Not really but almost !! I fitted the Gutsibits mid position sidestand bracket, ( longer bolts were reqd ) but all is not well. My old sidestand looks, and measures, exactly the same as the Gutsibits item which is paired with the bracket, but the sidestand leg/foot is now hidden under the silencer, so not accessible from the seat or anywhere in reality. I set off down the road, and heard a nasty scraping noise after 20 yards, the stand had flipped itself down !! I had hooked the spring plate onto the “flip the stand down” pin, don’t fancy a suicide stand !!
Any comments chaps ?
I am loving the bike, ( LM MK II looks like a MK I -sorry ) 38mm PHM’s now properly balanced and I am collecting a 2nd hand Keihan stainless exhaust system tomorrow - which will replace the awful bodged-up system she carries at the moment.
The LeMans 4/5 side stand has a tang that sticks out so you can flick it down easily, maybe you could add something similar. Not sure why yours decided to flop down. The springs are usually strong, mine flips up as soon as I pick the bike up.
Hope these couple of pictures help.
Sussed it ! Don - I have been using the “spring hanger plate” that is used on the front sidestand position. Ron - you have the different plate as shown on Gutsibits item 17432 !! I have asked them to sell me the modified item - we will get there in the end !! Thanks for your input !!
Glad it helped you out
The mid mounted side stand is a great improvement on the original one. If you have a welder, or know someone with one, it would be a good idea to add the tang on the side to help you flick it down.
The last T3 I bought (the one before Blue) did a similar nasty on me.
It had been californicated including reworking of the frame rails to take floor boards though the shift and brake controls will still as per foot peg usage. The sidestand mount had been bodged to fit the long stand. I caught the train round to Reading to pick it up and was on the M25 in the dark heading for home. I felt like the king of the road out there.
Suddenly there was the most godawful racket like the gearbox was self destructing. Looking down there were sparks everywhere and it took a moment to realised the stand had dropped. The return spring had failed and any moment I was going to be pole vaulted over it. Pulled it up with my foot and at the moment the services loomed up. Phew.
Just for info, curiously, the self-retracting Side-stands are actually illegal, in the UK at least.
My Wife’s a Senior Legal Adviser (Magistrates Courts), and a few years back I was flicking through her copy of the Stones Justices Manual, looking for something else entirely.
Saw ‘Side-stands’ in the index, and looked it up out of curiosity.
I must admit, I do wonder who designs Guzzi stands. The centre stand stays down when you push it down to the ground (even my Stornello stands do this) and the side stands flip up as soon as you lift the bike up. Completely the opposite of just about every other manufacturer.
Hi Guys n Gals, I’ve given up on the sidestand for the time being, I have got used to jumping off and using the main stand - having made sure that I select a level and flat piece of ground before doing so !!
My little Honda 250RS of way back had a special little rubber piece at the end of the stand. I never tested it but the idea was that if you took off with it still down that would touch down on your first left hander and just spring it all back up.
The sidestand on my850T is semi-automatic. When I lift the bike off the stand it stays down, but as soon as I give the throttle a little blip it pings up.
Probably due to a lack of lubrication but, as Chris Kenner would have said, I like it like that.
A very good point Doc. I’ll go and grease it forthwith. I expect I will then have a self retracting sidestand, which I understand is illegal in the UK.
