. I'd probably have to put it in the press. But for now, I don't need to.

regards,
Rob

[Duane Ausherman]

Yep, you have far bigger stuff than we had. Glad it is working out OK for you. We like to hear positive results.

[Snakeoil]

Not sure why it took me so long to get around to measuring sidewall height on my bike and comparing it too the inch tires on my Triumph. Kurt numbers were confirmed by my measurements. Just about a half difference between the metrics on the Beemer and the inch size K70's on the Triumph.

Just wanted to close the loop for the next guy that uses this thread to answer a similar question.

regards,
Rob

[Ken in Oklahoma]

Yep, the Brown is superior in nearly all aspects.

I've come to the conclusion that the preference for stock vs Brown or vice versa is largely a function of inseam length. In my case my inseam is long, and on my /6 and /7 series bikes I'm very comfortable with the stock sidestand. Since the sidestand is spring loaded you really want the stand to be held against the limiter stop to be comfortable leaning the bike over. If you don't hit the limit you're always in a little doubt when you have the bike leaned over and want to dismount. In other words one worries whether the bike will try to roll forward and off the stand.

The Brown stands (and their imitators) have a lot going for them. Being certain that the stand might or might not be fully deployed isn't a problem. The beef I have with the Brown is that it was hard for me to find a spot where I could get enough grip on the stand with my boot to swing it out properly. To deal with that problem I've gone to putting s small hose clamp on the leg strategically oriented for the worm drive head to give my toe a place to 'hook' and swing the stand out.

For me, because of my physiology, the stock /6 and /7 side stands suit me fine. Take an inch or so out of my inseam and I would surely be a big fan of the Brown stands.

War story: Once I pulled up to my fence gate on my R100/7 and needed to dismount to open the gate. Out of habit I swung the stock side stand out, felt it hit the stop, and 'automatically' leaned the bike over. I had failed to actually look at the ground where the foot would land. It happened that there was a dried up mud depression where the foot hit. Imagine my surprise when the bike didn't stop leaning and fell all the way to the ground with my foot under the left hand cylinder.

You know, that only had to happen to me once.

Ken, long legged (and winded) in Oklahoma