Should there be play in the sidestand?

[tt_four]

Do your kickstands have a little bit of play in them? even after having this bike for years it still stresses me out when I lean the bike over, the side stand hits the ground, and then the bike still keeps leaning until the sidestand finally stops. The tab on the frame just looks to be skinnier than the slot in the sidestand, so the weight of the bike pulls it one way, but if it's not leaning the spring will pull it the other way. It would be easily solved with a washer, or even just bending the tabs on the stand in(I haven't taken it off yet to see if they're possibly bent out, or still parallel), but I wasn't sure if the bikes just came that way.

[JB848]

Well mine is a 1990 and has similar play in it but I do distinctly remember that it was tight at one time. I think if you want to add washer to it or bend it back as long as you are careful doing that latter it is your preference.

[scratch]

It is designed that way.  The bolt threads are dented to prevent removal of the nut, or rather, to keep the nut from backing off and the whole stand falling off the bike.  Grease it every 6 months and tighten up the nut to remove the play if you want.

[New Guy]

My side stand is so loose that in the up, or riding position, it wont contact the switch and the bike dies as soon as I put her in gear. I ended up rigging a piece of cable that I loop around it to keep her running.
The holes of the stand have worked themselves into an oval so there's a ton of play. Don't know if a new stand will solve my particular problem. I need to find out if the tab on the frame is jacked up, too. If not, a new stand should eliminate the problem. If it is jacked up, I'm either stuck with it the way it is or I might be able to get someone to weld it up, grind it down and drill it round again.

[tt_four]

That last option sounds way more complicated than just finding a new stand. When I first mentioned the problem I had a couple people offer me one of their kickstands for about $10, but I decided just to stick with mine, since after I pulled it apart and looked at it, it didn't appear to be a real issue. Some of the metal was just rounded and it was making contact later, plus I might be lowering the bike a bit, and the extra play in the sidestand will most likely keep me from having to cut and have my sidestand re-welded shorter, so it's actually a good thing