FH - insecure centre stand

 Some while back I wrote about adjusting the stops on the centre stand to get the wheel off the ground and to enable the bike to roll on and to roll off the centre stand relatively easily. A few months using the bike has made me realise that it's far too easy for the bike to come off the stand and since my son has had it he's remarked on it a couple of times.

I need to do something about this. 

I recall that when I bought the shock absorbers I was encouraged by fellow riders to go for a longer shock absorber option to make the bike easier to get on and off the stand, which it does. The bike is actually fitted with 310 mm shock absorbers - the standard is 300 mm, or more probably 12 3/4".

Stripping one of the shock absorbers finds an M10 by 1.25 pitch thread on the damper. An option would be to increase the length of this thread and then chop the excess 10 mm of the end of the damper rod. This won't be too much of a problem except that I don't have the suitable die and if I can't remove the rod from the damper I will have to cut the thread with the die but leave no undercut which will be untidy. I can't remove the rod from the damper, because the top of the cylinder is rolled over.

My first step was to ask the supplier if I can buy the damper units without the rest of the shock absorber, and these turned up for about half the cost of a new set:

The next step - and it's never straightforward is it - is to modify the spring compressor. The problem is that the compressor now has to reach so far down inside the spring (because the damper is shorter) that I can't get the pin in through the damper eye. 

I sorted that out by chopping one end of the pin off, trimming the end and welding a washer on the end to act as a head. 

Next I rebuilt the shock absorber and then turned my attention to the other. With that done I could remove the centre stand and adjust the stops. There's not much to see with this operation apart from my grubbing knees elbows and nose. Doing this job on the side stand is ok for the right hand side of the centre stand but getting to the left is very difficult, especially when the temperature is in 30s!

I ended up taking 1/16" off both stops which resulted in a bike that needed more effort to get off the centre stand. I noticed that the stand feet are wearing already and will need some attention in the next year or two.