Whats the easiest way to get the GS500F on its centerstand....what a pain!

When I put the bike on the centerstand, I hold the handlebar with my left hand. I grab the bar in the blue circle as I step down on the centerstand and balance the bike. Then I press down hard on the centerstand with my right foot. Then I do sort of a dead-lift pulling up and slightly back and it comes right up. Because I am beside the bike and not leaning over, there is no chance for it to fall over. When I first tried using the grab handle, it was not as stable. I'm 5'8" so doing it that way stretched my arms too far and I was not as stable (plus I had an injured left achilles tendon).



NOTE: When I use the side stand, I always leave the bike in gear. That prevents it rolling forward off of the side stand should it get bumped.

You also might wanna try grabbing the rails right under the "GS500" logos.
It's where you find the four small pegs you can hook the bungee net to.
I personally use those or the topcase rack brackets.
Nice hint from adidasguy though - I'll give it a shot.

i had my first center stand experience a week back, have never put a moto on the center stand before so i was nervous to say the least.

i remembered adidasguys photo(showing grab point) tried a could times with no avail. i'm a shorter rider, and i found when grabbing the handle with my left/lift with my right and i wasn't able to stabilize the bike very well. i wish since looking at the bike/center stand it seemed like the easiest way of going about it.

i ended up putting both hands on the bars, stepping on the center stand til it makes contact with the ground. held the front break and pushed forward to build up some momentum on the forks. gave it a good heave backwards while releasing the brake and pressuring the center stand. popped right up on the second try, i did leave the kickstand down just incase i needed to set it back down again

Quote from: adidasguy on April 11, 2011, 12:17:57 PMNOTE: When I use the side stand, I always leave the bike in gear. That prevents it rolling forward off of the side stand should it get bumped.

very good idea, will definitely make sure i do this next time 

Adidasguy:
That's exactly how I was told to do it @ the dealer. Easy as pie!
I imagine that if the tank was filled with gas, it might go a little less easy, but still not bad. That's the way it was with my Virago. It's more tecnique, than brute strength.  

I find it so easy, in my first bike, an 125cc, I was under the impression that I had to more put more force to lift the bike than it was necessary, most of the work is done by the center stand, maybe that's your problem.
I use one hand on the handlebar and the other where the passenger should hold while riding, I'm 6' tall.

1) bike in neutral on solid and level ground. Weight of bike slightly against your body.
2) right foot on centre stand footpad to make the centrestand 'feet' touch the ground and stabilize the bikeupright. As long as you maintain some small pressure on the stand the two feet of the stand will keep your bike upright so you no longer have the bike leaning against you.
3) left hand on left handlebar grip, wheel aimed straight ahead. Right hand under tail section on the frame rail grab handlethingy, or some similar solid point.
4) in one coordinated motion, ALL your weight on the centre stand footpad PUSHING STRAIGHT DOWN. Left hand pulls REARWARD on the handle bar. Right hand can lift upward on the tail. The key is using all your weight on the centrestand arm. It is designed to be the right length to lift your bike. Do that part and yoou will have little trouble. You can lift much larger bikes than the GS once you've got the technique.

Flat bground or a gentle rearward slope is good. Forward slope is killer!  Best of luck to ya!

Quote from: 5thAve on April 11, 2011, 01:25:26 PM
4) in one coordinated motion, ALL your weight on the centre stand footpad PUSHING STRAIGHT DOWN. Left hand pulls REARWARD on the handle bar. Right hand can lift upward on the tail. The key is using all your weight on the centrestand arm. It is designed to be the right length to lift your bike. Do that part and yoou will have little trouble. You can lift much larger bikes than the GS once you've got the technique.

Thats the key, use weight on the center stand to get the bike up, with the correct technique, you shouldn't really have to 'lift' the bike yourself 

Will depend on you. My buddy can get his up on center easy while sitting on it, he just holds the handle bars and rocks back while he kicks the center stand down. My legs are not long enough for that, just use left hand on the bar, right on the rear peg, and slam down on the center stand. I find the passenger hold to be far too long of a reach.

Quote from: Vova on April 11, 2011, 01:35:41 PM
Will depend on you. My buddy can get his up on center easy while sitting on it, he just holds the handle bars and rocks back while he kicks the center stand down. My legs are not long enough for that, just use left hand on the bar, right on the rear peg, and slam down on the center stand. I find the passenger hold to be far too long of a reach.

I've done the same thing.. sitting on the bike and just pulling back on the bars while pressing down on the stand pad. I don't do that often since it could feel a bit unnerving on most surfaces except flat concrete or tarmac.

My usual method is: Hold down the stand pad with my right foot, hold the left bar grip and the grab rail (above the tail light) and simultaneously pull the bike up and back while pressing the stand pad down. Very effortless when done right.

thanks guys for all your input it helped me tremendously i finally got it 

I don't recommend putting all your weight on the center stand arm. I've done this being lazy after an all day ride and bent that arm. Bike rocks a little bit because that arm is now slightly lower than the stand itself. You don't need much pressure on the arm itself, just keep your heel on the ground behind that arm while pulling back and up with any of the grab handles on the back of the bike.

Maybe I'm not as big as you are, Asim. I need all my weight to lift the bike. 

Any way, most bikes have very sturdy center stands.unlikely to bend in normal use.

I weight 79kg and also use the same technique, all weight on center stand.
Obviously, all weight only after lowering the center stand to the point it touches the floor.

I'm only a little person, so I work a little harder to get it on the stand, but as long as you pull hard on the grab rail with your right hand and put all your weight down through your boot, it'll come up.

Taking it off the stand I always sit on it and rock it down so i can flatfoot it as it comes forward.  The first time I ever took my bike off the stand I tried to simply reverse what I did to get it on, and it got away from me.  Broken brake lever, lesson learned.

YOu don't need to pull back on the handlebars. All you need is to opposing actions - foot/leg pushing down ; right hand pulling up. As if you were stretching something between your foot and hand. This way, with no rearward force added by you, the bike will pop into the center stand by itself. If you add rearward force by pulling on the handlebars and the surface doesn't have enough friction, you will slide and botch it up. Foot down, hand up works every time.

Watch these two videos

1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwXZyJSPkx4

2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTDCcQsDj2o

Michael

I just wanted to say that i bought a center stand off ebay because of this thread.
And it arrived.

And i spent 2 wicked hours trying to get the FRIGGIN SPRING on the thing!
Tried all sorts of contraptions... ruined my Yoshimura exhaust spring installer tool, tried all sorts of hooks to extend the spring so i could pry further back.
Bent a low quality screwdriver.  Trash now.
Laid on the ground in disgust.
Knocked the bike off side stand (i caught it).
Said a few bad words.
Threw Coke can into yard in disgust.

Then it started getting dark.
Last ditch effort to get it on, with a brand new Klein screwdriver all kinds of twisted and bent around... and PING, it was in.   Yippeeeeee.

So now i can answer the topic question:  I put it on center stand by straddling bike, push down with left foot on stand, pull back on handlebars. 

Now i can lube chain easier, spin the wheels and see how they are, check front end looseness, check oil, change oil, etc... 2 hours of aggravation and $18, being able to service gs, priceless.

Quote from: gs500e on April 14, 2011, 05:36:48 PM
I just wanted to say that i bought a center stand off ebay because of this thread.
And it arrived.

And i spent 2 wicked hours trying to get the FRIGGIN SPRING on the thing!
Tried all sorts of contraptions... ruined my Yoshimura exhaust spring installer tool, tried all sorts of hooks to extend the spring so i could pry further back.
Bent a low quality screwdriver.  Trash now.
Laid on the ground in disgust.
Knocked the bike off side stand (i caught it).
Said a few bad words.
Threw Coke can into yard in disgust.

Then it started getting dark.
Last ditch effort to get it on, with a brand new Klein screwdriver all kinds of twisted and bent around... and PING, it was in.   Yippeeeeee.

So now i can answer the topic question:  I put it on center stand by straddling bike, push down with left foot on stand, pull back on handlebars. 

Now i can lube chain easier, spin the wheels and see how they are, check front end looseness, check oil, change oil, etc... 2 hours of aggravation and $18, being able to service gs, priceless.

To stretch a hooked spring between two points, you could just hook up one end as usual and just tie a length of wire or even a shoelace to the other end and use the wire/shoelace to pull the hook to wherever it needs to reach. After the end is hooked, you can just slide the wire/shoelace out or just cut it off.

Yeah!...dead easy when you are on your back underneath a bike........ and that assumes you can get a straight pull 

THIS.....is the easy way.

When you swing the stand down there will be a point at which the spring is at maximum stretch, when it reaches this point jam washers or coins between the coils. Then watch the spring fall off on its own when you move the stand back up into position. To refit it hook it into position and pull the washers/coins out with pliers.