Using the centerstand

[@markh.harris9271]

Thank you! ... finally got it marcus

[@steffenpfau2216]

Very helpful but the video came a little too late for me. I dropped the bike on me when I wanted to take her home brand new from my HD dealer. She was standing on the center stand and when I rolled her down I had one hand at the clutch side of the handle bar, one at the side case. The bike was rollin’ away and as I had my hand on the left side of the handle bar, the bar/front wheel made a turn to the left and the bike came over and started to fall, unfortunately it fell on me. So I went to the hospital with many of pain instead of driving home with my new bike. As you mentioned in the video: when never having managed with a center stand, make sure someone is beside you to help and grap the bike in case of dropping. I have learnes this the hard way, was happy that no bone was broken, just heavy bruises.

[@floridajim]

Learned the hard way is still learned, and you're better for it (that's what I tell myself every time I do something stupid).

[@SNOWBIRDBIKER]

Good advice to not use the plastic passenger grab bar. I did and it did not hold. The plastic bar pulled away from the retaining screw. Lol, I always seem to learn from my mistakes.

[@floridajim]

I generally don't trust plastic, and wonder if someone will come up with aluminum replacements (they could be anodized into many different colors).

[@Pyrrho_]

My old BMW K1200RS was nearly 630 lbs wet and it seemed better balanced when moving on-and-off the center stand. Could sit on the bike and walk it forward off the stand as well. It appears you're lifting quite a bit of weight to get it up over the stand either up or down. Also seems to scrape concrete on every up or down, which the BMW didn't do either. HD hasn't included a stock center stand since the late 60s, so maybe they just need some time to figure it out. :)

[@floridajim]

Could be there were definitely some design issues with both the center stand and the weird location of the side stand. It took quite a bit of figuring for this bike - their 60s bike had a steel lower frame to work with, rather than no lower frame and an aluminum engine case (like my old F800GS & just about all ADV bikes).

[@Pyrrho_]

@@floridajim Isn't the PA their first bike with a stressed member engine?

[@floridajim]

@@Pyrrho_ I believe so. Way back in the Aermacchi days (60s) they had a few imports that didn't have a lower front frame, but I'm pretty sure those 250cc & 350cc bikes just had a suspended motor. Side note - it amuses me that the Aermacchi 250cc was named the "Golden Wing" in 1958 before they were bought out and sold as Harley Sprints a couple years later.

[@nevillegreg1]

And you don't want to be trying to put the bike on the centre stand if the bike is sloping even slightly down-hill, it's so much harder to get it up.

[@floridajim]

And you better have your hand on the brake when it comes off down hill. Up hill is the reverse, easy to get on, but you'll work getting it down. But that's true with any heavy bike on a center stand (the PanAm may be pretty light for a Harley, but it is well into the category of heavy in the general motorcycle world).

[@stefanorighele68]

Secondo me la molla del cavalletto è troppo lunga, facendo fuoristrada il cavalletto si abbassa.

[@floridajim]

I haven't had that problem yet, but I haven't run it hard off road that often.