Rolling refresh S2R 1000 - side stand strip

[yellowfever]

So whilst waiting for paint to dry on starter motor so I can do oil line mod/minor service oil change (see other “rolling refresh” posts), I decided to strip, clean, lubricate and reassemble the side stand.

Right away I was very glad I did. After removing the filthy spring and the side stand switch screw and the switch I discovered that the side stand pivot bolt could be unscrewed with my fingers!

Reading up online I found various tales of woe from falling over bikes to cracked cases, from those who have gone before me…

Sobering reading. And after more reading up/checking the parts diagram, it’s apparent that not only was the pivot bolt not correctly torqued it was also crucially missing the special locknut on the rear. Hence getting loose… glad I caught it before disaster struck…

As those who have gone before me on this have said - CHECK YOUR SIDESTAND!

I thoroughly cleaned everything up and reassembled for now. Correct torque leaves the stand too tight. Clearly this needs to be done with the locknut fitted so stand fits snugly but still moves freely.

Nothing in the manual but various lubrication advice online (use nothing, use WD40 only - both arguing against using things grit may stick to) or using bearing grease.

In the end I used a very light smear of bearing grease on pivot where it’s mostly hidden from road spray and WD40 for the rest.

It’s still none too smooth - spring seems fine, think it’s partly as I don’t want to leave bolt too loose until I have the locknut fitted (ordered today) and partly as the side stand switch is very stiff. These are apparently also fairly notorious. After various attempts at cleaning and lubricating the switch made little difference I bit the bullet and ordered a new one…

So it is OK for now, but when I get the parts I’ll fit the locknut and use some blue threadlock on the pivot bolt as well plus fit the new Sidestand switch, keeping the stiff one as an emergency spare. I’d also found the sheathing that protects the wire for the switch had an hole and a crack (from rubbing on the engine casing I think). Repaired with two coats of liquid electrical ‘tape’ - excellent stuff for these kinds of repairs.

[yellowfever]

Well I got the side stand switch - also quite stiff so gonna just keep as a spare and leave current one fitted. I’ve fitted a new spring and the locknut so stand now fine, but it was not as straightforward as I’d hoped.

Locknut fitting was a total PITA. Tightening the pivot bolt (no torque seemingly given in manual - torque listed seems to be reference to the nut on further study) is tricky as I’d already found. It needs to be tight enough so the side stand doesn’t wobble about but not so tight stand becomes very stiff to move. The margin between these two states is only about half a turn.

Once that’s set by feel/movement I then came to torque the locknut on the rear side. Access is not easy and using open jaw crowsfoot spanner on a torque wrench so I can correctly torque it is labourions given limited range of motion/need to keep 90 degree angle to keep torque accurate.

Once it’s finally done you find the stand is now way too tight and will hardly move. So its back to sorting the pivot bolt again but with a bit more wriggle room and then back to the locknut again.

Repeated this several frustrating times until finally near enough. Then I fitted a new outer spring (the part is sold as “complete spring” but annoying came with just outer spring and rubber tube cover. Inner spring cone separately apparently, so I reused existing inner spring). After plenty of study of how the springs fit together I wrangled them on with my spring puller.

And after all that I had merely created a more modern version of the suicide stand lon my M600… further study of both the manual and online parts lists confirms I’ve fitted the springs and the dogleg plate correctly. I then realise the dogleg plate is not slotting into the gap on the special lock nut when the stand is put down, so the angle of the spring forces mean the stand does properly lock down.

I recheck the manual and parts list and I’ve fitted the locknut in the correct orientation. But it certainly looks like the dogleg would sit in the slot on the nut as intended if the nut were reversed from what the manual and parts list say. After some necessary swearing I redo the pivot bolt and locknut with the nut the other way around with the traditional multi attempts before I finally manage to get a none wobbling but smooth acting stand. After re-fitting the springs the stand works as it should.

One off the to-do list and hopefully I won’t need to do it again for a while and will be more efficient next time. but I am certainly understanding why folk wait until their bike falls over before stripping the side stand…