Commando sidestand

Hello Mark,

Can't help with advice on an alternative, but Iâve long held the opinion that the Commando side stand is one of the best on any motorcycle Iâve encountered, but most wear on the faces that limit the travel of the stand, both on the stand & on the lug, meaning the stand disappears too far under the exhaust pipe & silencer to be easily found & also goes too far forward to reach when sitting on the bike. Iâm just shy of six foot & can sit on a Commando with both feet flat on the floor & find that on many of them, even I canât reach the stand to retrieve it. If you build up the worn surfaces with weld & grind them back to shape so the stand stops where Norton intended it to, & then slightly lengthen the prong (or add one if you have an earlier stand without it) you should be able to customise it to your build & seating position etc so that you can easily find it with your heel to deploy it, & also reach it with your toe to pull it back. It's also a good idea to make sure the pivot bolt & its bush are in good condition so the bolt can be tightened without compromising the movement of the stand, but without leaving too much play. Iâve carried out this procedure to several customers bikes, as well as my own & have usually been able to end up with a stand that is easy to use & will almost never let the bike fall.Hope this may help you,Regards, Tim

Previously tim_gostling wrote:

Hello Mark,

Can't help with advice on an alternative, but Iâve long held the opinion that the Commando side stand is one of the best on any motorcycle Iâve encountered, but most wear on the faces that limit the travel of the stand, both on the stand & on the lug, meaning the stand disappears too far under the exhaust pipe & silencer to be easily found & also goes too far forward to reach when sitting on the bike. Iâm just shy of six foot & can sit on a Commando with both feet flat on the floor & find that on many of them, even I canât reach the stand to retrieve it. If you build up the worn surfaces with weld & grind them back to shape so the stand stops where Norton intended it to, & then slightly lengthen the prong (or add one if you have an earlier stand without it) you should be able to customise it to your build & seating position etc so that you can easily find it with your heel to deploy it, & also reach it with your toe to pull it back. It's also a good idea to make sure the pivot bolt & its bush are in good condition so the bolt can be tightened without compromising the movement of the stand, but without leaving too much play. Iâve carried out this procedure to several customers bikes, as well as my own & have usually been able to end up with a stand that is easy to use & will almost never let the bike fall.Hope this may help you,Regards, Tim

Hello Tim with regard my question to side stands on the 961 page can you help me out? be glad to pay.

on my commando i simply welded a sidestand lug and stand from a zzr1100 kawasaki to my frame most people i assume would not want to weld on their frame so one solution i think i saw over on access norton was a side stand bolted/sandwiched between the LH alloy footrest plate and the frame ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,nick

Previously frederick_hood wrote:

Hello Tim with regard my question to side stands on the 961 page can you help me out? be glad to pay.

Hi Frederick,

I've not looked at the 961 stand with a view to modifying it, but I do know what you all mean with regard the angle the bike stands at, in fact one of my first thoughts when I first saw a 961 in the flesh was 'why have they gone back to a Dommie side stand? what was wrong with the original Commando one?' If I get a 961 in my workshop I'll have a better look at the design. I'm sure there must be something that could be done to improve things, I'm a bit surprised a modified reliable design isn't already available.

Regards, Tim

Previously tim_gostling wrote:

Previously frederick_hood wrote:

Hello Tim with regard my question to side stands on the 961 page can you help me out? be glad to pay.

Hi Frederick,

I've not looked at the 961 stand with a view to modifying it, but I do know what you all mean with regard the angle the bike stands at, in fact one of my first thoughts when I first saw a 961 in the flesh was 'why have they gone back to a Dommie side stand? what was wrong with the original Commando one?' If I get a 961 in my workshop I'll have a better look at the design. I'm sure there must be something that could be done to improve things, I'm a bit surprised a modified reliable design isn't already available.

Regards, Tim, thanks Tim if you see.make, or hear of one please let me know the existing one on such an expensive bike is just rediculous