The side and center stand on my bike were in poor condition when I bought it. The "handle" on the side stand was broken off, and the center stand had been broken, welded badly, bent, etc. It's a pain to use either, in particular on sloped surfaces.
I bought a replacement, a nice, clean, straight setup. I cleaned it, blasted it, painted it, reassembled with fresh lube, it's a thing of beauty.
And replacing the stand is a pretty easy job. Brace the bike, unhook the little spring from the rear brake master, take out 4 bolts, unhook the little spoke from the side stand to the clutch. Assembly is the reverse.
So why, with all the other work I've done, was this job the one I decided to postpone?
Yesterday I rode to lunch. I parked on the side of the street, and because of the slope, I decided to use the side stand. That requires getting off the bike, bending over and grabbing the pad to pull it out. And when I bent over, I lost my balance, and DROPPED THE DAMN BIKE!
Grrr... :bang-head: I've been saying to myself for a couple weeks, "You better fix that thing before you run out of luck..."
Now it has a nice, freshly refurbished stand set. And a crunched lower fairing, a cracked side bag, a broken mirror, and a scrape on the crank cover.
So as always, stupidity is painful.
Don't put off easy, important jobs. Don't be me.
