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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 34
Robins AFB, GA | As a former HD rider (I know many of us can say that), two kickstand-related thoughts come to mind.
First - what the heck is that rubber pad for, anyway? I've never had one on my many previous bikes, and am not sure what it's doing for me now.
Second - The kickstands on my HDs used to LOCK in the down position once the weight of the bike was transferred to the stand. It was great becuase you could park on a slight/moderate downslope with the fornt wheel below the rear, and be confident the bike wouldn't roll off the stand. I always thought this was simple and brilliant, and connot for the life of me understand why Victory or anyone else wouldn't incorporate a similar design. It just gives the rider more parking flexibility!
Edited by StanLaurel 2011-09-18 12:03 PM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 742
North Orange County CA | I haven't bothered to research the issue but I can only see 2 possible reasons why nobody else does it :
1) HD has a patent on their "Jiffy Stand" design.
2) too expensive to build.
my bet is #1
Edited by Tarpits99 2011-09-18 12:15 PM
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Visionary
Posts: 1632
Jasper, MO | The rubber pad is supposed to flip the sidestand up in the event you should forget to put your sidestand up before you ride off. It's supposed to be a safety feature.
The locking sidestand is one of Harley's better ideas, and as far as I know, they are the only manufacturer to use it. It's a good idea and I would like to see it on Victorys.
Ronnie |
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Cruiser
Posts: 228
| FYI...the stand will still flip up w/o the rubber pad. Don't ask how I know! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 133
, AR United States | I have never had an issue with my Vision's kick stand (other than forgetting to put it down once). With my 07 Sportster I have to hold it down until it has weight on it or it will pop back up. |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| <p>If you push or kick the kickstand as far forward as you can you'll be just fine. The rubber pad will keep the bike from sliding and yes it is intended to pop up if you forget to put it up.</p><p>Harley locks the stand in place cause in the old days they used a round stand instead of a flat stank. Now you know they don't changed any design cause there old school. <br /></p>
Edited by john frey 2011-09-18 2:54 PM
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Cruiser
Posts: 102
Cedar, Michigan | Consider also that many motorcycles have a different type of 12V grounding system and need to be isolated from the ground so the system won't seek a ground via the kickstand and drain the battery. I don't know if that is the case with the Vision but I have had bikes in the past that would drain a battery in 1 week flat if you removed the rubber pad from the kickstand. Replace the rubber pad, and with the same exact battery, it would go the entire winter without even being hooked to a trickle charger. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | I've not used a pad on my kickstand for the past 70,000 miles or so without any ill effect. Also, heard they put the cheap rubber pad on there to keep from marring dealer floors, don't know, just what I heard. My bike has ran fine without it... |
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Cruiser
Posts: 233
flagstaff, AZ | I dont know what the little rubber was for, but it has long ago fallen off.
When it did I found I had to use a different engine oil.
Sorry, feeling like a smartass today.  |
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Cruiser
Posts: 103
Davenport, IA | I thought the rubber pad was a joke until I put into action a few times. The rubber pad will quickly grab the concrete or asphalt surface and go up if you would forget to put it up before taking off. And yes, it does wear out fast. But, before it wears out, I, like others mentioned hear, have used "Plasti Dip" to renew. You can buy it at Lowes. You can brush on several layers or coatings. Let dry and presto, like new! Long story short, you are safer using a rubber!@ |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | do they make a maxi-pad? |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 721
| Two things: 1) I used to have a '83 Honda Magna V65 and a '81 Honda CB750 Custom and both had a replaceable rubber tongue that stuck down lower than the kickstand in order to swing the kickstand up if the rider forgot to do so when starting off and upon the first lean to the left. 2) I just replaced the stock kickstand on my '08 Vision with the 2011 chrome plated accessory kickstand and for those that do not know, the new kickstands have a much longer toe catch than the original little ball. It is also not the wire extension like the kickstands on the '10 Cross bikes have, simple about a 1" longer flat cast where the ball used to be.? One last thing, the bike seems to lean less with the new kickstand than it did with the original. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | Got my license on a Honda 350, but got my baby, '81 CB750 Custom with Shadow exhaust shortly after. Had a lot of happy miles. |
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Tourer
Posts: 492
Indianapolis, IN | The rubber is a safety feature that also clears the company of liability. Some companies have been sued by riders that were absent minded and dumped the bike when their kickstand in the down position caught the ground.
Other companies have opted for the "dead man" switch on the kick stand to solve this problem, but this isn't practical for a bike without a center stand.
As far as the kick stand locking design, I'm sure the Vic engineers debated this design and decided the possibility of the kickstand getting caught on the locking device in a "riding with the stand down" scenario out weighed the benefit...... same liability.
Solution: With or without the rubber pad, get in the habit of parking your bike with it in 1st gear. It will never roll off the kickstand even if you park it down hill. This is the best scenario because no matter what, the bike is not depending on the kick stand as a "chock". The engine serves as the chock or parking brake, and it's not going to turn over even on a severe down hill orientation. Problem solved. |
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Tourer
Posts: 366
Albuquerque, NM | I wish mother Vic would redesign the kickstand to make it easier to find. With boots on it is a little hard to put down consistently. I was thinking of purchasing the noemtz extender. Anyone install it? Looks like you have to remove the black rubber to install it. Hopefully, they can be used together. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 1109
| I'll admit the Victory kickstand took a little getting used to but I actually like the design. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | I'm a very inept person when it comes to a lot of things, but riding makes me focus more. I worried over the pad when I first got the bike because of the implied safety reason. Even with a pad on my previous bikes I've left the kick-down and wished I remembered it. I've not experienced that on the Vision with the pad off. The times I have left it down and I've made a left turn, I didn't even know I left it down, it returned to a partial up state. Not saying you don't need a pad, that's up to you. But I focus more on paying attention everytime I get on the bike, step by step. The kick goes up just before I put it in gear. If I put it in gear without putting the kick up, my brain tells me that I'm out of sequence. Just as when I stop to park. Before the key gets turned off, my heal hits the tang and I stretch my foot forward with the kick and land the bike with my heal hitting first and the foot resting on the kick. This habit actually works everytime because I have yet to forget to put the kick down ever on the Vision.
Making something a habit will help you, and you can only do this if you do it on purpose. Sure, I'll forget something, sometime, like I said, I'm inept, but the Vision me feel like a pro.
Edited by varyder 2011-09-22 8:01 AM
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Iron Butt
Posts: 741
Central New York | I am not a big fan of the Vision side stand, mostly because of the excessive lean. I only use it when away from home. At home I have a Harbor Freight chock in the garage. I drive in the garage and into the chock. It's easier, faster, and makes checking the oil and other stuff a breeze before the next ride. The original reason I went to the chock was for room. With the chock I can drive the bike down the center of the garage and into the chock in the front, and still have plenty of room on each side for my two cars. I can't do that when on the side stand. Just too wide to be a safe situation.
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | glighto11 - 2011-09-22 12:35 PM
I am not a big fan of the Vision side stand, mostly because of the excessive lean. I only use it when away from home. At home I have a Harbor Freight chock in the garage. I drive in the garage and into the chock. It's easier, faster, and makes checking the oil and other stuff a breeze before the next ride. The original reason I went to the chock was for room. With the chock I can drive the bike down the center of the garage and into the chock in the front, and still have plenty of room on each side for my two cars. I can't do that when on the side stand. Just too wide to be a safe situation.
you are a smart fellar. I agree, it has quite a lean and will constantly look for a high spot to put the kick when I park or get gas. I'll also use my little pavement foot to give it some lifet. I really like the chock, I guess we can chock one up for you.  |
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Visionary
Posts: 1350
| The rubber pad was installed to start a long thread on a motorcycle website over something that's really not important.
Unlike HD, Victory does not have +million buyer pool so they like to keep there riders alive and uninjured from a locked kickstand in a left turn. Of course they hope the new owners are smart enough to leave the bike in gear on hill rather than trust a kickstand. But they could be wrong on this one.... |
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Cruiser
Posts: 85
| This was a good thread, lots of comments, lots of laughs too. So now we all know what the rubbers is for and I guess keeping it on and in good shape is entirely up to the rider. I unfortunately have to admit to forgetting my stand down on more than one occasion and the rubber did exactly as it was supposed to do so I've come to beleive it was a good idea on Vic's part. I've replaced the rubber once now since 2008 and am due for another change but this time I think I'll play around with it a little over the winter monts to see if I can cut a new one out of an old car tire. I'm thinking the rubber may be soft enough but should be a little tougher and take longer to wear out. -40 winter months allow me time to play with stuff like this. It's good to hear though that the stand kicks up even without the rubber in place.
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Tourer
Posts: 537
, FL United States | Which Harbor Freight chock do you use??? |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 741
Central New York | I use this one. Harbor Freight A couple points. It needs to be bolted down or Blocked from behind so it doesn't slide when you drive into it. When you adjust the flip plate do spread it to far. The farther apart the harder it is to pull it out. I have mine only set apart far enough to provide a positive flip, and I can back the bike out quite easily. I also find it useful on those cold mornings when you want to start it a few minutes ahead of time. I can walk away and do other things without the worry of an oil feed problem.
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Visionary
Posts: 1229
Rancho Cucamonga, CA | I use the cheaper one from Harbor Fright ($25 on sale), but it's bolted down in a utility trailer. This gives me a perimeter around the bike that the kids know not to enter.
I miss the kickstand lock also on the HD. My old driveway tilted down, I would not have been able to let my Vision warm up in neutral on it like I did the HD. No, I didn't move because I got a Vision. 
Edited by Nozzledog 2011-09-26 12:35 AM
(2011-01-06 20.23.00.jpg)
(2010-12-16 16.22.04.jpg)
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 2011-01-06 20.23.00.jpg (96KB - 3 downloads)
2010-12-16 16.22.04.jpg (87KB - 1 downloads)
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Iron Butt
Posts: 612
| I believe the rubber pad also serves to isolate metal to metal contact when the stand is retracted. |
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Kickstand thoughts
