Re-aligning a Centre Stand

snatchpiece · Post by **snatchpiece** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:13 pm

The centre stand on my 59 G12 is twisted, splayed and generally misshapen, during the winter I intend to remove it and restore it to its true shape (or at least a shape that works). I've done a search on stands to try and determine what material they are made of and the consensus is malleable cast iron, the question I have is can this material be bent back into shape when cold or should it be heated first? the reason I'm asking is because in my simplistic way of thinking it wasn't heated to become splayed and twisted in the first place!

paul knapp · Post by **paul knapp** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:44 pm

Malleable means just that!...it can be 'moved' from it's cast shape, as yours has apparently done. Best method I have found is cold pressing in the hydraulic press, this way the amount of bending can be more easily controlled, rather by manually bending in a vice with a length of pipe over the leg.
Heating would be easier, but could/would anneal the stucture of the metal reducing its already feeble strength.

snatchpiece · Post by **snatchpiece** » Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:36 pm

I've done this using bars, tubes etc without heat. I've also had the stops and the feet built up with weld and the bike now sits properly on its stand, and is so easy to get off. I fitted the return spring using Laxy's jubilee clip method and the small ring spanner method together, couldn't be easier.