C-stand = Crash

tombraider2

tombraider2

Wizard
Visit site
Over the weekend I come across 2, 2007 Fz1's at gas station. One was parked with a cruiser and the other in a truck.. These dudes were headed to Utah from Washington, and into a corner HOT, one hooked the center stand and then end. That bike was creamed front to back. Bars were both bent all the way down and both sides of the tank mashed in. No front end left. Rider had a busted up left hand so I assume he had full ATGATT. I went home and leaned mine over to see how far it would go before center stand contact.. Allot, I didn't ask what side hit but it looked scary as Hell. Just an FYI I thought I'd pass along. I've all ways wondered if that could happen.
 
Sounds like he was leaning way to far over, which to me means that he was riding too aggressively for the road. If he had proper form, he most likely didn't have to lean the bike so much. Thanks for passing along the info.
 
Good throttle control has a huge effect on keeping the suspension operating in its best range range and allows proper ground clearance. The books I've read highlight this as one of the leading causes of 'touching down' parts like centre stands and such
 
Well I'm no expert on this but I've scrubbed my tires to the edge, were it's off the tread part. He must have been way the Fork over. Had a good ride and photo bucket is not working for me so I can't share photo's :waiting:

But, I rocked and rolled that Fz.
 
As stated, form and technique are key. It's not necessarily how far you lean the bike... if you are off the seat the bike is able to corner faster while remaining more upright. When form is wrong and the lean is too harsh, you will drag hardware and create a pivot point on the bike causing a crash. It may be the center stand, but even if this is removed, if the rider's form and technique are incorrect, yet another hard-part will touch and cause the same results.

A rider with proper form and the bike more upright will corner faster than the rider without form and leaning the bike harder. This is why I do not put any weight on chicken strips. ;)
 
I think he may have gone down due to something other than the side stand. I've met and ridden with a few guys from here that actually get their feet stuck between the frame and the stock peg(feeler removed) and they have yet to touch the center stand down.
 
Dustin said:
It's the unused portion on the edge of your tires. Apparently you're not a good rider or even a man if you have any of those.
Click to expand...

I live here in the Texas Hill Country and ride the 3 Sisters regularly. Each of the 3 roads has signs specifically stating that "6 or 8" motorcyclists have died there (on each one) in recent years.

I believe there is a member on this board that bounces his bikes over the guard rails regularly to see what they land on. Anything for amusement.

My RoadSmarts are severely worn out to about 1/2" (3/8"?) of the sidewalls and I am perfectly content with that and not interested in being the one to raise the mortalities on the road signs.

When I was still jumping out of perfectly flight-worthy aircraft, I carried a reserve just in case things went FUBAR. Had a few interesting events but never had to pop a reserve.

Ain't no reserve on a motorcycle.
 
I bought my bike used and it didn't have a center stand. I actually bought one and installed it because the pavement gets so hot here in Utah that I have had bikes tip over on their side stands in it. The center stand gives a little piece of mind when parking on 100+ days. I agree with those that say the driver was at at little too much lean angle, I can't even imagine dragging the center stand and I am a pretty aggressive rider.
 
I've ground my centerstand on many occasions. This wil only occur after the footpegs have begun folding upward, or if a large amount of the footpegs have been ground away. I also crash alot. So far grinding the centerstand has yet to cause a crash. On a related note if you remove the little rubber spacer from the centerstand it will tuck up a little tighter and provide more cornering clearence I have not found any down side yet to removing this bumper.
 
Hmmm....I took my FZ to a track day (Thunder Hill) and changed pegs, putting small .750" rnd pegs on (NO feeler). These pegs would allow me to 'lean' more w/out the feelers hitting the track. Now, the right side of the bike has MAJOR clearance issues, as I was grinding the hell out of the exhaust can, but the left side has no such problem, therefore I could lean More! I ended up grinding about 20% of the left peg off! and touched the center stand!!! And I was right to the edge of my rear Q2. IMHO, anyone leaning this far on the street is an idiot and won't be around long.

Did this guy crash due to grinding his centerstand? I doubt it seriously, UNLESS he hit a nice bump, which compressed his suspension, thereby causing the centerstand to hit.
 
Recon Viper 1 said:
My RoadSmarts are severely worn out to about 1/2" (3/8"?) of the sidewalls and I am perfectly content with that and not interested in being the one to raise the mortalities on the road signs.

When I was still jumping out of perfectly flight-worthy aircraft, I carried a reserve just in case things went FUBAR. Had a few interesting events but never had to pop a reserve.

Ain't no reserve on a motorcycle.
Click to expand...

Amen Bro! You ever jump out the back of a Chinook? That's what I work on and used to crew years ago.
 
I feel this guys pain, a few years back I dumped my R1 at a track day after dragging my frame sliders, helmet, shoulder, back, gloves, butt, everything except my knee.

Oh wait, that just might be a bit backwards.



Everybody is Rossi until they have an off, then they becomes Rossi riding the ducati... it is all the bikes fault.
 
I say piss on all of these solutions above.

My friend with an '09 FZ-1 removed his center stand to clean up the looks and as a bonus has less weight. When he needs it for oil changes or chain maintenance or whatever, he puts two bolts in, without the springs or other stuff, and uses the center stand on a flat surface. Problem solved. No center stand while riding. No extra weight. No ugly looking center stand (that's why he did it initially). NO PROBLEM!

My girlfriend has a YZR-600R and I have to have a bike stand for tire changes and maintenance (No center stand on the YZF-600R) so I bought these.

Black Motorcycle Bike Stand Front & Rear Swingarm Set | eBay

I then proceeded to remove my center stand on my '07 FZ-1 and have never looked back. No stand, no problem. Cheap, easy, awesome!

I've had both tires off with these stands, and the help of a cheap 2 ton floor jack.

Quick shipping. Good enough quality. Use them on ANY bike. No need for spools (spools would be nicer and easier, but that costs a little more and every bike has too have them. They do sell the spool type too though).


Sometimes the solution to the potential problem is easier AND better than than the instantly obvious one.
 
I don't get it... you have something that came with the bike but the better solution is to remove it AND shell out more money to do the same job? Thanks, but we've got the better solution and it came with the FZ1 stock. ;)
 
Not really Cobalt.

If you READ my post you'll see I had to buy it for my girlfriends bike that doesn't come with a center stand, so I had a need for it. It's free to use on my bike, so why not remove the UGLY bulky center stand that adds weight and obviously a ground clearance hazard for some.

or

like my post also said: you can remove it, like my friend with the '09 does. When you need it slip two bolts in it when you put it back on for maintenance, not even having to put the nuts on, and use it safely on a flat surface, then easily remove it again.
 
I figured that. Ride for 2-3 hours on the weekend to the local starbucks and let the bike pose on the race stand in the garage like some sort of a race bike! For this kind of riding, they should have bought a R6/R1, not a FZ1 :D

On the other hand, when I lowsided, the sidestand was ground a bit but the centerstand was untouched. On the track, I have confirmed the sidestand will drag before the centerstand and this is what I have heard elswhere on other bikes too. It is all about right suspension setup and many track orgs still recommend removing the side stand before the centerstand!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top