Center stand question

[garyft]

I was just poking around over on Steve Saunders site and looking at the "what to look for when buying a used Wing" section. The GL1200 area talks about problems with the centerstand. When mine is on the center stand the rear wheel barely touches the ground. You can still turn by hand, but it is touching. Is this a problem? How high off the ground should it be?

[motor22]

Mine is about 2in off the ground.

[neoracer]

it depends on your tire size and the amount of air in your shocks also the amount of weight on the rear of bike

[garyft]

Mine doesn't have air shocks, not stock either. it's an ex-police bike and has different shocks on it. It could be that they are a bit longer than stock, they are likely fairly heavy duty to carry the extra equipment require for police duty.

[motor22]

Mine doesn't have air shocks, not stock either. it's an ex-police bike and has different shocks on it. It could be that they are a bit longer than stock, they are likely fairly heavy duty to carry the extra equipment require for police duty.

What police department was using 1200 goldwings? I would check for rust or a weird looking bend in the centerstand.

[admin]

That's got to be an 87 GL1200 gauging by the lower fairing. Makes a guy wonder why more police didn't use them or maybe they did. BTW Bob, that link only gets me to the Google search page.

[Granpah]

I've had two GL1000s ('78 & '79) and now have a 1985 GL1200 I. The '79's center stand worked perfectly as does the GL1200's. BUT the '78 NEVER worked correctly -- it drove me nuts.

The bike's geometry has to be exactly correct for the center stand to work properly. Thus with the '78 EVERY time I got the bike on its center stand -- which went pretty easily , I struggled to get it off. The rear wheel was touching the ground and so unlike the '79 and '85 GL1200 (each of which raised the rear wheel about 2-inches off the ground), the center stand could not be used to utilize the back weight for pushing the bike off its stand.

So the geometry was off -- and I suspected that maybe a previous owner had changed the '78 bike's frame (or the shocks were too low). I suspected that because I had bought a new center stand for the '78 Wing thinking maybe the stand was wrong -- but the replacement was exactly the same as the old stand. So it must have been the '78's frame (or bad shocks) that may have lowered the bike.

In your case, if you can get your bike up and down from its center stand I wouldn't complain about how high the rear wheel is off the ground. All it means is that the geometry of your system plus backward movement (coupled with your weight on the center stand) is adequate for lifting the bike onto the stand -- and then pushing it off again.

The shocks could also affect the center stand geometry -- but I've reached the end of my story.

[motor22]

I would take that 87 wing over the road king any day.

[garyft]

I don't have any idea what police department, but I'm guessing somewhere in central Texas. I bought it about six years ago and it still had some of the police markings as well as front lights. I pulled the front lights off since it's technically illegal in Texas to have a blue light visible from the front of the vehicle unless you are a legitimate emergency vehicle. It still has a red and blue light on either side of the headlight instead of the regular bulbs but they aren't connected to anything. I didn't buy it from a police department, so I don't know which one it was. It just said "POLICE" on the bags and trunk.

I can get it on the center stand fairly easily, but getting it off is a struggle. On my old CB750 I could just sit on it and rock the bike to pop it off the center stand, but with the wing I have to push it from the side and usually get someone else to push it with me. It doesn't help that I'm usually in the garage and the stand just slides on the concrete.

[motor22]

Its not to hard to get mine on the stand and I just lean back then foward and ride it off the center stand. if anyone lives close maybe you could get together and compare. If not might be worth getting a centerstand off ebay.

[jcmaun]

I have Progressive Shocks on mine with Elite 3's. On the center stand the rear tire just touches the floor. In a previous garage, with a rough floor, this wasn't a problem. When we moved to a house with a very smooth garage floor, the bike would just slide forward when attempting to get it off the center stand. My solution? Got a small piece of thin plywood to put under the center stand. Rear tire is off the floor. No problem getting it off the center stand.

[garyft]

Got a small piece of thin plywood to put under the center stand. Rear tire is off the floor. No problem getting it off the center stand.

You know, why didn't I think of that?

[Ed Z]

Likely it's the progressive rear shocks... They are just a tad taller than the OEm ones... My 87 used to be about 2 inches off the ground till the Progressive dampers were put in... Now with the gl1500 rear wheel on it not only does the rear tire touch, but it still holds quite a bit of weight on it as well...

[admin]

Do you guys have Progressive 416's on the rear? If yes, how did they affect load carrying and ride? I'm thinking about getting a pair of 416's for mine.

[B.Bolding]

Hi All, Vic I put 416s on my 86 a couple years ago and am completely satisfied with the ride and as far as the load factor, when we went to Montana I had my trailer loaded probably too heavy with luggage for myself for two weeks plus one weeks worth for the other half and my cousin that met us there along with a cooler with ice, soft drinks, and water, tool bag, a couple lawn chairs. (Maybe why the spring broke when crossing a cattle gap in Medora, North Dakota) but that's a story of it's own. So,the point is they handled the load fine. I would recommend them. **==