Whats all this talk about spools? How much are they, and what benefits do they offer? I know you have to buy your stand based on spools or no spools. My bike is an 02 f4i can I mount spools on it?

 

Sure you can mount spools on almost any bike, they are the little "frame slider" looking things on the bottom of your swing arm near your wheel, they hold the bike up better then just using a normal stand on the rear swing arm. most racers use them because they change tiers and oil quite often and its Much easier to put a bike up and down off spools then not. most bikes you weld them on but some have places for them just depends. the F4i i belive you have to get them welded but i honestly cant remember since I never looked into it for mine.

 

you can mount them...not overly recommended but it can be done.

1) have someone weld new bungholes(he..he.. he said bunghole) on the bottom of your swingarm then have it repainted.

2) drill a whole in your swingarm and use some thread inserts. I have seen them bend in a crash though, screwing not only your spool, but now the side of your swingarm too.

I really want spools, but I aint going to do it. unless I have to take my swing arm off for somereason, then I may consider it.

 

On bikes with hollow axels you can use rod or make your own "spools" that insert into the axle. On the f4i you can do it with the rear, but not the front.

 

I had my swingarm off for some odd reason. I had a buddy fabricate some spools and the mounts then weld the mounts on. They look awesome and work like a charm. Besides the speed factor of getting the rear wheel of the ground, I have noticed it is a lot more stable than a paddock stand. Don't know how much it would cost to due since my buddy did everything for free but I would definite recommend doing spools.

 

yeah, spools would be nice, but its not worth the trouble, imo...a rod through the axle works great too, but you cant take off the wheel...i just use a universal rear stand (non cup type) and have no complaints...generally, implementing spools is more stable and a lot faster, but mine is surprisingly stable and i bet i can beat a "spooler" in a race to lift the bike ...the one that i really want to change is my universal front stand...it has excellent contact and fits great, but isnt very stable...ill switch to triple tree down the line...

at the end of the day, unless if its a real racebike thats gonna see a lot of paddock tweaks/repairs, dont lose sleep over it...

 

I have the cradle type stand and it works totally fine. Don't see the fuss unless you are planning on leaving the bike on the stand for several months

 

I drilled n tapped holes in my swingarm to mount the spools. Not had any issues with it. But like stated prior, in a crash they could cause more damage than good. Then again if the crash is that bad the swingarm was prolly **** with or without em lol.

 

tahoe has pads...takes 3 seconds to get the bike on there...bike's been on there for a long time...moved on the stands, etc...been out of tire since february...sigh...anyway, no issues at all...
spools do save some time, but i just don't see how tahoe can be any faster...

if you can't get the bike on the pads in 5 seconds, you probably shouldn't be working on it...muahhahh...

 

Is Tahoe able to lift the bike himself without buddy of Tahoe?