Getting FJ on the center stand woes

[Tekime]

Sorry if this has been asked 100 times, I've searched here and Google but get the same old answers.

Having some trouble getting my FJ on the center stand. I'm a light guy (130lbs). Not a total weakling but obviously not benching 300lbs either. Attempted getting my bike on the center stand tonight and it just wouldn't budge. Doesn't help that I just filled up the tank, but still..

I'm using the same basic technique I've used on my other bike for years, one foot on center stand, left hand on handlebar, right hand on the frame, level the bike, pull up and step down.

Now, the floor of my shed has a giant crack down the middle so the front tire is probably 2" higher than the rear. Due to the space it more or less has to be in this one spot or it won't be level and could risk it tipping.

Could that slightly higher front tire account for my difficulties, is there some magic spell I have to cast, or do I just need to start hitting the protein shakes?

I've watched all the YouTube videos of 65lb little girls throwing Goldwings up on the stand with their pinky finger and it just isn't helping with my manhood right now, haha. Any tips/thoughts would be great!

[Tekime]

Update: solved.

I rolled the rear tire up on a few 1" planks, and she popped up on the center stand like butter. Like really hard butter you just took out of the fridge, but butter nonetheless. 

Side note: by placing a single 1" plank, rolling back onto it, then placing two 1" planks in front, rolling onto that, then 3" planks in back, rolling onto that... you get the idea. Gets the rear up just enough to help the center stand engage, if you are on a weird surface or just a weenie like me. That said, you always want to put the bike up on a level surface to avoid a big accident; my shed floor just happens to be uneven except in the very center, so while the tires are not completely level, once on the center stand it is on a level surface. If that makes any sense!

[red]

Tekime,

Shouldn't be that difficult, but the FJ is not a light bike.  The Goldwing does not count, because the center stand is not very tall on that bike. 

Your solution will work well, in the garage.  Start with the center stand going into the low spot, on that cracked floor.
There is a full grip handle under the FJ seat, which is used to get the bike up on the center stand.  It will be obvious if you use a flashlight for the search.     I marked my frame at each end of the grip, so I know right where my hand needs to go for the lift.  Use the right hand, there.  Put the center stand down and hold it there with your stronger foot, touching the floor with both sides of the center stand.  Hold the handlebar steady, using the left hand.  Boots work better than running shoes, here.  Stand your full weight on the center stand foot pedal, then lift and pull rearward with the right hand.  No part of your feet should be touching the ground when you do this trick.  The "goal" here is not to lift the bike, but to increase the distance between the lift handle and the center stand foot pedal.  A rearward pull is one part of the magic.

Have a couple of beefy friends standing ready to catch the bike if necessary, for your first few "lifts."  You probably won't need them, but it's a good idea anyway.  You can also practice the center stand lift in smaller steps, using your wooden boards at first, then working with one less board as your skills increase over time.

If you get near a similar FJ, you may want to check to see if your bike has been lowered on the suspension by a previous owner.  Measure at some middle part of the frame, to the ground, with each bike sitting level on the wheels.  Taller tires would be helpful too, in any case.

Cheers,
Red

[ribbert]

Having some trouble getting my FJ on the center stand........

Your technique sounds textbook but for the omission of an initial jerk to start the weight moving.

Don't roll your eyes at this one because it's happened before - and with long time owners!.  I assume you have found the lifting handle under the LHS of the seat.

Not saying the FJ will ever be easy to put on the centre stand but it will become easier once you've done it a few times.

I have bad back that from time to time makes it impossible to put my bike on CS.

I made this to overcome the problem, just roll the front wheel onto it, hold it with the front brake, stand on the centre stand and the let the bike roll back. I can do it in bare feet and with a couple of fingers, effortless and quick.
After doing it a few times it becomes one fluid action not even requiring the front brake.

If it was a little higher and steeper, you could fully position the stand clear of the ground and drop the bike back onto it.

Even bumping the front wheel up onto a couple of bits of timber will make it easier and you only need to raise the front, not both ends.



It has a handle so I don't have to bend down to move it around.
You could easily make a similar thing from wood, maybe in two steps.

Noel

[The General]

Left hand on the handlebar makes it a lot harder imho.
I`m only 20kg heavier than you and toting a 12 pack physique. Takes a bit of practice to lift with both hands without touching the handlebars but surprisingly achievable, on all three FJ`s I`ve owned....Historically, us little guys have never been in need of an extra inch but getting her home does require a practised strategy.  

[ribbert]

I`m only 20kg heavier than you and toting a 12 pack physique.......

Doug, I suspect you and I got our 6 packs at the same gym.

Noel

[4everFJ]

Compared to other big heavy bikes I have tried, I would say that the FJ center stand design is flawed.

It does lift it higher than necesarry and I think the angles of it could be improved.

With the right technique it is a little easier. Sort of pull up and back at the same time while you step the lever towards the rear, difficult to explain....

[PaulG]

Compared to other big heavy bikes I have tried, I would say that the FJ center stand design is flawed.

Just to nit-pick...  ... and maybe ramble... 

The stand itself isn't the problem but where it's positioned.  After all - the centre stand design hasn't changed in 100 yrs for almost all motorcycles.  I'm not up on modern bikes but the two previous Japanese bikes I used to own had this same issue to some degree ('81 750 Seca, '80 KZ750).  The centre stand was positioned so their was a lot of front end bias.

My next two bikes - '78 BMW R80/7 then a '97 R1100GS - were designed to be in near perfect balance.  Remove either wheel and it would balance on it's opposite - made wheel/brake/fork/drive train maintenance a breeze.  Consequently it also made it extremely easy to put on the centre stand - even fully loaded with touring gear.  And the GS stand was almost twice as long as the old R80.

The stand needs to be positoned at the fulcrum to get the optimum leverage. Remember this from High School Physics:  Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. Archimedes.  This is an attention to detail that the Japanese seemd to give an afterthought to for decades.  Don't know how Brit or other Euro bikes were in the past/present.

This has more to do with chassis design, attention to detail, and manufacturing costs than anything else.  Overall weight will obviously affect this to some degree which is why this detail has become more prominent.  Many Behemoths are up to 900lbs dry - even BMW now has an electric centre stand for the K1600 - and there are plenty of aftermarket gizmos out there now.  So much for the 2300 year old leverage principle.  To move these bikes manually now you would probably need a 12ft extension to do it.

Now there's the movement to the smaller and lighter bikes, so hopefully in the future when I'm too feeble to haul up my FJ, I can still find something that won't break my back.

Ramble over. Thank you - thank you - thank you very much. 

[Charlie-brm]

I was discouraged with my first bike, an XS750 that weighed about 530 lb., similar to the FJ. My friend, all of 130 lb. and skinny like a rail, and in his 60's, could raise his XS850 that is even heavier, no problems. Once he showed me what he was doing, it became second nature. And since then, I have given it a bit of thought long ago and think on it no more. XS's, FJ's, Goldwings. This center stand business seems to have as many opinions as how a bike turns with counter steering.

Mind, if your surface is off or the stand got bent in someway and the geometry is wonky, all bets are off.

I NEVER lift. I originally tried that, just about dumping the bike most times. Think about it. 530 lb. bike, and you are expecting to lift some significant but unknown portion of the bike's weight maintaining an almost fully extended arm. Your left arm can't do jack to help pull up or you'll destabilize the front end. (Maybe if you locked the steering you might, I haven't tried that.)

All I do is drive down with my foot. Think of driving a shovel into the hardest ground you've ever dug into. Not jerky stabs with the foot and yanking on the bar, just determined that you're going to do it and the "shovel" is going to go into that ground. The bike reacts and rises, rotates about the stand axis and moves back. Done. The handle bar and the grab bar are really only to balance myself while the leg does the work (since my "shovel" doesn't have any long handle to hold on to.)

[FJmonkey]

That is a very good way to describe what works for me. I am shifting nearly all my weight to my Right foot and driving the centerstand down while I lift up with my Right hand on the grab position under the tail. Even did it in flipflops once or twice.

[aviationfred]

When I got my first FJ, I weighed in the 130lbs range. Never had a problem getting my FJ on the center stand. I was told exactly what Charlie wrote. Drive the center stand down hard and guide the bike up with the right hand on the lift handle. The left hand does nothing but keep the forks straight.



Fred

[fj1289]

Raise the rear ride height with shorter dog bones and it will get much easier to put it on the center stand!

[Hemi Bob]

Who are you guys 130lbs ! I haven't seen that number since I was 12 years old. 
It was explained to me pretty much as Charlie has said. In the beginning my problem was making Sure both
legs on the stand contacted the ground and the bike was vertical .A quick push down with your right foot and the bike
jumps right up on the stand. Now I did have some problem a number of years ago when I had installed some lower profile tires the legs on the stand were to long. So tires can also change the geometry needed to make the bike stand up on the centre stand with very minimal effort.  But with the stock set up there is no problem The grab handle
is perfect and the left hand on the handlebars just helps you balance. No need to pull your guts out even at 240lbs

Bob

[gumby302ho]

 I went through this very same issue and did post it on here. I am 6ft 190 pounds and can carry a couple pails of water and still see my feet, it took every stone I had to get it up on the center stand, I could not believe it, long story short my shock was sacked out and I was lifting more of the weight. New shock(thanks Randy)now and did add some pre-load and is much better for throwing up on the center stand. I have never did the sag measure setup before which I probably should.

[Alte Fahrt]

I don't feel so bad now about having to get my son to help me get on the center stand. I will try some boards the next time I need to.