Center Stand angle question

[GregO]

Due to my short inseam I lowered my NT700V ABS 1.25"

Now its next to impossible to get my bike on the center stand. And I am by NO means weak. I know I will have to have the legs of the stand cut and re-welded... but my question is how much?

What may help is ... if anyone can stand there bike perfectly straight up on a concrete surface... slowly lower the center stand until it hits the concrete and tell me the degrees the stand is at before you engage the stand?

OR if you have ever shortened your NT like mine... how much did you take off?

Any help would be great. My 3 local Honda dealers don't have any NT's in stock. We are the last of a dying breed owning these bikes it seems.

Thanks

GregO

 

[artemedes]

Due to my short inseam I lowered my NT700V ABS 1.25"

Now its next to impossible to get my bike on the center stand. And I am by NO means weak. I know I will have to have the legs of the stand cut and re-welded... but my question is how much?

What may help is ... if anyone can stand there bike perfectly straight up on a concrete surface... slowly lower the center stand until it hits the concrete and tell me the degrees the stand is at before you engage the stand?

OR if you have ever shortened your NT like mine... how much did you take off?

Any help would be great. My 3 local Honda dealers don't have any NT's in stock. We are the last of a dying breed owning these bikes it seems.

Thanks

GregO

Putting an NT is less about strength and all about technique. When i first got mine i was frustrated because i dont consider myself weak but had the hardest time getting the bike in the sidestand. I was trying to pull the bike up. That just didnt work very well.

I found that if i first baaence the bike and with my right foot i get the center stand so that both feet are touching. Then i simply stand on the center stand and it almost jumps up on the centerstand. Once you get the technique down and take your time getting the center stand ready before you stand on it you will find it easy.

 

[elizilla]

How much it helps to stand on the pedal, depends on what you weigh. I used to have a V-Strom that I had no trouble centerstanding. Then I lost a lot of weight. Not only did I have to get new riding gear, new skis, and a different spring for my custom rear suspension, I also discovered that I suddenly had tons of trouble putting that bike on the centerstand. If the bike was loaded with luggage, it was pretty much impossible for me to centerstand it alone.

Also, you need more weight and more power, to get the bike on the stand if the bike is lowered and the stand is still long. Because you have more to get up and over. So I wouldn't assume GregO is doing it wrong.

 

[ARKNT]

I started to measure the angle but I didn't have the help I needed. If you are only planning to use the centerstand for maintenance, you might try rolling the bike rear tire up on a piece of wood like a 2x6, then putting it up on the centerstand. others here have used that idea.

Brad

 

[charlie b]

Yeah, getting it up on the stand after lowering will be tough.

I'd cut the stand 1.25". If you want the exact amount then measure the angle of the stand when it is down. Then it is geometry to figure out what you need to cut (1.25/cosine of the angle). So, if the angle is 20deg, then cut 1.33".

 

[ARKNT]

I measured the angle while up on the centerstand, as Charlie B suggests, and get an angle of 9 deg from verticle. I took a pic of the angle gauge to make sure what angle I am refering to. I used angle gauge to measure then transfered the angle to my table saw miter gauge.


Brad

 

[dnktng]

Grego,
Not sure this helps, but my stock NT's rear tire is 1" (25mm) off the ground when on the centerstand on a cement floor. I would think that you could measure your height on centerstand and cut the centerstand to reduce it to 1". I'm weak, and have no problem centerstanding. Think "back" on centerstand, not "up" on centerstand...easy.

 

[charlie b]

So that means you need to cut 1.27" from the stand. That is based on you having lowered the bike exactly 1.25".

For any who want to see what Dan's problem is, Place a 1.25" board under the bike where the centerstand feet touch down and try to get the bike up on the stand. It makes a HUGE difference, even with all the right techniques. FWIW, I do exactly that when changing the rear tire. It gets the rear end up just enough to make sneaking it out a bit easier. But getting it up on the stand is sometimes a two person job.

 

[dnktng]

But getting it up on the stand is sometimes a two person job.

I put a 1.2" block under my centerstand and it raised the rear tire 1.65" (From 1 to 2.65"). So for every 1" of rear tire height change desired .73" centerstand vertical height change is needed (1.2/1.65=.73).

If GregO's rear tire is at 2.5" off the ground and he wants it to be at 1", he needs to lower it 1.5". 1.5*.73=1.1". So 1.1" vertical height is needed changed at the centerstand. A little geometry (ugh) with a 9 degree angle centerstand angle and the linear length to cut out of the centerstand would be 1.11".

Charlie, to get my NT on centerstand with a 1.2" block I first rolled the front tire onto a 1.2" board, then backed onto the centerstand with a block under the centerstand. It was not much different than putting it on centerstand normally...easy, one person, and I'm weak.

 

[GregO]

Thanks to all. Now all I need is someone to cut and weld... LOL.. Im sure I can get a fried to do it.

All of the responses are greatly appreciated.

 

[junglejim]

Bring it up, I'll do it for free. But you have to re-paint it.

 

[kenstone]

I too have lowered my NT and have yet to shorten the centerstand.

My plan is to remove length below the cross bar, and scratch a line parallel to the centerline thru the portion to be removed, before any cutting, to maintain the "clock" position of the feet and foot lever
I plan to remove the gusset from the foot lever and re-attaching it after I have shortened the tubes and welded all the way around them.

DirtFlier (Tosh) had sent me his spring compressor with some instruction regarding the centerstand mod, and suggested inserting a tube inside, to bridge the joint to be welded...thanks Tosh
He also drilled a hole in each of the tubes above and below the joint to button weld the inner tube and hold it in place, something I plan to do.
I want to maintain the spring attachment point distance too, so it functions the same, and some fabrication maybe needed for that too.
I'll take some pics along the way and ask anyone who has done this to do the same and post them
Thanks, Ken

 

[DirtFlier]

I bought my NT in Dec 2009 and lowered it a few months later. For the first year or so I lived with the standard centerstand then decided the 2nd winter that I'd cut the legs. I removed the centerstand then used a cutoff saw to chop off the legs below the "H" crossbar. If you make the cut above the H, you'll run into a problem with the angles - unless you want to completely redo the H.

With my bike strapped to the lift, I placed a sissor jack under the engine and raised the bike until the rear tire was 1/2" above the lift table. You can choose any dimension you want but the smaller this distance, the easier it is to get the bike up and onto the centerstand. With the chopped centerstand reinstalled and in the down position, I measured the distance to the lift table which became the length of the shortened lower legs but I never made a record of that dimension.

When making the cuts scribe a register mark perpendicular to the cuts so the legs will be oriented correctly after welding. Especially important is the left side because it has the long leg used as a lifting bar.