750SF2 main stand - too short?

mikeb

mikeb

New member
Location
new zealand
Back tyre (bt46) of my SF2 touches the ground when on the main stand. There is some wear in the stand’s bushes tho the frame lugs/holes look fairly ok. But additionally my rear shocks (old konis) are 330mm centres, not 355mm so it should be well clear.

Is the stand right? See the pic - doesn’t look bent to me. It measures 240mm from pivot centre to bottom of the foot but I can’t find firm data to check this. I have seen some numbers from 230 to 270mm height, as well as references to some stands (GT?) being 20mm too short. So…

1. does anyone know the correct height for the sf/1/2/3 stand? I’m tempted to cut it near the feet and extend it a bit.

2. the sleeve around the bush is clearly worn (pic3). Would you weld that up a bit and file it out? Or not worry about it?

Thanks

(ps – I didn’t paint it!)
 

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I think you'll find that's not a std SF1 or 2 (and probably 3) stand, Mike. They had a ring onto which the spring attached, while yours has a lug welded to it (pic 1) - could it be a GT stand or some other older model?
 
My SF2 centerstand is @ 9 3/8" from center pivot to ground and my BT46 tire is 110/90/18, so either your stand is too short or the tire profile is too tall. Probably a good idea to build up that worn sleeve, and I second Hooksey's advice to make platform shoes.
Forum Member IAG is selling parts cheap but he's stateside.
 
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thanks for comments. yes that lug looks different Piranha, i hadnt noticed that. I'm now searching up pics of different models and stands to understand this...
Teddy thanks for the measument. 9 3/4" is pretty much 240mm which matches mine. my bt46 is 120/90/18 which AI reckons is +18mm diameter so 9mm higher - so that may be part of it.

The problem with welding a foot on it is i want to put the shocks back to a standard height as the bike feels and looks low at the rear. so I need to find at least 25mm - that would be a big foot.
I'll weld up the sleeve, refit and remeasure, and keep searching for stand models and heights.

cheers
 
Rather than weld and rebore, why not just drill/rebore and fit custom OS bushes. Much less work.

You don't want too heavy a foot or it will bounce down on big bumps. Dead easy to cut and implant an extra section of tube - it's only water pipe after all.

On my custom build (17 inch rims 160/60 tyre, longer shocks) I made my own centre stand and incorporated height adjustable feet.

Sounds like your shocks are underlength.
 
I'm with Quentin (piranha-bro2) on the issue of heavy feet. If you need to jack it up 25mm, a better way to extend it is to cut the legs and weld an extension piece into each leg. It shouldn't be too hard to find a piece of pipe about the same size as the tube the stand is made out of. I did exactly that alteration to my Jota's centre stand and it worked OK.

PS: Forgive me if I'm stating the bleeding obvious here, but don't forget that the centre stand is 2/3 of the wheelbase length back from the front wheel, so a 25mm increase in stand height will jack the rear wheel up by approximately 38mm. If the 25mm you're looing for is actually at the rear wheel, increase the stand legs by about 17mm.
 
Ah, Delortoman, yes that’s obvious, now you’ve said it, but not before o_O😖 (I remind myself I’m an office worker). That 1.5x factor will make raising it easier, especially when planning for 352mm shocks.

And I’ve found some 28mm OD tube in the shed but its only 1.6mm wall. I assume I need 2.5 or 3mm? will keep looking...

and one more dumb question - i assume the stand legs should be parallel? mine aren't - left angles wider (pic 1 in first post)
 
Parallel. You can use different thickness bits of wood under the stand to see how much longer you need, but fix the loose bushes and straighten it first, or score the correct stand for your bike, they duck up not infrequently. I have the same issue atm on my SF2, way longer rear dampers and atm 130/110 tyres (my ex race wheels until I wear the tyres out), but it only needs 15mm under the stand to have the wheel free. The length of the front forks also affects your issue, is it standard SF 38mm Ceriani?
 
Our Dutch Laverdafriend Hans Smid is selling some Mainstand for the 750 SF 1/SF3

Found at kleinanzeigen.de

www.kleinanzeigen.de

Stander Laverda 750 SF SF1 SF2 SF3 gebraucht

Preis pro Stuck ohne Achse Versand aus Niederlande,Stander Laverda 750 SF SF1 SF2 SF3 gebraucht in Köln - Mülheim
www.kleinanzeigen.de www.kleinanzeigen.de

80,-€ from NL ( maybe a little bit less )
plus ShippingCost

Rainer
 
mikeb said:
And I’ve found some 28mm OD tube in the shed but its only 1.6mm wall. I assume I need 2.5 or 3mm? will keep looking...
Click to expand...
Never having hacked into a Laverda 750 centre stand, I don't know the tube wall thickness. I've cut and shut a few Laverda triple stands though, and while I don't remember the exact wall thickness, it's certainly thicker than 1.6mm. I'm pretty sure I used a bit of galvanised water pipe last time I extended a stand (I forget what the bike was). It was the right OD and had a wall thickness of a bit over 3mm. Galvanised water pipe is my go-to material for a lot of projects. I used to have heaps of it lying around since I re-plumbed my house, but I've now used most of it up. I reckon it's time to visit the recycle shop at my local tip to re-stock. One of my favourite shopping haunts :)

If you can't find any suitable tube stock, then maybe that's the universe's way of telling you to do the job properly. The perfect way to do it is to turn up a couple of steel spacers of exactly the right length and diameter with shouldered spigots on the ends that'll press into the open ends of the cut tubes for perfect alignment. I dunno how well equipped your workshop is, but you'll obviously need access to a lathe and welder. If you don't have such essentials, you probably know someone who does. It's such a simple job that a mate would most likely do it for you as a favour. Otherwise a bottle of his favourite tipple might be sufficient encouragement. If you were local to me I'd be happy to do it free of charge.
 
If you're going to go to that much trouble you may as well make the stand height adjustable. When I was making mine I decided to go a few extra yards and build the stand with a pinch bolt and the feet with an ID to slide into the main legs. I added an alu spacer (that can be varied in length) to ensure the weight of the bike doesn't overcome the pinch bolt grip.

I haven't got any close ups but in the pics you can make out the general design concept. Not that I adjust it much, but I have done it when I dropped the forks through the clamps a bit and can do if I fit different tyres ar ever want to put 18s on it.

SFQ-vs-Hog.jpgSFQ-vs-hog-1.jpg
 
piranha-bro2 said:
If you're going to go to that much trouble you may as well make the stand height adjustable. When I was making mine I decided to go a few extra yards and build the stand with a pinch bolt and the feet with an ID to slide into the main legs. I added an alu spacer (that can be varied in length) to ensure the weight of the bike doesn't overcome the pinch bolt grip.

I haven't got any close ups but in the pics you can make out the general design concept. Not that I adjust it much, but I have done it when I dropped the forks through the clamps a bit and can do if I fit different tyres ar ever want to put 18s on it.

View attachment 107783View attachment 107784
Click to expand...

I like your stand over Fred Flinstones cruiser. So difficult to employ 😳
 
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

So… leg straightened, sleeve wear welded up and opened out for new bushes (from DAM). Then legs cut and extensions with spigots seam and plug welded (coz that is what the universe told me to do, Dellortoman 😵‍💫). Overall length +24mm = 264mm pivot centre to bottom of foot. That leaves the back wheel 35mm higher than previous, where the tyre had sat on the ground with 330mm shocks. So that should cope with some new shocks of correct 352mm length.

And for the record – the legs are nominally 3mm wall thickness (tho actually quite a bit of variation around the circumference).

Here’s what I don’t understand. I’ve got standard 38mm Ceriani front shocks, SF2 frame. My stand was 240mm pivot centre to foot – same as some other SF stands. The bushes are new, bolts have shanks, and frame lug holes round within 1mm or so. The stand does not appear to lean back excessively. The front tyre (90/90-18 100/90-18) is 7mm larger radius than the original 3.25x18 (making the rear 10mm lower) and rear (120/90-18) 6.5mm larger radius than the original 4.00x18. My rear shocks are 22mm shorter. And my tyre was on the ground... how is this possible? I must be missing something….???
 

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Nice neat job Mike, although I think you may have added more weight than necessary. The spigot on your extension was longer than necessary and the wall thickness excessive. Now that you're carrying around those extra few grams of centre stand, your bike will be 0.01 seconds slower in a 1/4 mile sprint. ;)

Seriously though. That looks way better than welding a thick plate on the bottom of the foot.
 
i was trying to get into the laverda spirit of using large chunks of metal where ever possible.
actually, final walls were thinned a little tho still 5mm or so.
and i did have to upgrade the aftermarket spring so something a bit more manly.

and... i still don't understand why this was necessary... :confused:
 
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