1983 GS1100E Update and Centerstand Question

[grandman]

The new rectifier/regulator and the stator are both in. The bike runs amazingly well despite its history, but I still can't get it on the centerstand. Here are some videos:
To prove that it's not in gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE6shOIERsA
Angle 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QLh-vL0urc
Angle 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rov0RnuMyrM
What the crap am I doing wrong? I've tried with my left foot, my right foot, pushing, pulling, etc. HELP!

 

[tkent02]

You are standing on the foot on the ground. You need to stand on the lever.
You can't lift the bike, you have to use the lever. Put all of your weight on the lever, then lift a little, POP it's up.
My wife could put the K100LT up, even when loaded for a roadtrip.

 

[grandman]

I'm putting all my weight on the centerstand. By the way, posted here because I know this is a common question and if it's solved could be a tip and a trick!

 

[tkent02]

I'm putting all my weight on the centerstand.

Not in the picture. Lift the non-lever foot off the ground.

Balance on the lever with the other foot off the ground, straighten out the leg on the lever, smoothly lift the bike back and up with the handle. Not a quick jerk, a smooth lift, you have 600 lbs. of mass to get moving...

If you need to, roll the rear wheel up on a 2x4, then put it up from on the stand there until you get the technique down, then go without the board.

It's really not a brute strength thing.

 

[grandman]

Already tried the rear wheel on a wood plank - also to no avail. I'll keep trying til I drop it. Really mad at myself for not being able to do this.

 

[tkent02]

Already tried the rear wheel on a wood plank - also to no avail. I'll keep trying til I drop it. Really mad at myself for not being able to do this.

Dude, your in Denver.
Where?
Want to practice on a 450?

 

[Rudeman]

The new rectifier/regulator and the stator are both in. The bike runs amazingly well despite its history, but I still can't get it on the centerstand. Here are some videos:
To prove that it's not in gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE6shOIERsA
Angle 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QLh-vL0urc
Angle 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rov0RnuMyrM
What the crap am I doing wrong? I've tried with my left foot, my right foot, pushing, pulling, etc. HELP!

All of your wieght must be to the rear of the centerstand. face teh bike and stand on the center stand lever with your left foot lean to your right while grasping the underseat handle with your right hand and the left handlebar grip with your left hand. Be sure to keep the front wheel pointed straight ahead.

 

[Rkt-Rch]

All of your wieght must be to the rear of the centerstand. face teh bike and stand on the center stand lever with your left foot lean to your right while grasping the underseat handle with your right hand and the left handlebar grip with your left hand. Be sure to keep the front wheel pointed straight ahead.

Ditto !!! Yes they are heavy but doing it this way is correct. I weigh about 185lbs and it takes a good push then at the same time lift if that makes sense?

 

[jpaul]

I don't think it really matters whether you use the right or left foot, use whichever one is most comfortable for you. Do all the lifting with your leg, as mentioned in other posts. Your left hand is only there to help steady the bike from leaning side to side; don't waste any energy trying to pull back with it. Your foot that is not on the centerstand can't add any force to the lift either. You can lift with the right hand if you want to, but that's really not necessary, and is also a good way to strain your back. It seems hard to do until you pop it up there once or twice; then it becomes second nature.

 

[Rudeman]

I don't think it really matters whether you use the right or left foot, use whichever one is most comfortable for you. Do all the lifting with your leg, as mentioned in other posts. Your left hand is only there to help steady the bike from leaning side to side; don't waste any energy trying to pull back with it. Your foot that is not on the centerstand can't add any force to the lift either. You can lift with the right hand if you want to, but that's really not necessary, and is also a good way to strain your back. It seems hard to do until you pop it up there once or twice; then it becomes second nature.

You're not really lifting anything. You're using your weight to leverage the bike onto the center stand. Using my left foot makes it easier to apply my weight aft of the center stand. If I were to use my right foot it would be much more difficult to do this.

 

[wayne cooper]

Stand

Stand

Shot in the dark but is the center stand the proper one for the bike?

 

[jpaul]

You're not really lifting anything. You're using your weight to leverage the bike onto the center stand. Using my left foot makes it easier to apply my weight aft of the center stand. If I were to use my right foot it would be much more difficult to do this.

You certainly are lifting the bike, or else just standing on the centerstand would do the job. As long as you aren't using the off foot (the one not on the centerstand), you will maximize the leverage you get, and minimize the lifting force you need. As I said, I don't think it matters which foot you use, just use the one most comfortable for you. For you, that's your left foot; for me, it's my right foot. What is most important is that you use your limbs properly, not wasting energy pushing or pulling with an arm or leg that doesn't add force in the right vector.

 

[streetfighters]

Cheeseburgers w/Fries, Combo Pizza, and Beer. Swallow and repeat!
You will achieve victory!!
streetfighters

 

[mighty13d]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3m8AAzaAsA

maybe this will help

 

[Rudeman]

I don't lift the bike. I stand on the center stand and lean to my right and it pops over center. the fella in the video used his right foot that's cool but if he ever lost his grip on the handlebar he's going deep six.

 

[grandman]

Thanks for all your help guys - away on business this week (ate dinner with Shaquille O'Neal last night in LA, well...he was eating at a table beside me anyway), but will try again this weekend.

 

[bwringer]

Also, make sure the bike is level -- in other words, both centerstand feet must be touching the ground at the same time before you start the lift. I think that's the missing piece here.

In the vids, the bike is wobbling from one centerstand foot to the other, causing you to feel it's unstable and you stop pushing down on the centerstand long before it pops up.

So the sequence would be: push down lightly on centerstand until the left centerstand foot (the one nearest to you) contacts the ground. Hold the centerstand down lightly, then push the bike away from you until the right side centerstand foot also touches. This is the hard part, because it will feel at first like you're going to push the bike over.

Then push down on the centerstand while steadying the bike with your right hand on the lift handle. Do NOT pull on the handlebars or pull hard on the lift handle.

It's also a big, big help to wear hard-soled boots instead of sneakers.

Thanks for sharing your struggles with this so clearly -- it's probably a little embarrassing, but it's bound to be a big help to others.


If the bike has been lowered much, it will be about 10X harder to put on the centerstand. It doesn't look lowered on the vids, but in your sig you mention it was your Mom's old bike, so I thought I'd mention it.

 

[robaroni]

My advice is to find the biggest, ugliest, brutish looking oger that lives on you block to come over and try. If he can't do it the bike is a piece of junk and I'd be happy to take it off you hands for $25.00. (I live to far away)

But seriously, Make sure your on a flat surface and give a nice steady heave backwards. Not just upwards! It won't drop as long as both feet are on a flat level surface.

 

[tkent02]

Thanks for all your help guys - away on business this week (ate dinner with Shaquille O'Neal last night in LA, well...he was eating at a table beside me anyway), but will try again this weekend.

Invite Shaq over, he can probably toss it up on the stand with one finger.

 

[grandman]

Finally got the beast on the centerstand (with the help from a friend) and spent 3 hours tearing apart and cleaning the instrument cluster (gauge cluster). Had to remove the ridiculously humongous headlamp in order to get to the screws behind the cluster. Here's the mess I encountered when I opened the back of my cluster:

The pic is not the best, but believe me, I've taken much worse. The temp gauge and the fuel gauge aren't working, and the lenses were fogged on the inside so I thought I'd pull it apart to clean it and make sure the wires were OK before pulling out the fuel sending unit and the oil temp thingy. I had one wire with insulation rubbing off, lots of spider nests, and some corroded terminals but nothing too serious. I was surprised to find that I could get into all of the gauges and dummy lights except the tachometer. It was the only one completely sealed (why would they do that?). I didn't end up cleaning the tach because I really don't want to attempt pry the ring off, or saw it in half. Putting the whole assembly back together is tricky because the individual gauges share screw holes and overlap, so it was a little like putting a puzzle back together upside down.
Result: clean, except for tachometer, but fuel and temp gauges still don't work.
This weekend: fuel sending unit and oil thermometer (wherever that is), also got my new exhaust gaskets and will be replacing those as well.