On my first '02 non-ABS Rockster, the centre stand folded up through internal corrosion, thankfully whilst I was using the old Triumph advertising slogan tip of simply putting all my weight on the lever, ( "...even a 12-yr-old can do it !" ) so the bike didn't fall over as usually happens when the centre-stand snaps off.
Not only that, but about a month later, at only 33K miles on the clock, the side-stand bracket on the frame cracked and the bike almost hit the deck.
I remember holidaying in Austria in a Morris Minor drop-head some decades ago, and took it in for a service to the British Leyland main dealer in Vienna. This was in the days of the Common Market, when city streets there were populated by Austin, Vauxhall and Rover British-imported cars, as well as the usual German models.
There was a special oil-spray bay outside the vast main workshop, with a fat lady in rubber boots and an all-enveloping rubber cape. All she did all day long was soak the underside of each vehicle with thick oil after it had been serviced - avoiding the brake drums of course. She said it stopped the rust caused by Austrian salt-plus-ice winter road use.
Maybe food for thought.
