Some of these may be obvious but again – Someone reading this blog may have never used a motorcycle stand before and maybe this list helps them out:
- Make sure you have the right stand for your motorcycle. There’s lots of bikes out there these days that require somewhat non-standard types of stands.
- If you’re lifting from under the rear swingarm or front forks, clean the area where the bike will interact with the stand. Road grime and grease often collect on the unseen undersides of forks and swingarms and that makes for easy slippage when using a stand.
- Be sure that your work area is as clean as possible. A rock in the path of your stand’s wheel during the lifting process can be an unsettling thing if you’re not paying attention.
- Take your bike off the side stand. The bike needs to be upright before you lift it with a stand. If you try to lift the bike while it’s on its side stand, you are likely going to see a bike hit the ground.
- If using a front stand, make sure your bike does not have any ABS modules that will interfere with the stand placement. You don’t want to damage your ABS module while lifting the bike.
That’s it for today. Ride safe out there.