kickstand spring

[cactusjack]

At least if this ever happens with my bike I can easily replace the female part of the pivot. It simply bolts to the frame it is not welded onto the frame.

Why Kawasaki didn't do this we'll never know.

[Top Cat]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

At least if this ever happens with my bike I can easily replace the female part of the pivot. It simply bolts to the frame it is not welded onto the frame.

Why Kawasaki didn't do this we'll never know.

Kawasaki does a lot of things we will never understand

[creed]

Nomad --curious as to how many miles on your bike. This Sidestand issue comes up every now and then when springs fall off, but I'm thinking it must be higher mileage bikes. I replaced the bolt this summer with 8000 miles but it did not look bad and the stand hole was not out of round--- these guys made me nervous and I wanted some piece of mind and to disassemble and lube it real good more regularly now.

[nomad]

Originally Posted by creed

Nomad --curious as to how many miles on your bike. This Sidestand issue comes up every now and then when springs fall off, but I'm thinking it must be higher mileage bikes. I replaced the bolt this summer with 8000 miles but it did not look bad and the stand hole was not out of round--- these guys made me nervous and I wanted some piece of mind and to disassemble and lube it real good more regularly now.

i currently have around 37K on it...and i just noticed this. the only thing i've ever done to it was the cam chain extenders. i should have been lubing this...lol.

[Pretzel]

Originally Posted by creed

Nomad --curious as to how many miles on your bike. This Sidestand issue comes up every now and then when springs fall off, but I'm thinking it must be higher mileage bikes. I replaced the bolt this summer with 8000 miles but it did not look bad and the stand hole was not out of round--- these guys made me nervous and I wanted some piece of mind and to disassemble and lube it real good more regularly now.

Honestly, it's a fairly common Kawi issue and ties in to a few factors...

1) Age (mileage, wear an' tear, use, etc.)
2) How big a boy are ya? (More weight when ya lean it over on the stand)
3) How often do you just sit on it while it's on the stand?

It happens on other bikes too, just seems to come a bit earlier on the Kawi's from my experience. My 9'er did it too, with only about 10k miles on it. Had the same thing done that MoBandy did, shop welded it solid, redrilled, and tacked in a heavy duty bushing. It was a pretty quick fix, fairly inexpensive, and added a lot of strength where it should have been to begin with.

[Idaho]

Kawi doubles up on the kickstand springs and they put a LOT of pressure on the bolt.

Another easy repair is to go to a hardware store and buy a spring to replace the original. I did that a couple of years ago and it works great.

[roadhawg]

I lube mine with PB blaster, (monkey piss)

I am wondering if some JB weld would be strong enuff to work?
dont laugh, I have used JB many times to "weld" whatever, very strong sheet!

[cactusjack]

This wouldn't be an appropriate application for JB Weld. I would also use a heavier lubricant than PB Blaster. It needs to be taken apart and cleaned and greased, in my opinion. Because of its location, a lot of grit and grime gets in there.

[k9sarky]

What is used for a bushing. Is it something found at a hardware or auto parts store?

[recumbentbob]

Originally Posted by k9sarky

What is used for a bushing. Is it something found at a hardware or auto parts store?

Take the bolt to a hardware store & buy a bushing or sleeve that fits the bolt

[macmac]

I need to get my bike up on the lift to see. It hasn't bothered to toss off the spring yet, but I oiled it and the shifter bell cranks the day i brought the bike home new to me, and on oil change day, lube that stuff.

That gets me a peek at the shifters too since the bolts can need a snugging once in awhile too. I mist oil at the shaft for the shifter that passes thru the frame there too. That is the shaft the shifters are bolted to.

At the same time I add a drop to the lever pivots too since my hands are growing older and I don't need the levers to run dry.

Metal and moving parts always like a little lube.

[nomad]

Originally Posted by Idaho

Kawi doubles up on the kickstand springs and they put a LOT of pressure on the bolt.

Another easy repair is to go to a hardware store and buy a spring to replace the original. I did that a couple of years ago and it works great.

i noticed that as well...i might go buy a single spring to replace it. that double spring
has a lot of tension behind it.

[nomad]

Originally Posted by k9sarky

What is used for a bushing. Is it something found at a hardware or auto parts store?

i am thinking of a stainless steel bushing...the only thing to wear then would be the bolt. easy fix.

[nomad]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

At least if this ever happens with my bike I can easily replace the female part of the pivot. It simply bolts to the frame it is not welded onto the frame.

Why Kawasaki didn't do this we'll never know.

no doubt. they had to have known this would eventually happen...

[macmac]

Originally Posted by nomad

i am thinking of a stainless steel bushing...the only thing to wear then would be the bolt. easy fix.

SS will wear just like any other steel. If the plan is to machine up something maybe silicon bronze or pressed oil bronze could work. I suspect the sleeve would be somewhat small though.

I like these metals when lubing is hard to do, usually because they can't be seen much less reached. The oil bronze is a way cool material made of bits of beads like bronze and oil pressed together under tons of pressure. After that forever more that metal will weep oil. It tends to be brittle so it needs support.


If you want to play with springs and have no plans to use the stock springs in the same way you can alter what you have to work, which is usually my way of doing things, once I am dead set on never going back to stock.

It's easy to shorten and re bend a spring. The hard part is putting back on what you took off if there is a screw up