Painful centre stands

When my centre stand broke in half on my Mk III Commando a kind neighbour welded a tube inside and joined the broken halves together making the original part even stronger. He also identified the major weakness of the design; the hole for the spring is in the centre of the tube and which allows water to enter - this causes the tube to eventually rust through and split apart. My neighbour made a loop which attached to the tube on the outside and angled this to suit the spring accordingly. All in all a very nice job and it allowed me to retain another part of the original machine.

Colin Cheney, Leicestershire.

My Mk3 has a RGM-supplied centre stand with a small pad, like Colin's. I did buy it 15 years ago, I might add, and RGM's current stock may be different.

My experience with the stand is that it is perfectly comfortable and easy to use with motorcycling or work boots on. However, I was moving the bike in the garage one day and was wearing an old pair of trainers. I put the bike on its centre stand and the pad on the stand went straight through the sole of my trainers!

I put that down to operator error, rather than a design problem!

Previously Colin Peterson wrote:

I think whoever designed the centre stand currently available from AN and RGM â they look the same to me, and may be available elsewhere â was either wearing wooden clogs when they tried it, or didn't try it at all. I find one I just bought from RGM painful to use, whereas the original wasn't the slightest bit uncomfortable, assuming you were wearing reasonably sensible footwear. I'm grateful that this part is available for my 43-year-old bike, but it shouldn't hurt.

Hi Colin, I have an RGM supplied version and I think it's poorly designed too; its legs are about an inch too long and there's no pad, just a blade on the tang pusher; very thick soled boots and a helluva lot of pressure to lift the bike on the stand are essential, or assistance from a passer-by or temporary fitting of a 2 foot long tube slipped over the tang to apply downward force on the tang. I'll let RGM know we are not impressed with their product. Chris

Previously Colin Peterson wrote:

Previously chris_moorhouse wrote:

Hi Colin, I have an RGM supplied version and I think it's poorly designed too; its legs are about an inch too long and there's no pad, just a blade on the tang pusher; very thick soled boots and a helluva lot of pressure to lift the bike on the stand are essential, or assistance from a passer-by or temporary fitting of a 2 foot long tube slipped over the tang to apply downward force on the tang. I'll let RGM know we are not impressed with their product. Chris

Hi Chris, yes they do need to know! Cheers. Although, oddly given what you say, my RGM centre stand puts the bike at about the right height, or might even be â" or ?" too short! Thing for me is mainly that, grateful though I am to be able to get this part for my 43-year-old motorcycle, I was always impressed by how easy it was to put it on its centre stand, especially on level ground. This is no longer the case, and I find it very frustrating when 'reproduction' parts turn out to be nothing of the sort â rather, just someone's version of the original.

I've been in touch with RGM and have it straight from the horse's mouth; the drawings of the modifications to the centre stand have been sent off already to the manufacturer's. So, Roger has his finger on the pulse and ear to the ground in striving to meet the needs of the Norton riding world. Here's hoping. ChrisM

Hi all. Just wondering if you are still on 19 inch rims and standard profile tyres as anything smaller will make the bike harder to put on the centre stand as you are having to lift it higher of course. I have an original centre stand but 18 inch rear rim and it does take a bit of effort to get it up and on to it. Best regards Al.

I have 18 inch rims but the tyres are deeper Bridgestones, both tyres and stand rest on the floor. I can move the bike on engine vibration forward or back. I also find the stand bad, the other day when swapping my bikes around I went to move my Bonneville after just putting the Norton on the stand and nearly threw it down the garage. It is not the weight difference it is the stand design/manufacture. If you watch the Norton Commando Transformer recording by Steve Twist, Neil Shoosmith has no problem rocking the bike off of the stand. I bet that stand is just right.

A nice bike and a good recording.

Over time the stand pivots, stand stops and gearbox cradle all wear, I just had welding done to the stand stops to lift the bike 2 months ago and dressed the weld back so one wheel is off the floor by about 1.5 inches. I can now push the bike off the stand while sat on the bike. I have the original 19 rims.

Previously Colin Peterson wrote:

I think whoever designed the centre stand currently available from AN and RGM â they look the same to me, and may be available elsewhere â was either wearing wooden clogs when they tried it, or didn't try it at all. I find one I just bought from RGM painful to use, whereas the original wasn't the slightest bit uncomfortable, assuming you were wearing reasonably sensible footwear. I'm grateful that this part is available for my 43-year-old bike, but it shouldn't hurt.

Hi Colin,

The stand you show in the 'Replacement' pictures is correct for the 850 MkIII.

The one you show as OE is correct for earlier models.

So the designer is Norton !

Regards

Tony