BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Folks,

Has anyone had a failure of a center-stand bolt? I read about them frequently on GS forums, and also suggestions the new factory bolts are stronger. I'm a proponent of reasonable preemptive maintenance, and am tempted to pull the center-stand, grease the bushings and pivot pins, and replace the bolts.

If mine haven't (lower suspension, standard centerstand) - I don't think it's a huge issue. Of course if you're looking for work to do, doing general maintenance like that isn't a bad thing. I'd just rather be riding.. Hot in Houston?

deilenberger wrote:If mine haven't (lower suspension, standard centerstand) - I don't think it's a huge issue. Of course if you're looking for work to do, doing general maintenance like that isn't a bad thing. I'd just rather be riding.. Hot in Houston?

Yea, it's hot. But at least it's humid.

R12RnHouston wrote:Yea, it's hot. But at least it's humid.

That's the saving grace in NJ - it's hot, humid and usually overcast due to the pollution. The overcast keeps us from par-boiling.

Don - you forgot that the situation with congested traffic and the insane or heavily drugged drivers is a reason not to ride the bikes so our bikes last longer.

Yup. Mine did, and the machine collapsed without warning when I pushed it off cente stand. Only damage was a slightly bent, still useable centerstand, and $117 mechanic fee including new bolt and bushing. Mechanic said bolt works loose over time, and then fatigues and shears. Check it occasionally.

This seems to be a luck of the draw sort of thing. I'll have to check the bolts on my '12, but my '07 went 96,000 miles on the original bolts. I vaguely remember checking the torque on them once after reading about failures. Mine experience heavy duty use since I have lowered suspension, but the standard height centerstand. I'm lifting the bike higher then stock when it's on the centerstand.

Happily - I have a short version of the sidestand (official BMW issue even!) arriving soon - it was always a PITA trying to park on any road with a crown. Usually had to park perpendicular to the curb. Now if someone just had the short version of the centerstand kicking around..

I finally got around to replacing the center-stand bolts. I purchased this Motion-pro spring puller (which I did not end up using), a 6mm long handle allen wrench, and T50 Torx long handle “L” wrench (both of which I did need). When I looked at the microfiche to order the bolts, I went ahead and ordered the two pairs of o-rings since mine would certainly be gone or at least brittle.



So the manual says to remove this large spring. There is no way! It is much too strong for me even with the spring puller I purchased or anything I had on hand. So realizing I didn’t really need to remove it, but rather just release the tension enough to get the bolts out one at a time, I used coins as shims (pennies are good, nickels are better) to extend it.





Next, the original bolts come out with a long handle 6mm allen wrench (no, there is no room to use a socket on either side) while counter holding the pivot pin with a 22mm open end wrench. I was sure I would need heat, but the right side loosened fairly easily, and to my surprise the left side was barely hand tight (finding that made this exercise worthwhile).





Here is a new bolt (T50 Torx) and old.



So, both of the old bolts looked fine, but I went ahead and renewed the o-rings on each pivot pin, gave them a good smear of synthetic grease that contains some moly, cleaned the bushings in the center-stand, and reinstalled it all with the new bolts.



No way to get a torque wrench in there so I just got them good and snug. Fairly easy job and though unnecessary, it was useful to better understand how the center-stand attaches and catch the loose bolt on the left side before it did fail. Of course now I have to carry that T50 Torx L wrench in my tool roll.

R12RnHouston, nice writeup.

There was a video posted somewhere that showed how to get these heavy centerstand springs off and back on without killing yourself. It was pretty simple - the person used a length of strong thin rope, and used the rear-wheel as an anchor point, making a loop from the rear wheel to the hook on the spring, then pulling it backwards toward the rear-wheel. This gives you 2:1 advantage - and apparently that makes the spring fairly easy to get off and put back on. If there was still too much force required, a second loop (looped around the rim on the back wheel) would give you 4:1 advantage. I have some old sailboat pullies around - maybe I'll make up a block-and-tackle..

I had saved the link for the video for a while - but deleted it the other night. Perhaps a Google will turn it up.. it was probably on U-Tube.

The pennies trick also works fine.

deilenberger wrote:R12RnHouston, nice writeup.

There was a video posted somewhere that showed how to get these heavy centerstand springs off and back on without killing yourself. It was pretty simple - the person used a length of strong thin rope, and used the rear-wheel as an anchor point, making a loop from the rear wheel to the hook on the spring, then pulling it backwards toward the rear-wheel. This gives you 2:1 advantage - and apparently that makes the spring fairly easy to get off and put back on. If there was still too much force required, a second loop (looped around the rim on the back wheel) would give you 4:1 advantage. I have some old sailboat pullies around - maybe I'll make up a block-and-tackle..

I had saved the link for the video for a while - but deleted it the other night. Perhaps a Google will turn it up.. it was probably on U-Tube.

The pennies trick also works fine.

Well great, now I'm going to have to try that!

I like the penny in the spring idea. That is clever and a lot safer than trying to pull on the spring with something. I will need to remember that trick.

Roger L