Center stand hitting the ground when i go over bumps

[staffordworks]

Cant tell if i should tighten my suspension, get new return springs for the stand or both?

anyone else experience this?

[Motorhobo]

Those springs have serious tension on them. I ran my bike without the rubber bushing that prevents the CS from whacking against the exhaust and don't remember hearing any whacking while riding, that's how much tension is on those springs. Maybe you should see if you can get the springs off. If they come off easy you may have the wrong springs. I always have to wrestle to get them off and on.

[beachcomber]

Try immobilising the centre stand in the up position [ tie down strap / similar ] so you can eliminate that from the equation / or not. I don't have that problem, mine's been in the bin for years.

[pdg]

Mine hasn't got a centrestand, it snapped way before I bought the bike...

Have a look to see if there's a gap betwixt the stand and the rubber buffer, or post a picture of that area.


Do you a shorter than standard shock on it to lower the height?

[staffordworks]

yea thats a good idea, i do need to make sure thats whats happening, its not quite feeling like i'm bottoming out and there's this grindy scrapey sound leading to that conclusion but if i tied it up and it went away i could be sure.  but also my suspension is soft, need to reload the front forks and tighten the back but then i'm guessing i'd just have more inertia on the stand going down  :dunno

[staffordworks]

hmm shock could be shorter i should measure, just replaced it with one from a fellow bricker think his was off an 87 and my old one wasn't stock, i should measure them and see

thanks,

[pdg]

As far as I know the K75 standard shock length didn't change through the production. Shorter aftermarket ones are pretty popular though because it seems people find them too tall....

I raised mine by making a bracket for the top mount so now it's about 1.5" taller than stock, coupled with the extra preload in the progressive sprung forks means if I was to fit a centre stand now it wouldn't hit the ground even when it's parked  :yes

[pdg]

yea thats a good idea, i do need to make sure thats whats happening, its not quite feeling like i'm bottoming out and there's this grindy scrapey sound leading to that conclusion but if i tied it up and it went away i could be sure.  but also my suspension is soft, need to reload the front forks and tighten the back but then i'm guessing i'd just have more inertia on the stand going down  :dunno

Also, have a good look at your rear tyre...

Seeing as you say the suspension is 'soft' and if the guy in your avatar is you then  (in the nicest possible way) you are, um, 'a gentleman of ample stature'......... Something I noticed on my 75 is that by the measurements I took the tyre would hit before the shock bottomed out with a 1" shorter shock...

[staffordworks]

ha! yes that is me :), however that is 60lbs ago, so that should be less of a factor now, the only change was the rear shock and i didn't adjust that, as far as i can tell its on the softest setting.  tire is new and pressure checked recently as well.

also i have the lowered seat setup which i dont like because i'm 6'5" but changing that looks tedious and expensive  :musicboohoo:

[beachcomber]

K75 / 100 - 350mm eye to eye open is stock length.  325mm the short version, 380mm long version [ also K1100 ]

OEM shox are not known for their longevity. Remove the spring and see if you have any dampening in the shock itself.

When the dampening goes awol, the spring is taking an additional beating and fails quicker because of that. There's a pic on one of the forums where the spring has actually snapped !

Replace a worn shock and your ride will be transformed !

[staffordworks]

this is the replacement shock, though not new its in good shape, what it replaced was all spring and a total head bouncer for sure and this one works very well, however, i made no adjustments to it when i put it on, i'm not sure but i think its on the softest setting so i might try tweaking that this weekend, less travel maybe less inertia and i need to get under there and see if i have all my springs on the stand.

[TimTyler]

... i have the lowered seat setup which i dont like because i'm 6'5" but changing that looks tedious and expensive

There are always short riders wishing for low seat setups. Most will be happy to do a straight Low/High trade. Switching the hardware is not hard or dirty. Just make sure the parties exchange all the hardware bits.

At 6'5" you should most definitely get yourself a higher seat.

[Motorhobo]

At 6'5" you should most definitely get yourself a higher seat.

My K75s are low seat and at five eight I can flat foot them. You must be chewing your knees.

The only downside to the low to high conversion is the higher center of gravity. I like it low.

[ReneZ]

I'm 6'5" and I had fitted a RAM 1100 shock, which worked great for me. Only 'negative', if you want to call it that, was that the rear wheel touched the floor whilst on the centre stand. I ended up fitting some spacers between the centre stand frame and the gear box. But that was in Scotland. Meantime in the US and the RAM option is not as 'cost effective' any more. Thinking about what to do next.....