[mithun]

In all the newer bikes, the center stand seems to be missing. If I remember correctly, heavyweights like Triumph Scrambler 1200 or Honda Gold Wing comes with it, so the issue is not the bike’s weight or its intended purpose alone!

In my half a million KMs of riding, I had found it to be a very useful for:

• Parking on a soft ground
• Cleaning and lubricating the chain
• Changing tyres
• To fit the bike in a narrow space
• Even sit or to take a quick nap!

What is the real reason behind the omission of center stands? Is it due to Aesthetics/Losing a few kilos/Chassis/Cost cutting?

[ashwinprakas]

1. Cost Cutting
2. Weight Saving
3. Cornering Clearance
4. Aesthetics

Are the reasons manufacturers claim(and are true for some), but from where I see things it has more to do with a shift in buying preferences, ask any millennial and they'd say they use the main stand for washing their motorcycles and lubing chain. Some even do not do either or both as we have other people to do it for us.

Now taking all that into consideration, would someone really care if the main stand was missing? I dont think so.

A notion reinforced coming from the land of Bullets where a majority of users do not have the physical ability to mount the motorcycle on its main stand, courtesy RE's inconvenient design and mostly their disinterest.

Personally I find life hard without a main stand, you cannot even do basic maintenance like changing chain and sprockets, adjust chain, true rims etc.

Regards,
A.P.

[paramesh3210]

Originally Posted by mithun

What is the real reason behind the omission of center stands? Is it due to Aesthetics/Losing a few kilos/Chassis/Cost cutting?

According to me all the above ones which you have mentioned. Along with that selling the center stand as an accessory is a new trend. Most of the manufacturer wants to earn profit out of it.

Now the second thing according to me is on the motorcycle type. Center stand will not suit all motorcycles. That could be a reason. And I come from Adventure motorcycling side and center stand is a must have.

[aswin ajith]

Originally Posted by mithun

In all the newer bikes, the center stand seems to be missing. If I remember correctly, heavyweights like Triumph Scrambler 1200 or Honda Gold Wing comes with it, so the issue is not the bike’s weight or its intended purpose alone!

In my half a million KMs of riding, I had found it to be a very useful for:

• Parking on a soft ground
• Cleaning and lubricating the chain
• Changing tyres
• To fit the bike in a narrow space
• Even sit or to take a quick nap!

What is the real reason behind the omission of center stands? Is it due to Aesthetics/Losing a few kilos/Chassis/Cost cutting?

You do not really need to go that much up the ladder to see the omission trend. Centre stand is now missing from bikes with capacities as low as 250cc. My Dominar also doesn't have a centre stand either. I feel it's more of an aesthetic thing as well along with all the reasons mentioned above. The only scenario I miss the centre stand is during chain cleaning and lubing. However, big bikes have paddock stand for that.

Upside ? I get separate parking for my ride in my office basement because of this. Most guys would know that there is this centre stand rule in in most places where you are allowed to park your ride only on centre stand and after a while the security comes in and stacks up all the rides like how we stack files in our office to supposedly save on space.

Sometimes, omissions come in the form of blessings too.

[IshaanIan]

Any bike that is even slightly pitched as having sporty intentions will lack a center stand for the simple issue of cornering clearance.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Now taking all that into consideration, would someone really care if the main stand was missing? I dont think so.

Speaking mainly from the ADV tourer perspective - Oh yes, we do please!

An aftermarket centerstand for my bike costed ~ INR 25,000 and I rode around ~25,000 kms without one - unable to convince myself to spend the equivalent of a good used motorcycle, on purchasing one.

But having ~216 kgs raised above your head using a makeshift device was quite unnerving every time you clean and lube the chain. Another big headache was with kids climbing the bike when parked on the side stand- a slip or fall could be disastrous for them (and also my wallet). Climbing the bike in heavy rain was another recipe for disaster with side stand and rubber foot pegs.

Finally gave in and purchased one, and it feels so good - one of the best accessory installed, despite the pricetag.


The locally designed jack I was using earlier. Brilliant stuff but had its limitations for sure.


With the centre stand finally in place. Peace.

[mithun]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Any bike that is even slightly pitched as having sporty intentions will lack a center stand for the simple issue of cornering clearance.

But lots of sports/naked bikes are having very high ground clearance. So will that be a "real" problem?

I can understand that removing the lowest item will remove the scraping issue from an engineering point of view, but if then older Pulsars/Karizmas would be plagued with that problem!

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Speaking mainly from the ADV tourer perspective - Oh yes, we do please!

I doubt manufacturers care about minorities, the average Joe wouldn't even bother to spend 2~3k more for a main stand, though they would gladly do so to get a replica exhaust fabricated from some shady back-alley dude.

BTW, I do notice that you have an oddly placed horn added, how have you wired it? If you'd wired it like this;



Then I'd suggest you get yourself a Hella Horn Wiring Harness, it costs about 600ish but is worth the money spent, I have it installed in both the P220 and CT100B to power dual Roots Vibromini horns on each.



The stock harness can take a beating and is built with contingencies in mind, but for some reason I've never been a fan of messing with stock wiring, even if it means adding extra load.

P.S. Seeing your make-shift jack, brought to mind an incident that happened on a ride to Pondy, fellow enthusiasts chain got real loose, so I had to be the make-shift jack in this case:



The only reason he was able to adjust the chain like this was due to the NS200 sporting cassette type adjusters, if it were the old screw type ones he would've had a real hard time getting the alignment right.

Originally Posted by mithun

but if then older Pulsars/Karizmas would be plagued with that problem!

With a heavy pillion on-board merely swerving too hard on the Punalur - Schenkottai route would be enough for the main-stand to scrape on my P220, Pulsar's are plagued with the concern of the main-stand scraping.

Removing the rubber stopper does give you an inch of clearance, but I still managed to scrape the main-stand while returning from B'lore last summer, mostly due to me pushing the motorcycle to have a feel of the MRF Masseters. Do note the chicken strip, even with an acre to spare I manage to scrape the stand:



With the ZMA you'd be scraping the foot-peg way before you start scrapping the main stand, so that is out of the question.

Cheers,
A.P.

[bigron]

In India, apart from saving cost by not providing it as standard equipment and charging for one as an accessory, eliminating it helped in routing the exhausts headers under the bike more efficiently.

Traditionally there were many reasons , ranging from weight saving ,going out of fashion and making self service difficult for the buyer.

[naveenroy]

Not just in India - my AT didn't come with a center stand!

I understand aesthetics and that a center stand is even dangerous on some bikes, but to not provide it as standard OEM on an ADV bike is just!

[darkLightning]

In my honest opinion it went like this -

A few years ago the highest one average Joe could aim for a bike was Pulsar. Even Karizma was a luxury and biggest competition to prettiest girl in school/college/office.
Then there were your separate non-average Joes who will not buy anything below Royal Enfield (above which was the world of imports) and at that time RE had only kick start.
Now forget about the weight of an RE giving it a kick was itself the biggest headache for anyone not having above average strength and build, hence those who owned RE never had problem putting the behemoth on main stand. In fact it was a show of strength to put RE on main stand in front of the watching crowd.
The only bikes which were not having main stand were mostly foreign imports, perhaps most famous being Hayabusa. The lack of main stand was as such considered a trait of super cool imported bike.

Then it all changed when RE finally decided to get it's product within reach of your average not so well built Joe (because they had the moolah) and voila out came RE with electric start and we started seeing those erstwhile proud RE's on main stand being replaced with RE's on side stands because main stand needed strength.

From this point onward companies simply realized that main stand is something that can be lived without easily (except perhaps Hero Motocorp)

This gave a few obvious advantages to manufacturers including -
1. Cost cutting(maybe not so much)
2. Pounce on that previously established no main stand = super cool sports bike fetish
3. Increased ground clearance in spec sheets (I still don't understand this point by common sense since roads are improving so requirement for Ground clearance should go down right ?)
4. Earn more money by providing as accessory because serious bikers will still always prefer main stand.
5. Sell heavy bikes to those who can afford the price but not the weight
6. Reduced weight in specs sheet. (Yes a good main stand is decently heavy as per your bike's build)

Now coming over to what I feel about main stand, well simply put it's a must however yes if there can be a provision where I can remove it for short time without disturbing anything else in the bike if required (usually off-roading) then I would love to have it that way.
Below are a few things you can do if you have main stand.

1. Inspect your bike thoroughly.
2. Use it as a lunch table (I have done)
3. Use it as your study table (I have done)
4. You can't do it wheelie but a launch from main stand is very easy thing to do
5. Lubing the chain , fixing puncture and all sorts of maintenance become easier
6. Park it in lesser and tighter space
7. Safer with kids when parked
8. Moving it side to side without having key becomes very easy
9. When parked in tight spot on side stand it is very easy that the bike parked next to you will be there in such a way you can't even lift your bike to vertical base (extremely irritating thing).

I can go on and on but point is main stand is a must, if the bike of my choice doesn't have it I will include it in initial purchase. And as far as Aesthetics go I prefer a bike standing tall instead on leaning sideways.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by mithun

What is the real reason behind the omission of center stands? Is it due to Aesthetics/Losing a few kilos/Chassis/Cost cutting?

Manufactures are the new minimalists and this is how they seem to be thinking:

- we already gave you customers a (side) stand, why do you need another one? Flex those biceps and get the job done on your own. We are happy to sell the centre stands as an accessory though.
- kick start for ignition? Why? Use self start guys (and gals), it’s the 21st century.

Bottom line, I primarily see this as a cost saving measure.

[GTO]

Guys, could it also be a customer preference? When I had a bike, I remember it was just so much easier to swing the side stand out with one foot rather than lift the bike onto the center stand. Maybe manufacturer research showed that people use the side stand a lot more than the center one?

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by GTO

Guys, could it also be a customer preference? When I had a bike, I remember it was just so much easier to swing the side stand out with one foot rather than lift the bike onto the center stand. Maybe manufacturer research showed that people use the side stand a lot more than the center one?

It was the same for me; on my Roadking the centre stand was used only during cleaning time, or when the motorbike was parked away for extended duration. Otherwise it was always the convenient side stand

[darkLightning]

Originally Posted by GTO

Guys, could it also be a customer preference? When I had a bike, I remember it was just so much easier to swing the side stand out with one foot rather than lift the bike onto the center stand. Maybe manufacturer research showed that people use the side stand a lot more than the center one?

I agree the side stand is more convenient especially when you are in a hurry however couple of clear downsides I have seen because of this habit.

1. People riding in all their glory with side stand still out, it was a otherworldly pleasure for kids to shout out "Uncle stand laga hai". I remember I had developed an irritating habit where a few minutes after starting to ride I will automatically get my foot down to check whether side stand is still out.

2. I have seen it a number of times and it personally happened to me also, that one swooping motion of getting the side stand out and leaning bike on it in one go often resulting in side stand not getting deployed or usually being spring loaded it will simply return back to it's position and rider ends up almost dropping the bike.

Both of these situation although usually end up being a comic relief but they can be serious also in case of high speed turn and non attentive parking.