side vers centre stand?

JayGee

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I always use the side stand except when parked up overnight in the garage (or for a few days) but I notice lots of other boxer riders use the centre stand even when just stopping for a tea/coffe/pee etc. Is there a reason for this? The side stand is big and solid (although I hear the weld failed on one of your bikes recently) so why use a centre stand except when checking oil, tyres etc.? Many other bikes (eg R1100S) don't even have a centre stand and the 12GS's centre stand doesn't feel as secure as the side stand (it feels like a small nudge from behind would rock it off the centre stand). Any comments for a GS novice from you seasoned GSers wopuld be appreciated.
Cheers JG
 
I don't yet have a GS but I always use the main stand on my bikes. When I start the bike each morning or evening I let the engine run for a couple of minutes whilst I get my jacket, boots, helmet and gloves on. If the bike were on the side stand the oil would all be on one side of the sump and may not be picked up and pumped around the engine properly which will cause unecessary wear to the engine. This does not happen with the bike on the center stand.

Just my 2p worth.
 
I do much the same as you JayGee.

I rarely bother with the main stand for short stops whilst out & about. I use the mainstand in the garage for a number of reasons:

1. easy to rotate wheels to check tyre pressures and condition

2. bike takes up less width in the garage

3. the warm oil in the left pot will trickle down into the sump.
At my old house I parked the bike outside on the side stand. Especially during winter, I noticed a smokey exhaust on start-up and a heany build up of soot on the muffler. I put this down to a left pot full of cold oil. Since I've used the mainstand more for overnight parking the bike does not smoke on start-up and it uses much less oil.
 
Main stand unless there is a reason why I have to use the side prop. Gradient, uneven surface, extreme camber, soft ground or load. Sometimes it might be a combination of these.

It just doesn't seem so secure on the side prop.

I know your height and build etc. will affect your preference and how you take it off whichever you use.

I don't think the main stand is as susceptible to failing like the old twin-shock boxer stands were but I still wince whenever I see someone sitting on a BM on the main stand, as for riding off it:yikes
 
ok my english do suck but I would call the side stand as "main" and what you call main as "centre" stand - this based on the fact that the side stand is there for 99% of non-competition motocycles, while the centre stand is not

my Dakar officialy has no center stand (mine has of course)

the center stand is in fact secondary in my mind, exactly to check wheels, oil, load the bike etc. while the side stand give a much more stable triangle (don't dare putting the center stand in a boat to an island - erm... well dare, I don't care heh)
 
NLS,

Don't know how it's translated in your handbook but BMW refer to it as the Main (centre) Stand in the English version.

I'd suggest that most sports bikes don't have main stands because of either a weight, ground clearance or lack of suitable mounting, reason.

It's all Greek to me anyway!!!:D
 
JayGee said:
Any comments for a GS novice from you seasoned GSers wopuld be appreciated.
Cheers JG [/B]
Click to expand...

Easy. You get two kinds of riders. Those who ride a BMW for fun and those who ride a BMW because they're anally retentive. Guess which ones put the bike on the centre stand all the time :)
 
Re: Re: side vers centre stand?

turbine_2 said:
Easy. You get two kinds of riders. Those who ride a BMW for fun and those who ride a BMW because they're anally retentive. Guess which ones put the bike on the centre stand all the time :)
Click to expand...

I always use my centre stand, thanks for the compliment:D
 
Re: Re: Re: side vers centre stand?

richie said:
I always use my centre stand, thanks for the compliment:D
Click to expand...

I've always been one to win friends and influence people.
 
RobC said:
[BIf the bike were on the side stand the oil would all be on one side of the sump and may not be picked up and pumped around the engine properly which will cause unecessary wear to the engine. This does not happen with the bike on the center stand. [/B]
Click to expand...

I know this occurs with in-line fours as regards the cams at the top of the engine but surely it's not quite the same scenario with a boxer?


.
 
jonboy said:
I know this occurs with in-line fours as regards the cams at the top of the engine but surely it's not quite the same scenario with a boxer?


.
Click to expand...

Surely nobody designs a bike motor so the oil pump pickup is hanging in the air when the bike is on the standard sidestand? Does the oil pressure light go out when you start the bike on the stand? Yes? Then the oil pump is presumably picking up from the sump and working fine.

If you park* a boxer on one cylinder head then it's probably worth killing the engine fairly quickly, because the oil might settle in interesting places.

* There may be an alternate technical term for this, particularly in the off-road community. Balanced against the verge is probably OK, if you've stopped to lend a hand. In the aftermath of "lordy, that rut's got a good grip on the wheel" it's not so good. But they don't seem to blow up in the time it takes to get out from under the bike and reach the kill switch.
 
If parked facing downhill (even a slight downhill), the bike will roll forwards off the sidestand unless it is in gear. Even in gear it feels mighty unstable when pointing downhill.

So - sidestand when on the flat or a bit uphill. Centrestand when pointing downhill and when leaving the bike for more than an hour or so.

It was my sidestand that snapped off due to a dodgy weld. In my opinion, there will be more problems with sidestand mountings as there will be corrosion between the frame and the mount where the connection is unsealed at the front and back. My recommendation - fill the gaps with silicone sealant ASAP.
 
center when parked downhill?

(if I do this on most of the bikes I know - we would have a nice roller-coaster)
 
Surely nobody designs a bike motor so the oil pump pickup is hanging in the air when the bike is on the standard sidestand?
Click to expand...
I was told, by a dealer, that the 650 engines do, indeed, have this problem.
 
When I got my first boxer, an R100GS, I rode it home from the dealer and parked it on the sidestand overnight. When I started it the following morning the cloud of blue smoke blotted out the sun for several minutes. After the initial panic I realised that oil had drained past the rings into the combustion chamber. I contacted the dealer just to confirm my diagnosis and he told me, quote " Yes that's why BMW fit a mainstand sir"
 
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