i had had another idea for 'winching' the bike onto the centrestand:

if you set a builder's adjustable steel vertical support between the floor of your garage and the rafter above, you'd have an anchor for tying a nylon web strap around that and around the read mudguard or swingarm or wheel and if you held the centrestand down with your left foot in the usual way, you could start 'ratcheting' the webbed belt slowly until the stand plopped over into the engaged position, then it would be easy to keep ratcheting until the stand was fully bearing the weight.

maybe a grabrail or grabring, ramset-bolted into any brick wall of the garage would provide the same purchase-point for any other kind of winchable interface as well. as long as it was a one-handed operation device you could hold the bike upright til the mechanical system took over.

 

be careful with using ramset for any lifting purpose.... a red brick conection is olny for dead loads not shock-load. if there is movement, red brick will fail sending hung peicecrashing down and bike hitting the ground... peece

 

JHouse is referring to the part of the frame on the left side of the bike. You need to grab that, with the plastic on, and lift up on it while pushing in the opposite direction on the centerstand, pulling the bike back sharply with the left hand helps a great deal.

If your driveway is angled down to the rear of the bike that helps to get the bike rolling backwards. Start with the bike slightly aimed left in the driveway and turn the bars full left. In other words the bike will be straight when it rolls back 3 inches (6cm). Before making the attempt, I also contact the ground with the centerstand and rock the bike to feel that both feet of the stand are touching at the same time and the bike is vertical. Then I roll the bike and put it up sharply. It is like the clean and jerk, you have to be committed.

 

It shouldn't be under the plastic (in the sense of behind it). It IS subtle. It actually took me a couple of times to find it. If yours is somehow behind your plastic, that doesn't sound right. I can't imagine it being bent, it is big and tough.

 

The last two post from TimBuck and House are all true, I guess I didnt really spell it out. I would'nt straddle the bike doing this, my advantage is that the right side is close to stuff so it wont fall that way and I am balanced so it cant fall on ME !
A trick of physics if the bike does fall anywhere is not to face it and try to pick it up - turn around,hold the right hand brake on with your right hand and the little bar House is referring to in your left. Stoop,bending your knees, keep your back straight and push up with your legs,leaning into the bike . Amazing how well this works.
And for you youngsters out there...since I'm not Superman, I became Batman, not as strong but still smart enough to figure it out and with a Hurricane,I can still fly !!! (I really liked his bike in the movie)

 

grendl, thanks for this. i never thought of holding the brake on before and part of the problem was the machine rolling away from me while i tried to 'shoulder' it up.

jhouse, you know, as blind as i am, i never really 'saw' that bar as a handle. it must be because i wanted to wrap my fingers around it if i were going to use it as purchase. since you cant do that, i dismissed it as a viable lifting point. now i know.

i just finished watching the december 08 episode of Top Gear. i think this is a great show because jeremy clarkson's sarcasm is devestating and his metaphors so original. a lot of people want clarkson for prime minister. for bikies he's a loudmouth rampaging crusader for personal freedom. he's down on every form of P.C., conformism, bandwagoning motherhood causes, safety culture, nanny state and general limpwristed pussiness.

i see the show is current on bbcamerica and i wonder if it has any fans there. the mongrels here screen the show about 3 years out of date, so their car reviews are prehistoric when i get to see them. the bbc website has a country-bar on it if you dont disguise your address, so you wont see it that way either.

that episode shows the producers finally getting clarkson onto a motorbike as the three of them travel vietnam from saigon to hanoi. there are a lot of setpiece gags, but he does actually make the trip and sort of comes to at least stopping loathing motorbikes. james may chose a honda 50cc stepthrough and finishes the trip with the peashooter still running.

last week, on a stunt bike theme twist, instead of a daredevil jump over buses, they jumped a double-decker bus over 15 bikes, clearing maybe 3 of them and flattening the rest. for no reason. just for fun. (because this episode was SEVEN years old, clarkson hadnt been converted and said that he would have backed the bus up and flattened the surviving 3 machines.)

another subject: i know CBR stands for closed body racer, but i cant find out what 1000F stands for. i expect one of you experts will know what the F is for. no jokes on the bleedin' obvious please.

 

bambam, thanks for this warning. it makes sense. it would be a bit stupid to rely on just brick mortar as a weight bearing shock point. i ll have to keep thinking on this problem as i age. ageing is a big motivator for solving the problems of ageing. and it has a built in deadline.

 

thats a good one cbrclassic. thanks.

if it only takes half the effort from that point, i can manage that.

this could really work because i have enough groin strength to nearly get there unassisted before the inguinal wound nearly tears open again. and thats using a terrible lift point like the left footpeg.

i have to fit a new ignition switch when it arrives, so all the bodywork has to come off and i want it sitting up straight and level.

have you had the legendary electrical trouble with blown globes. you must've with an '89. i have the '94 type R.