What is up with my kickstand? Bike falls over.

[ArtByScars]

My bike has fallen over (wind related) twice.
'83 GS850G(od) D(amnit!) (I guess is what that stands for )
The kickstand keeps the bike pretty upright, it really doesn't lean much.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they've done or swapped out..??
My tires are inflated to proper psi.
It seems like the stand is just 2 or 3 inches too long.

I swapped my sidestand with the one from my '79 gs850, which is shorter- but the 79 had no sensor, so it doesn't press my sensor in when it's up, so I have an annoying red light on now.
...and it scraped the ground on a left hand curve- that was unnerving :-\\\

Not a big deal, but annoying.

discuss..

-Noah

 

[tom203]

Annoying indeed! Hopefully some sane person will chime in shortly.
Me, I'd just cut 1 inch out of midsection of your 83 850 kickstand and weld it back together and then adjust sensor to suit.

 

[bwringer]

Most likely, your shocks and front fork springs are sacked, worn out, bunk, garbage, and N.G.

Grab a set of fork springs from Progressive or Sonic and upgrade the rear shocks with Progressive, Hagon, or MDIs.

The bike's suspension is sagging under its own weight to the degree that it sits too upright.

This is also an excellent way to end up dead when you get spit off in some gentle corner. Suspension upgrades are not optional on a 25+ year old bike.

 

[salty_monk]

Also may have a 16" rear wheel from an L model fitted or lower profile tyres... worth looking at but I suspect suspension as well.