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Side Stand


chutta

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Has anyone else seen the need for a shorter side stand? The angle of a 800F is nearly perp to the ground with the stock side stand, not to mention the very close proximity of it's end to that of the center stand kicker. The possibility of the bike blowing over with it's sail of a fairing or possibly kicking it over by glazing the seat with your boot if you have a tail bag on for example is fairly good.

Without always tucking your pant leg within your boot, these can snag very easily on the stands mechanisms( I inadvertently kicked the stand down the other day, killing the bike, fortunately by the shoulder at low speed)

 

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A friend of mine had the suspension on her 6gen lowered which required the Side Stand to be shortened, this had a negative effect on the bikes stability with wind in either direction while parked, you also had to be far more aware of any pavement camber.

So the way I see it, is that shortening of the stand creates a negative effect by being less stable and more prone to topple depending on wind direction, strength and pavement angle.

A greater reaching with slighter angled stand will increase stability but there is obviously a practical limit to that. So it's length and angle is a fine line between good overall stability and practicality.

 

My bike is the same as yours, and provided I get the bike positioned correctly on any camber, it's very stable on the side stand, and never had an issue even with full OEM panniers.

YMMV.

 

P.s. By the way, how did you get on with the vibration issue you had? Have you fitted the new chain and sprockets?

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Never had a problem with mine  in the years i've had it . I also wear  my biking trousers outside my boots and  never had an issue with it catching on the stand, with the foot being placed outside  of the peg when putting it down.

 

 

The only problem i can see is if you wear bell bottoms.

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I've often wished the sidestand on my 6th gen was just slightly shorter.  It's fine most of the time, but if I need to park just off the side of the road, with the road camber the bike is sometimes too upright for me to feel comfortable getting off and back onto the bike without feeling like it might fall over to the right.

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Grum: I've replaced chain and sprockets to same issue. Notice when on ctr stand and with running I see the chain hop vertically. I can't remember that I ever noticed or checked for this in my dirtbiking days. Just rolling with it. 

 

Back to the stand issue. I am just going to always place jeans within my SIDI's or Rockets and ratchet the calf adjustment in, likewise with my AGV Willow perfed pants.

 

Anyone else find it odd that Honda placed the signal indicator switch BELOW the horn?

It's not like you can rotate the assembly up or down for fitment to you. 

 

 

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I agree with the OP, the oem side stand on the gen8 makes the bike stand up straighter than I prefer when being left in windy parking lots, I prefer a bit of lean when on the side stand. I switched out the oem side stand to an adjustable one, it makes me feel much more comfortable. I bought an extra oem side stand to get shortened, but have yet to find a place that does this mod, if anyone knows of a place please chime in, thanks. 

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It’s fine for me, so that’s 2 Brits with no problem and 2 Americans who do have a problem 

 

Only thing I can think off is we have roads with a crown in the middle and 3-4” of fall across to the channel, most roads in the USA are concrete and dead flat .....and cracked to fuck, overbanded, etc, etc

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Just bump up the rear ride height 10mm or so.  That'll effectively shorten the side stand and quicken the steering to boot...

 

Ciao,

 

JZH

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I'll check that out. I did a sag check last week alone. Maybe it was a little much. I notice the "chicken strip" area is a third that of the front.

I raised the seat yesterday, lessening the near hip displacement from the knee angle and can still flat foot at least one foot at 5'7". Might be a problem when I add the air seat 

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On 9/21/2020 at 10:53 PM, chutta said:

Anyone else find it odd that Honda placed the signal indicator switch BELOW the horn?

It's not like you can rotate the assembly up or down for fitment to you. 

 

 

Funny you mention that. For the first few weeks when making a turn I would regularly be hitting the horn button. BUT once I got used to it, it felt very natural and I wouldn't want it any other way. The turn switch sits nicely adjacent to your thumb, no reaching higher or searching for the turn switch, just right where you want it, 

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I went about a month riding only my new BMW before riding my VFR again, and despite the same layout of left side switches, I struggled to locate the turn signal cancel button on the VFR the first half hour of my ride.  (Also, it was still dark outside, so I couldn't see it either.)  The spacing for that control is just a little different and I really threw me off at first.  The other difference is the VFR's indicator switch is mechanical and the BMW's is electronic (with self-cancelling signals), so it feels like it takes much more effort to cancel the VFR's indicators.  Funny how quickly we adapt to something new, then when we go back we have to get used to the old one again.

 

I'm just thankful BMW doesn't put those crazy separate turn signal buttons (one per side) on their bikes anymore.  I test rode a bike with the old layout on it this summer and it was awful.  I hit the horn a couple times I was trying to hit the left blinker, and then couldn't find the cancel button for a minute after turning.  I'm sure I could have gotten used to it, but it sucked.

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3 hours ago, TimC said:

 

I'm just thankful BMW doesn't put those crazy separate turn signal buttons (one per side) on their bikes anymore.  I test rode a bike with the old layout on it this summer and it was awful.  I hit the horn a couple times I was trying to hit the left blinker, and then couldn't find the cancel button for a minute after turning.  I'm sure I could have gotten used to it, but it sucked.

About 10 years ago I rented a BMW GS800 in Menton France on the Italian border. I didn't want a BMW but if you rented, it would be a GS1150 or 800. I spent a day in the French Alps and a day in the Italian Alps, and everything was fine except I could not for the life of me get my right turn signal to work. I even spent a half hour in my hotel parking lot trying to figure out what was wrong without success. Dropping the bike off on the third day the owner came out to check it and signed off on it. I mentioned the problem with the right turn signal, and he said "I checked the lights an hour before you left." Well they don't work. He stuck the key in and turned the ignition on, then reached for the right handlebar.

 

I was stunned.

 

On the train ride back to the boat I was thinking, BMW cars don't have separate stalks for their turn signals, What was Motorrad thinking?

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15 hours ago, Grum said:

 

Funny you mention that. For the first few weeks when making a turn I would regularly be hitting the horn button. BUT once I got used to it, it felt very natural and I wouldn't want it any other way. The turn switch sits nicely adjacent to your thumb, no reaching higher or searching for the turn switch, just right where you want it, 

Try getting used to it when you're switching back and forth to another bike though

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45 minutes ago, chutta said:

Try getting used to it when you're switching back and forth to another bike though

Ah yes, you have a good point there. I only have one bike.

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My Renault car is manual, the (recently added) Audi automatic gearbox.  It does get confusing at times. But, I will persevere!!

 

My Gilera has brake and gear change pedal reversed vs modern bikes.,. That too requires focus 🙂

 

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6 minutes ago, Dutchy said:

My Renault car is manual, the (recently added) Audi automatic gearbox.  It does get confusing at times. But, I will persevere!!

 

My Gilera has brake and gear change pedal reversed vs modern bikes.,. That too requires focus 🙂

 

 

Good point there to Dutchy!

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2 hours ago, Dutchy said:

My Renault car is manual, the (recently added) Audi automatic gearbox.  It does get confusing at times. But, I will persevere!!

 

My Gilera has brake and gear change pedal reversed vs modern bikes.,. That too requires focus 🙂

 

 

I've seen videos of Americans driving and reviewing imported right-hand drive cars, and I always think it must feel very weird driving on the "wrong" side of the car.  Even weirder if it's a manual transmission and you're shifting with the left hand instead of the right.

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19 minutes ago, TimC said:

 

I've seen videos of Americans driving and reviewing imported right-hand drive cars, and I always think it must feel very weird driving on the "wrong" side of the car.  Even weirder if it's a manual transmission and you're shifting with the left hand instead of the right.

Living in the UK (right-hand drive) and regularly holidaying in Europe (left-hand drive), you get used to it very quickly. As you do when manufacturers decide to change things that we have become accustomed to. It's change we don't like and it often puts us off new things when after a little bit of time we realise that the new thing is probably better than the old.

 

BTW, the "right" side is our side! Back in medieval times, travellers riding their horses or driving their carriages and coming upon someone travelling in the opposite direction, would naturally move over to the left hand side of the path in order to keep their sword hand (most people are right handed) closest to the stranger. They were often bad times. As many grew to hate or at the least, dislike the British Empire (let's face it, we fought the French a lot more than the Germans until the 20th Century), they decided to rebel against the logic and drive on the "wrong" side of the road just to spite us.

 

Just sayin'..... :wink:

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Even better, in Australia, southern hemisphere, we can drive on the "wrong"' side, change gears with our left hand and do it all upside down:laughing6-hehe:..............:offtopic:

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2 hours ago, Grum said:

Even better, in Australia, southern hemisphere, we can drive on the "wrong"' side, change gears with our left hand and do it all upside down:laughing6-hehe:..............:offtopic:

When I was in Australia, my driving routine was to come to an intersection and signal a turn with my windshield wipers . . . (if I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand).  I felt like an idiot!  :laugh:  Driving on the opposite side of what one is accustomed to can be a humbling experience!  :rolleyes:

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1 hour ago, Cogswell said:

When I was in Australia, my driving routine was to come to an intersection and signal a turn with my windshield wipers 

I completely understand, while in Australia, every time I signaled a turn with the windshield wipers, my coworker declared it was "The New Guy Wave" !

:laughing6-hehe::laughing6-hehe::offtopic:

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On 10/8/2020 at 8:04 AM, Grum said:

Even better, in Australia, southern hemisphere, we can drive on the "wrong"' side, change gears with our left hand and do it all upside down:laughing6-hehe:..............:offtopic:

 

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