It was finally time to get the centerstand back on. It would have been nice a couple weeks ago when I needed to pull the rear wheel for a new tire (something like 9K miles on a Michelin Road Classic and the front tire is only halfway worn at that mileage) but my son and I picked the bike up with an engine crane and held it up with a jackstand overnight.melville wrote: ↑Wed May 07, 2025 6:13 pm Yeah, bit of a slow winter as far as bike progress goes. Ernst is still in pieces and Edgar has just been a local errand and day trip bike. This summer I should have HVAC in the big shop which will make life so much better in there.
Edgar was grounding (lightly) the sidestand in left turns. I had a look and it was being held out by a buggered centerstand spring. I pulled the centerstand as it seemed both springs were buggered and I only had one new spare. Some discoveries along the way, starting with one of the buggered springs:
Then the stand and hardware:
Those screws are SAE, look like 7/16-24, and those are not OEM bushings. I'm not the first one to touch this. Also, someone laid a weld bead on the curved part of the stand. Looks like a coldish weld that they left standing proud. But it doesn't continue all the way to the feet. So today's mission was to add some material to the feet.
A little surface prep:
Some ugly oxyacetylene welding:
Some clean-up:
I'm the guy who sat on Santa's knee and asked for a welder. Santa said, "I've seen your welds. You're getting a grinder for Christmas!"
Finally, some paint:
Done for today. I'll be making a modest parts order for Ernst soon and will also get some centerstand springs so I can remount the stand. It feels wrong to leave an Airhead on the sidestand, even if the rings are in great shape and there's no smoke out the left side on startup.
I used the 'penny' method again. Ten pennies per spring looks like the right number. Start with the coils next to the long straight run and then it's just an easy SNAP to get the end of the spring on the centerstand.
New gal is looking forward to her Pillion Audition! Edgar will be mostly doing local bips and bimbles this year while I get Ernst back up and running.