Member Contributer FromMaine Posted April 15, 2020 Member Contributer Share Posted April 15, 2020 With the weather warming above freezing these last few days I've been able to get out into my garage and start to do some preventative maintenance on my bikes. First in line is my 97 VFR, which gets ridden a lot, so not as much deep maintenance. I decided among other things to disassemble and lubricate the rear suspension, rear wheel bearing and side stand/center stand. I dragged out my Honda Service Manual, and found out that it referred to the center stand as an optional item, and stated, "remove it" with no instructions on how to. My Clymers did have instructions, but said to use a pair of vise grips to remove the spring, which I tried once and discarded as a waste of time. So I went with what we do on Ships. Despite the fact we have lots of Hydraulics and electric servos for the bigger stuff, there are still plenty of smaller spring loaded items onboard. So I removed the spring they same way we do onboard. I took a small piece of strong line and threaded it through the end of the 2 springs on the aft end and tied a square knot for a loop. Then I braced a foot on the bike and pulled aft, the whole procedure took about 20 seconds. If you have the bike blocked up or on a jack you will have to be very careful not to knock it over, maybe do it while on the side stand before you lift the bike up. I had mine on a chainfall to the frame as I was taking the whole rear suspension out. Also, if you have any doubts about the strength of your line, make a loop and tie a knot and try it on a strong point like a vise before on the bike, probably better to find it limitations that way then while under the bike. I've left mine on to make reinstall easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atx Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 I'm having a hard time understanding what was done here, but good job, i hate those springs. I put mine up on the center(or side) stand so the spring is full extension, jam a bunch of pennies in the spring between the coils, and then when you push the stand in a bit the spring won't retract all the way and is easily removed. You can then reinstall it at about that same point as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer FromMaine Posted April 17, 2020 Author Member Contributer Share Posted April 17, 2020 23 hours ago, atx said: I'm having a hard time understanding what was done here, but good job, i hate those springs. I put mine up on the center(or side) stand so the spring is full extension, jam a bunch of pennies in the spring between the coils, and then when you push the stand in a bit the spring won't retract all the way and is easily removed. You can then reinstall it at about that same point as well. Probably should have take more pics. If you pass a large screw driver or long ratchet extension through the loop and pull while bracing against the bike the spring comes off pretty easily. Reinstall is quick also. I like your method and will give it a try sometime, but probably not the ship. We don't tend to have a lot of pocket change hanging around in the middle of the Atlantic. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer carlgustav Posted April 17, 2020 Member Contributer Share Posted April 17, 2020 I just use an exhaust spring puller, cost justified for me as it has multiple uses. I usually forget about the 'pennies' trick ... could also use washers me thinks ...  ACE  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer FromMaine Posted April 17, 2020 Author Member Contributer Share Posted April 17, 2020 2 hours ago, carlgustav said: I just use an exhaust spring puller, cost justified for me as it has multiple uses. I usually forget about the 'pennies' trick ... could also use washers me thinks ...  ACE  Washers we have onboard, never thought of it I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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