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Sidestand Wobbling, Causing Excessive Lean


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Recently bought my 2004 VFR800, and when I bought it, it certainly did NOT have this much lean when on the sidestand!

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It leans like a cruiser! Luckily I noticed it before it could tip, and it is now parked on the center stand.

I noticed the sidestand is wobbly. The obvious answer is "tighten it up", but the bolt in front is tough, along with the bolt that is behind the side stand sensor. This is as tight as I can get it, unless there is something blocking it or I didn't tighten it enough (I didn't want to overtighten it)

Video of wobbly stand:

Any tips for fixing this?

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  • Member Contributer

Common issue.

You have lost one of the side stand bolts and the other is loose.

Get replacement for the missing bolt, clean the area well, put some red Locktite on both and torque them back in.

The play you're seeing when you move it by hand relative to the base of the stand is normal.

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Yes, common issue. You should have one bolt and one acorn type nut holding the sidestand onto the bottom of the motor.

After two applications of red Loctite, and two missing bolts I upgraded to safety wire.

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put some red Locktite on them and torque them back in.

Is it red or blue that has to be heated to 500F to remove?

Usually if one bolt gets lost the thing will move more front to back than side to side like that iirc.

Tighten 'em and see how it goes. :comp13:

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Common issue.

You have lost one of the side stand bolts and the other is loose.

Get replacement for the missing bolt, clean the area well, put some red Locktite on both and torque them back in.

The play you're seeing when you move it by hand relative to the base of the stand is normal.

Well I'm glad to know this is more common and I am not the "oddball", I'll get that fairing off and find which bolt has disappeared.

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Common issue.

You have lost one of the side stand bolts and the other is loose.

Get replacement for the missing bolt, clean the area well, put some red Locktite on both and torque them back in.

The play you're seeing when you move it by hand relative to the base of the stand is normal.

Well I'm glad to know this is more common and I am not the "oddball", I'll get that fairing off and find which bolt has disappeared.

UPDATE: turns out I am missing the allen head bolt! The acorn bolt is still there (updated notations in the video)

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UPDATE: turns out I am missing the allen head bolt! The acorn bolt is still there (updated notations in the video)

It is always the bolt for some reason.... the acorn nut never goes missing, at least that is my experience. If you do go with safety wire you will need to corner drill the nut.

I posted above that I used red loctite, but I'm not so sure of that now. I may have used blue. Either way, I've not lost another bolt after I safety wired them together.

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UPDATE: turns out I am missing the allen head bolt! The acorn bolt is still there (updated notations in the video)

It is always the bolt for some reason.... the acorn nut never goes missing, at least that is my experience. If you do go with safety wire you will need to corner drill the nut.

I posted above that I used red loctite, but I'm not so sure of that now. I may have used blue. Either way, I've not lost another bolt after I safety wired them together.

Loctite doesn't work well when oil is present in the threads. And that area gets hit with lots of chain lube; I think the lube and vibration is what eventually works the bolts loose.

I degreased the hell out of the threads and used blue loctite because I didn't have red loctite at the time. 3000 miles later and still no problems. :cool:

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UPDATE: turns out I am missing the allen head bolt! The acorn bolt is still there (updated notations in the video)

It is always the bolt for some reason.... the acorn nut never goes missing, at least that is my experience. If you do go with safety wire you will need to corner drill the nut.

I posted above that I used red loctite, but I'm not so sure of that now. I may have used blue. Either way, I've not lost another bolt after I safety wired them together.

Loctite doesn't work well when oil is present in the threads. And that area gets hit with lots of chain lube; I think the lube and vibration is what eventually works the bolts loose.

I degreased the hell out of the threads and used blue loctite because I didn't have red loctite at the time. 3000 miles later and still no problems. :cool:

I've used Loctite every working day of my life for the past 23 years. (Until just the last few months when I moved from the paper converting industry to the food industry) The prep work was correct and I suspect I may have used Primer T on the second application.

Even properly applied Loctite can be damaged mechanically with thermal expansion and contraction. I've often suspected it can also decompose over time with exposure to the elements and less-than-breakdown temperatures - although Henkel's literature does not specifically call that out.

In thousands, and thousands of Loctite applications I've had very few failures of the product... but I've had a few... maybe seven or eight. All due to thermal expansion and contraction, in my opinion.

I'm a big, big fan of lock wire.

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I have the Honda bolt on order, but.....it's a long weekend and I want to ride with the sidestand normally! Any idea of the thread type and size of this bolt? I was gonna head to the hardware store to pick up one as a substitute until the Honda one comes in!

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I can tell you that I got my second bolt from the hardware store... there is nothing special about it.

It's been quite a while ago since my last replacement (coming back from TMAC 2011), but I seem to think it was the fine thread version of an 8mm or 10mm. Stick a piece of wire up in the hole to determine length.

You could probably buy one of each (8 x 1.25, 8 x 1.0, 10 x 1.5, 10 x 1.25) in the correct length for less than the price of the one correct Honda bolt you ordered.

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Also make sure the Locktite is fully cured before you install any ABS fairing pieces near or next to where you applied it as Locktite had been known to damage fairings just from the off-gassing while curing. I've heard that some people woke up to crumbling plastic after using Locktite on their bikes....

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  • 2 months later...

So I'm selling a sidestand to a fella and he's asking for the bolts... which I don't seem to have... the allen head one fell off on a long trip and I used some threaded bar and two nuts on each end with blue loctite.. just to be sure...

Anyway I wanted to give him a heads up on the bolts and here someone mentions M10x26... is 26 the length in mm???... if it is it seems rather short... and the head on this bolt is a very wide allen key head... I figured to at least give him the Honda part reference numbers... the allen head bolt is there... but there is no sign of the acorn nut in the microfiche exploded view... this nut corresponds to the orrifice which the number 2 is basically pointing at (although the number 2 is actually referring to the bracket). And it's not number 18 as this holds the actual sidestand on... also I'm wondering about the bolt that the acon nut threads onto... no sign of that one either... although maybe it's a threaded bar coming out of the bike frame or whatever the stand bolts onto.

Anyone?? Bueller??

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  • 2 years later...

Once again, the forum comes through for me. Lost the forward most side stand or ( kickstand ) bracket bolt. Gave the bike a serious gangsta lean, so much so, that I knew there was a problem. Quick forum search tells me I need an M10x25 or 26 bolt with 1.25 thread pitch.

Options are either Honda OEM 90106-MAT-000 I believe, or a trip to my local big box hardware store. Thanks gents...

And after giving this area a good look over, I'm gonna put a nice clean new stand there. My bike looks new again, it deserves to be clean and new down there too.

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Lost my bolt while touring in Michigan's UP last summer ... we pulled over on H-58 to take some photos and my bike just about went over.

I ended up stopping at Ace Hardware in Marquette and replacing it with a stainless steel clevis pin with a cotter pin in it. Worked like a charm!

It was a PITA at every stop having to have one of my buddies stand near by as I got off my heavily loaded bike to make it it didn't fall over, and put it on the C-stand until then. Didn't realize how much I took that side stand for granted!

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That's good thinking on your feet though.

I just need anything right now temporarily, since it's going to spend most of the next few months on its dolly. Need the side stand working to use that dolly though. I'm sure Home Depot will have enough bits for a solution until the new stand comes... Whenever that is.

Thanks for the option of the clevis pin.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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That's good thinking on your feet though.

I just need anything right now temporarily, since it's going to spend most of the next few months on its dolly. Need the side stand working to use that dolly though. I'm sure Home Depot will have enough bits for a solution until the new stand comes... Whenever that is.

Thanks for the option of the clevis pin.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The nice thing about the clevis pin and cotter pin combo, is that it will NEVER come loose unless the cotter pin shears which is almost impossible since there's no load on it.

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  • Member Contributer

No one so far has covered my sidestand experience. My 100,000+ mile 01 had developed a serious lean late in life while on a long trip. When I returned I took it apart and found the pivot hole had gotten bigger and out-of-round. I needed to buy a new sidestand bar and bracket. Those pivot holes in the sidestand bar and sidestand bracket eventually wear out. Happens so gradually it's difficult to notice.

I've also lost a mounting bolt. Symptoms are the same. Same, to a lesser extent, loose bolts.

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This is so strange. I just went for a ride with a friend of mine and as we stopped to turn around, I noticed the bike was leaning on its side stand a bit more than usual. The odd thing was when I went to pull away and couldn't select first gear. I initially thought I'd killed the gearbox, and it was only when we stopped for petrol later on that I had a closer inspection. The side stand base had pivoted clockwise around the remaining bolt after losing the front one, and the return spring anchor was blocking the gear shift lever from moving downwards. With my mate holding the bike upright, I managed to yank the side stand back in to place and, lo and behold, I could change into first again. Now, thanks to you guys, I don't have to track down the bolt I need.

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Boom. There ya go. The Forum doing what The Forum does...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

does... fabulously.

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