Supporting Your Bike While Servicing: Difference between revisions

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You can also prop the engine with a jack or jackstand (which goes under the oil drain bolt). <b>This method is less stable</b>, but allows you to raise or lower the front end smoothly, and with some jacks there is no need to remove the lower fairing.

2) Of course, there is a civilized way of supporting ~~your forks~~: Use a front stand. But be careful when you do so. You '''have to''' either use a centerstand that is tall enough to keep the rear wheel off the ground or a rear/swingarm stand along with the front stand. Having the rear wheel on the ground and the front on a stand is just one small step more stable than the bike standing on its own 2 wheels ~~with no outside influence~~.

2) Of course, there is a civilized way of supporting the front: Use a front stand. But be careful when you do so. You '''have to''' either use a centerstand that is tall enough to keep the rear wheel off the ground or a rear/swingarm stand along with the front stand. Having the rear wheel on the ground and the front on a stand is just one small step more stable than the bike standing by itself on its own 2 wheels.

You should really only use the center stand/front stand combination for short-term projects (less than one day). Longer than that and the rear stand adds noticeably more stability to the whole setup.

If you're buying a stand, the kind that supports the bike under the top triple is more useful than the kind that goes under the forks:

[[Image:Fork seals2-2.JPG | 200px]]

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 You can also prop the engine with a jack or jackstand (which goes under the oil drain bolt). <b>This method is less stable</b>, but allows you to raise or lower the front end smoothly, and with some jacks there is no need to remove the lower fairing.
-) Of course, there is a civilized way of supporting your forks: Use a front stand. But be careful when you do so. You '''have to''' either use a centerstand that is tall enough to keep the rear wheel off the ground or a rear/swingarm stand along with the front stand. Having the rear wheel on the ground and the front on a stand is just one small step more stable than the bike standing on its own 2 wheels with no outside influence.
+) Of course, there is a civilized way of supporting the front: Use a front stand. But be careful when you do so. You '''have to''' either use a centerstand that is tall enough to keep the rear wheel off the ground or a rear/swingarm stand along with the front stand. Having the rear wheel on the ground and the front on a stand is just one small step more stable than the bike standing by itself on its own 2 wheels.
 You should really only use the center stand/front stand combination for short-term projects (less than one day). Longer than that and the rear stand adds noticeably more stability to the whole setup.
+If you're buying a stand, the kind that supports the bike under the top triple is more useful than the kind that goes under the forks:
 [[Image:Fork seals2-2.JPG | 200px]]