getting the bike onto the centre stand ..

[bob121]

Or just get one of robs stands.

[Taid]

Nowadays I approach it with trepidation, and use the side stand a lot ..

I hold the left grip in my left hand and grip under the saddle on the right and pull and lift, and often fail, but I've not dropped it (yet).

In the other thread it talks of left hand at the front of the saddle and right on the rear mudguard handle.

I have positioned myself for this, but it feels very awkward, and I wouldn't care to try it without somebody else around (which would be ill advised these days) to grab the bike if it goes wrong.

Have now tried this method, and think that my memory of reading the original thread is faulty .. I recall it as saying 'left hand at the front right of the saddle' but found that lefthand lifting under the front left makes it work relatively easily .. put the bike up on the stand twice in very quick succession, something I've never been able to do using my old method ..

I will be using this way till the piggy bank can afford a Rob Swift stand ..

[1608]

Using the l/h handlebar grip is pointless as it gives you no lifting or pulling power. Left hand under the front of the seat and right hand on rear mudguard handle and pulling the bike rearwards with less effort in trying to lift the bike works very well. This method is demonstrated in a piece of archive film showing a BSA employee parking the bikes as they come to the end of the production line. If he's doing that all day then he should know. A very simple aid is to place a long wedge or tapered piece of wood in front of the front wheel, push the bike up the ramp a couple of inches lower the stand and let the bike roll back, simples. As an aside, I have just bought a bike lift and intend adapting a small ramp that can be lowered on a hinge at the front of the ramp as using the centre stand on the lift is not too easy.

[Group Leader]

and think that my memory of reading the original thread is faulty .. I recall it as saying 'left hand at the front right of the saddle'

Oh no, that wouldn't work at all well, particularly for a shorty like me!

but found that lefthand lifting under the front left makes it work relatively easily .. put the bike up on the stand twice in very quick succession

Precisely, all hands on the left-hand side of the bike, left hand under the front of the saddle, right hand on the mudguard handle

Alan

[Taid]

Just wondering if part of the reason my AJ is so hard to raise onto the centre stand is the the stand itself ..

While re-watching, what I take to be, Rob Swift's video on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2796DVBIueA) I noted how easily the bike was moved off the stand .. Mine is a bit of a pig to do that .. occasionally I have to have a second go ..

I have been aware since starting with the bike that there are lumps of metal brazed on the ends of the stand legs ..

Capture.JPG

I had assumed that possibly the stand was from some other machine and that the legs were too short, so whoever had done the build way back had lengthened them to correct this .. they are now about 8.5 inches from the centre of the pivot bolt ..can anyone tell me what the measurement should be ..

I should add that when on the stand the suspension seems to be pretty well fully extended..

[dave16mct]

Is the back tyre off the ground?
Dave

[Group Leader]

Is the stand bent?

Mine was when I got my bike and had to be persuaded back to somewhere near flat with the aid of some heat and a hydraulic press. My stand was so bent that it was unusable as the feet hardly touched the ground. It did come with a warning though

Unusable Stand.jpg

If yours is similar and the legs have been extended to compensate then getting it off the stand would be more difficult as the bike would have to move further forward before it went over centre.

Alan

[Taid]

Is the back tyre off the ground?
Dave

no .. but it can be turned as it stands on the ramp

[Taid]

Is the stand bent?

There does appear to be a very slight curve towards the front,

[dave16mct]

It sounds like the centre stand bushes and the stops on the frame and top of the stand are worn (they usually are!)
Dave