Let’s Talk About The S in T-CLOCS! S= Stand

We are now on our last component of the T-CLOCS check . The stand, also known as the side stand, jiffy stand or kickstand. Some bikes also have a center stand. Also one of the most overlooked components to check…

I mean we just kinda take it for granted that it’s there and is gonna work. I have, in my

personal experience had a broken spring which just let the side stand dangle and

bounce off the road, and one of my friends completely lost his side stand and had

to carry a block of wood around with him until he could get it replaced. So it is definitely

worth a couple seconds of your time to make sure it is in safe and usable condition.

If your bike is equipped with a center stand you first want to check to make sure it is not

cracked or bent before you attempt to raise the bike up onto it. If the stand is cracked or bent, it can give out causing the bike to fall while you are fully committed to raising the bike up onto it. This could cause you some serious injury or damage to the bike.

The next thing that you want to check is that the springs are in place and that they are holding the proper tension on the stand to keep it in place. If the springs are bad it can cause the center stand to collapse back down, again, causing injury or damage. The more common stand is the kick stand or jiffy stand. You should get in the habit of knowing what your kickstand looks like while it is up and also once its down. This will help you realize if it has gotten bent somehow.

Now, I know, some people intentionally bend their side stands to accommodate modifications such as lowering. This is pretty common, but I would fully advise you to either get a kickstand wedge, which is a wedge of metal that bolts between the frame and kickstand and will accommodate a lowered bike. If you lower your bike and don ’t adjust the

kickstand you could cause the bike to stay too upright and it will tip over very easily… (Trust me on this one I speak from experience! Try picking up a loaded road king on the side of the interstate in Indiana because a semi blew it over while you were putting on rain gear).

The second option is to just buy a shorter kickstand which will let bike sit at the correct

angle after it is lowered. You also want to check the springs on the side stand, this is the most common malfunction, springs are cheap and fairly easy to replace so I would recommend having a spare if your bike is getting up there in miles or you hear a screech or creak when putting the stand up or down.

You also should not be able to rock the bike off the side stand with the weight of the bike still on the side stand. This is a safety feature so that if you are parked facing downhill the bike cant roll off the stand and cause the side stand to collapse. Most, if not all, metric bikes also have a side stand safety switch which will prevent you from being able to start the bike while the stand is down. This can lead to a lot of frustration if you are not familiar with this particular safety feature. This is also a good starting point to trouble shoot a bike that won’t start.