Stands for working on bike?

[carbster09]

Hey what's the best stand for my single sided swing arm 01 S3? I have seen a few for ~ 250. That's a little rich for my blood.

Carbster09

[97TB]

Check this thread

I have a Handy rear stand that I am very happy with, and it only costs $115 (I bought it for $89 earlier this year).

Good luck.

Dan

[TripleThreat]

You'll be able to tell from the thread 97TB mentions above that I love my Pit Bull stands. A little more money than some, but IMHO well worth it.

You also may want to look at this thread. It provides some more information about what to watch out for on some stands.

TripleThreat

[ This message was edited by: TripleThreat on 2004-12-30 07:38 ]

[uptick]

ditto on the PitBull

[smdl]

Another consideration is a swingarm pivot stand. These lift the bike from the swingarm pivot rather than from the rear wheel. This leaves the rear wheel and swingarm completely unencumbered, allowing work on the wheel, sprocket, shock, etc.

The one I had for my '02 S3 worked great, and allowed me to raise the entire bike by simply putting the stand in place, and then lifting the front wheel (swingarm pivot is relatively close to the center of the bike) and placing a block under the exhaust collector. This resulted in complete access front and rear with only one stand, and I found it to be very stable. (I am not recommending this -- your safety is your own responsibility).

NWS and Abba offer this type of stand in the UK, but I wasn't able to get them to send one to Canada. With a bit of research, I was able to get one from Anderson Motorcycle Stands out of Australia. The bonus was that the cost was very reasonable, and the stand worked very well. It also came with several adapter pins that allowed me to use it on different bikes. Nice.

I have since ordered a Tee stand from Anderson and found it, again, to be of good quality and reasonable cost. I highly recommend them, but keep in mind that the stands do take about 3 weeks to arrive by mail from Oz.

Hope this helps!

Shaun

A special single sided swing arm stand is not needed. You just get a regular stand, slip a pipe through the axle, and use the stand on the pipe.

[TripleThreat]

Sim500,

The only problem with that is that you can't remove the rear wheel or sprocket and chain without then moving the stand. With a reversable stand like the pitbull, you put it up on the stand opposite whichever side you intend to work on and you don't have to move it.

On a bike with a single sided swingarm, why not get a stand that gives you that flexibility?

TripleThreat

[EUROTWINS]

carbster,I currently used a pitbull with my Daytona but don't like the wobble when working on the bike. I really believe the best stand made was the FG moto that used to be sold by Fast by Ferraci. I think they are still sold in Europe. I use the FG with my ducati and its rock solid and easier to use....John

[smdl]

All the more reason to consider a swingarm-pivot stand. :-D It connects directly to the frame (at the swingarm pivot) so there is no flex or movement at all -- it's rock-solid. With stands that connect to the rear of the swingarm (SSSA or DSSA), the suspension will still allow the bike to move somewhat.

Also, some SSSA stands have been known to work their way out of the rear hub, allowing the bike to slip free and topple (fortunately, this is rare!). This can't happen on a swingarm-pivot stand as it is locked into both sides of the swingarm spindle bolt before the bike is lifted from the ground. As long as you make sure that these connection points are tight, the bike can't work it's way free.

You can see various versions of the design at:

NWS
Abba
Anderson

And, no, I don't work for any of these folks. :-D I just took a chance on something I hadn't seen before, and was very happy with the result.

[smdl]

All the more reason to consider a swingarm-pivot stand. :-D It connects directly to the frame (at the swingarm pivot) so there is no flex or movement at all -- it's rock-solid. With stands that connect to the rear of the swingarm (SSSA or DSSA), the suspension will still allow the bike to move somewhat.

Also, some SSSA stands have been known to work their way out of the rear hub, allowing the bike to slip free and topple (fortunately, this is rare!). This can't happen on a swingarm-pivot stand as it is locked into both sides of the swingarm spindle bolt before the bike is lifted from the ground. As long as you make sure that these connection points are tight, the bike can't work it's way free.

You can see various versions of the design at:

NWS
Abba
Anderson

And, no, I don't work for any of these folks. :-D I just took a chance on something I hadn't seen before, and was very happy with the result.