Kick stand too loose?

[jamesm113]

The kick stand is not supposed to be loose right? There is a ton of play between the two prongs and the bike's frame.

[Kreylyn]

The kick stand is not supposed to be loose right? There is a ton of play between the two prongs and the bike's frame.

If it's easy to move/moves while riding it's a spring issue. Replace them.

If your talking about when you put the bike on the kickstand it will slide "away" from the bike a bit, that is normal.

If you think it's sliding out too much/far... you can add a thin washer between the kickstand U bracket and frame. Just make sure you don't make the material between the nut and bolt head too thick, or the bolt will clamp down on it and keep the kickstand from moving at all.

Krey

[jamesm113]

Springs fine. Well on occasion it doesn't go all the away up when I kick it up (or at least enough to disengage the kickstand interlock switch), but that's not what I'm worried about.

It slides out very far when I put the bike on the kick stand. There is too much clearance between the frame and the kickstand.

Also, is the the nut some sort of lock nut?

[Kreylyn]

Springs fine. Well on occasion it doesn't go all the away up when I kick it up (or at least enough to disengage the kickstand interlock switch), but that's not what I'm worried about.

It slides out very far when I put the bike on the kick stand. There is too much clearance between the frame and the kickstand.

Also, is the the nut some sort of lock nut?

The springs should keep it very tightly in the upright posistion, and pull it towards the bike to that it would take alot of pressure to move it from side to side. If that is not correct, the springs are in need of replacement.

But, you stated your worried more about the side to side movement. I'll explain how the parts work.

The kick stand has a U bracket at top that goes either side of the frame. The frame has just a slightly oval shaped hole. There are 2 springs, one that holds the kickstand tight in the up position but is weaker over all so it's not too hard to push down. A larger stronger spring will give it the momentum to flip up when moving to the up right position, but also to help keep it in the fully opened position by "tipping over" a certain point. This is where the oval shaped hole comes in.

The bolt and nut on the kickstand work by having a stop point on the bolt for everything to pivot around. The nut is a lock nut to keep the bolt from being able to turn loose with the pivot of the kickstand. The "back side" of the U bracket on the kickstand is threaded. When put on the kickstand on, the bolt should "bottom out" on the bolt shoulder to the back side of the U on the kickstand just prior to making things tight. If this bolt does not bottom out, it will pinch the U bracket onto the frame and make the whole assembly not want to pivot easily or smoothly... it would lock it in place in what ever position you over tightened the bolt. In addtion, the lock nut then "locks down" the bolt in the position so that it can not loosen up. The lock nut is not what keeps the bolt in place, it just locks the bolt in position. The top of the back side of the U portion of the kickstand is threaded.

So, optimally speaking the springs are strong enough to keep it tight upright, and also hold it in the down/extended positions. The bolt is not overly tight to pinch the bracket and lock the kickstand in position so that it can move easily, but no too much play to allow the kickstand to "wobble" out on it's movement. Also, the springs should help pull the kickstand towards the bike when moving to keep it on a stright line path.

If you have the kickstand down halfway or all the way and can easily with your hand move it towards and away from the bike... your springs are very worn out. Even if the holes/bolt are worn to allow for extra movement, those springs should be pulling hard enough that you can't easily move it. It should take some force to counter them.

If you have only have a movement issue when fully extended and putting the bike's weight on to the kickstand, and it then want's to "settle" or move out... this is only a problem if more than 1-2" movement at the kickstand foot. The basic design allows for some movment. If your moving the kickstand out further than that everytime, or it easily wants to do it on it's own, then you may have a wear issue with the pivot hole/spacer. The simple fix here is to add a thin spacer between the frame and the U bracket at the top of the kickstand.

This has to be a thin spacer. Even 1mm might be too thick, so just note that when your done and everything is tighened up... the kickstand should still move freely enough that the springs can pull it into the fully upright position on their own.

Krey

[jamesm113]

Wow, I never knew the kickstand could be so complicated

The original problem was there would be a lot of movement when the kickstand was down - the bike would settle a LOT and even fell over once or twice (plus countless close calls). In addition, it didn't go all the way up to disengage the interlock switch, but that wasn't as big of a deal to me.

So a couple months ago, in my infinite wisdom, I tried using a breaker bar to tighten the bolt/nut to force the U bracket closer together. That didn't work, and after that, the nut wouldn't come out (it just spun freely against the kickstand).

Last night, I was planning on heating up the kickstand with a torch and hammering the U bracket part so it would get closer together.

However, after dremeling the nut out last night, the bolt wouldn't come out either- it just spins freely in place too.

So, looks like I'm buying a new kickstand, bolt, nut & springs when all I needed was new springs

[jamesm113]

How tight does the nut go? Until it's flush with the kickstand?

[Kreylyn]

How tight does the nut go? Until it's flush with the kickstand?

Basically, yes. Adjust the bolt tightness correctly, then tighten the nut down to lock it in place.

Krey