Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

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R12RnHouston
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Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by R12RnHouston »

Folks,

Has anyone had a failure of a center-stand bolt? I read about them frequently on GS forums, and also suggestions the new factory bolts are stronger. I'm a proponent of reasonable preemptive maintenance, and am tempted to pull the center-stand, grease the bushings and pivot pins, and replace the bolts.
Last edited by R12RnHouston on Mon Nov 09, 2015 9:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by deilenberger »

If mine haven't (lower suspension, standard centerstand) - I don't think it's a huge issue. Of course if you're looking for work to do, doing general maintenance like that isn't a bad thing. I'd just rather be riding.. :) Hot in Houston?
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by R12RnHouston »

deilenberger wrote:If mine haven't (lower suspension, standard centerstand) - I don't think it's a huge issue. Of course if you're looking for work to do, doing general maintenance like that isn't a bad thing. I'd just rather be riding.. :) Hot in Houston?
Yea, it's hot. But at least it's humid.
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by deilenberger »

R12RnHouston wrote:Yea, it's hot. But at least it's humid.
:) That's the saving grace in NJ - it's hot, humid and usually overcast due to the pollution. The overcast keeps us from par-boiling.
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by mogu83 »

Don - you forgot that the situation with congested traffic and the insane or heavily drugged drivers is a reason not to ride the bikes so our bikes last longer. :lol:
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by larsn »

Yup. Mine did, and the machine collapsed without warning when I pushed it off cente stand. Only damage was a slightly bent, still useable centerstand, and $117 mechanic fee including new bolt and bushing. Mechanic said bolt works loose over time, and then fatigues and shears. Check it occasionally.
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by deilenberger »

This seems to be a luck of the draw sort of thing. I'll have to check the bolts on my '12, but my '07 went 96,000 miles on the original bolts. I vaguely remember checking the torque on them once after reading about failures. Mine experience heavy duty use since I have lowered suspension, but the standard height centerstand. I'm lifting the bike higher then stock when it's on the centerstand.

Happily - I have a short version of the sidestand (official BMW issue even!) arriving soon - it was always a PITA trying to park on any road with a crown. Usually had to park perpendicular to the curb. Now if someone just had the short version of the centerstand kicking around..
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by R12RnHouston »

I finally got around to replacing the center-stand bolts. I purchased this Motion-pro spring puller (which I did not end up using), a 6mm long handle allen wrench, and T50 Torx long handle “L” wrench (both of which I did need). When I looked at the microfiche to order the bolts, I went ahead and ordered the two pairs of o-rings since mine would certainly be gone or at least brittle.

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So the manual says to remove this large spring. There is no way! It is much too strong for me even with the spring puller I purchased or anything I had on hand. So realizing I didn’t really need to remove it, but rather just release the tension enough to get the bolts out one at a time, I used coins as shims (pennies are good, nickels are better) to extend it.

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Next, the original bolts come out with a long handle 6mm allen wrench (no, there is no room to use a socket on either side) while counter holding the pivot pin with a 22mm open end wrench. I was sure I would need heat, but the right side loosened fairly easily, and to my surprise the left side was barely hand tight (finding that made this exercise worthwhile).

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Here is a new bolt (T50 Torx) and old.

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So, both of the old bolts looked fine, but I went ahead and renewed the o-rings on each pivot pin, gave them a good smear of synthetic grease that contains some moly, cleaned the bushings in the center-stand, and reinstalled it all with the new bolts.

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No way to get a torque wrench in there so I just got them good and snug. Fairly easy job and though unnecessary, it was useful to better understand how the center-stand attaches and catch the loose bolt on the left side before it did fail. Of course now I have to carry that T50 Torx L wrench in my tool roll.
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by deilenberger »

R12RnHouston, nice writeup.

There was a video posted somewhere that showed how to get these heavy centerstand springs off and back on without killing yourself. It was pretty simple - the person used a length of strong thin rope, and used the rear-wheel as an anchor point, making a loop from the rear wheel to the hook on the spring, then pulling it backwards toward the rear-wheel. This gives you 2:1 advantage - and apparently that makes the spring fairly easy to get off and put back on. If there was still too much force required, a second loop (looped around the rim on the back wheel) would give you 4:1 advantage. I have some old sailboat pullies around - maybe I'll make up a block-and-tackle.. :)

I had saved the link for the video for a while - but deleted it the other night. Perhaps a Google will turn it up.. it was probably on U-Tube.

The pennies trick also works fine.
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by R12RnHouston »

deilenberger wrote:R12RnHouston, nice writeup.

There was a video posted somewhere that showed how to get these heavy centerstand springs off and back on without killing yourself. It was pretty simple - the person used a length of strong thin rope, and used the rear-wheel as an anchor point, making a loop from the rear wheel to the hook on the spring, then pulling it backwards toward the rear-wheel. This gives you 2:1 advantage - and apparently that makes the spring fairly easy to get off and put back on. If there was still too much force required, a second loop (looped around the rim on the back wheel) would give you 4:1 advantage. I have some old sailboat pullies around - maybe I'll make up a block-and-tackle.. :)

I had saved the link for the video for a while - but deleted it the other night. Perhaps a Google will turn it up.. it was probably on U-Tube.

The pennies trick also works fine.
Well great, now I'm going to have to try that!
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Re: Centerstand bolt fail anyone?

Post by roger l »

I like the penny in the spring idea. That is clever and a lot safer than trying to pull on the spring with something. I will need to remember that trick.

Roger L
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