I love this bike, but I've got a lot to learn...

[92G]

I had a mixed 1st week of bike ownership.

Good:

1) I managed to straighnten out the left run signal braket. It was bent down. It was a small challenge, but it looks good now. It wasn't a big deal, but things that look unsymetrical annoy me to death. Especially when the bike looks so good.

2) Did a lot of riding in the neigborhood(about 40 miles), and even ventured out in to traffic a little today. Still in one pice, so I can't complain.

Bad:

1) The centerstand is kicking my butt! I lost control of the bike, and dropped it over on it's right side. I was unhappy for a moment until I saw the gas spilling out, so not being abel to feel sorry very long looking at my pile of sadness, I muscled it back up two on wheels(in a hurry, and I suppose that could be good point #3). No damage was done to the bike(it dropped on the carpet, and I held on to it as long as I could). Maybe that is good point #4. Now I understand why its good not to buy a new bike as a 1st bike. That would have really sucked with a new bike. It was bad enohg with this one.

2) The battery is toast. I played around with it a little today, and bought a small charger. It charged up failry quick but lossed it's charge in only a coupel of hrs. Off to Sams' for the 22$ champion this weekend.

All in all, I'm having fun, but I've got to figure the centerstand out. I tried the advice I cound on the forum, but the results wern't good. Is the kick stand supposed to be Up, or Down when lowering the center stand? I tried it both ways. When it's down, the centerstand sort of seems to catch on something just as the weight of the bike is shifting up.

This is a great baord with lots of great info. It looks as if I lucked up on a good bike for not a lot of $$$.

Terry

[Anonymous]

The side stand should be up. Do a search, there are a couple of posts on how to get the bike on the center stand. BTW, what kind of bike?

[Anonymous]

Re: I love this bike, but I've got a lot to learn...

Is the kick stand supposed to be Up, or Down when lowering the center stand? I tried it both ways.

I've been counselled that you should have it down when readying the bike for the centerstand. That doesn't seem too hard, as I put the kickstand down and rest the bike on it before I get off the bike. Anyway, it can't hurt to have it down, 'cause if the bike falls towards the stand, you'll be saved. Unless your bike is something special, having the kickstand down should not interfere with the operation of the centerstand.

[92G]

The side stand should be up. Do a search, there are a couple of posts on how to get the bike on the center stand. BTW, what kind of bike?

Thanks to all,

It's an 82 GS650G.

Terry

[earlfor]

Terry, I originally posted this in the ladies section because getting a 500+ lb bike onto the centerstand was our common problem. Theirs due to size and mine due to a bad back. :-) I'm 5'9" and 165 lbs and putting the 1150 on the centerstand is a piece of cake. I do it almost without using my back. Start with the bike on the kickstand on concrete or any hard, level surface. Leave the kickstand down the whole time. Stand on the left side of the bike and left hand on left handlebar, right hand on right handlebar, stand the bike up. Keep the front wheel straight.
Place your left foot on the centerstand, pushing it down until it touches the concrete. Rock the bike right to left slightly to be sure both centerstand feet are touching the concrete equally. Put the majority of your body weight on your left foot that is pressing the centerstand down. Keep the weight on the left foot. Your left hand is still on the left handlebar grip. Remove your right hand from the right grip and place it on the grab handle under the left edge of the seat. Keep pressing down with your left foot. Position your right foot beside the rear axle with your toes pointing towards the axle. Move your left hand to the left lower edge of the seat alongside your right hand. Move your right hand to the right side of the side directly across from your left hand.
Straighten your left leg, pushing the centerstand forward and at the same time pull back and up slightly with your two hands. Leaning backwards slightly will help. The secret is to always keep pressure on the centerstand with your left foot and always keep both sides of the centerstand (its feet) in contact with the concrete. Once you find the footing and spacing that is comfortable for you, you will find that you can stand the bike up, press the centerstand down and hold the bike balanced with only one foot and no hands at all. I just hold it up with one foot and move both my hands at the same time now. :-) Its a good idea to have a couple friends "spot" you the first few times you do this so you can find the leverage and footing that suits your leg length.

With the kickstand down, if you do loose your balance, pulling the bike towards yourself and back will drop it back down onto the kickstand.

Earl

Thanks to all,

It's an 82 GS650G.

Terry

[KGB]

Have you thought aboiut taking a safety course?
I'm not implying anything.
I reccomend it to all new riders, or as a refresher for people that have been away from riding for some time.
I'm not sure where you are, but here's the US web site

https://www.msf-usa.org

[gremlin]

msf

I reccomend it to all riders.

https://www.msf-usa.org

the msf corse is grate. I did it just to get the licenes. after spending a year trying to take the test at the dmv. it seems thay need 25 riders and a bribe just to give the test at the dmv.

If it was up to me i would have every one that wants to drive a car take the test or a shorter corse. after all thay need to learn about every thing on the road. i even had a truck/bike driver that wanted to go up to the highschool to give a demo on just what goes on behind the handle bars and big rig.

[92G]

Got it Thanks!

Well,

I took a small combination of everyone's good advice, and got that baby up on the stand. I guess it's not such a big deal, but I didn't really know what to expect.

The only trick I added was to take the seat off so I could easliy see the feet on the centerstand. I suppose it's leverage and timing.

I did take the MSF intro class. It was fantastic. I plan on taking the intermediate class in a few months.

Terry

[mdole]

Re: Got it Thanks!

Well,

I took a small combination of everyone's good advice, and got that baby up on the stand. I guess it's not such a big deal, but I didn't really know what to expect.

The only trick I added was to take the seat off so I could easliy see the feet on the centerstand. I suppose it's leverage and timing.

I did take the MSF intro class. It was fantastic. I plan on taking the intermediate class in a few months.

Terry

Just make sure that you take some time to practice some of the things you learned esp. breaking in a corner and swerving. That way you will develop some skills and good habits rather than all of the bad ones I developed.


Mike