Center stand trim mod

[dalvarado]

Difficulty: Pretty easy. 1 hour
Tools needed: hack saw, dremel with a grinding tip.

After modding my battery cover for a mo bigga 9-bs battery (see my other post), I decided to do something about my center stand to reduce scraping.

First, my take on the center stand scrape issue:
I really don't want to start another long discussion about why I "don't need to lean so much", to make the buddy corner well(I have a feeling its going to happen anyways . It misses the point. My 07 Italia has stock shocks. I'm around 215 lbs, and ride very conservatively. I took the MSF. I check my tire pressure. I try to practice good technique and avoid leaning too much. Despite this, occasionally on left turns off of highly crowned roads, I still scrape the center stand. All it takes is a little dip or bump in the road. Riding two up makes the situation much worse. Personally, I see the scrape thing as a safety issue, particularly when executing an evasive manuever where a hard lean is warranted. It seems perfectly reasonable to me to want to reduce the scrape hazard and improve the buddy's leaning ability for safety's sake. If you can do this without causing any safety issues, why not? If this makes sense to you, read on.

The goal is to maximize the distance between the street and the stand by 1) Trimming the plastic stand bumper, and 2) Shaping the metal foot at the scrape contact patch area.

All my measurements where made with the scoot on the side stand and the front wheel turned all the way to the left. Nobody sitting on the scoot. With the scoot leaning slightly to the left, this provides a convenient reference for measurement. All measurements are made from lowest part of the stand, the "scrape contact patch" (SCP) on the left foot. Yes, I understand that the slight lean on the side stand is not the same as a real-world lean. That doesn't make it any less valid as a reference.

Stock, my scoot has just 2 3/4 inches from the SCP to the ground. I could only imagine how much less it is with me on it in a real turn, with a moderate lean, with the shocks compressing to absorb a bump. No wonder it scrapes. It won't take much additional clearance to increase the scooters leanability.

Step 1: Trimming the plastic stand bumper

When in the tucked position, the stand rests on a thick plastic bumper. The bumper rests against a metal plate attached to the engine, so the stand actually "tracks" the rear suspension, but not much. The bumper is approximately 5/8" thick. The stand could tuck up significantly higher if the bumper were not as thick, so we're going to cut it down to about 1/4". The bumper slides out of the stand without too much fuss. Here's the before shot:



I used a hacksaw and followed up with my dremel with a sanding tip to get a slightly domed smooth surface with a final thickness of about 3/16". Here a shot after trimming:



Step 2: Shaping the metal foot at the scrape contact patch area

There is a distinct contact patch on the left foot of the stand where I scrape. This part of the foot kind of sticks out a little. I figure I can shave it down to gain clearance voodoo-style (on the street while riding), or I can grind it down in the comfort of my garage. I choose the latter. Here's a before shot:



Using the SCP as a guide, I used a cut-off wheel on my dremel and followed up with a grinder tip and finally a sanding tip to get a nice smooth contour. Ideally, the SCP surface should be shaped such that it is parallel with the street just before contact. It doesn't take much, you could probably do it with a file if you didn't have a power tool. Here's an after shot:




Finally, here's a before and after shot showing the stock and modded stand orientation. The increased clearance is visible. We started with 2 3/4 inches of clearance. After the mods, I measured 3 1/4 inches. That's about a half inch gain - 18% more clearance with nobody on the scoot. A more meaningful measurement could be made with a rider on the scoot in a turn. When you consider the additional clearance from shaping the foot (which really makes a difference near impending scrape), I wouldn't not be surprised if I had 25% more clearance in real world usage. That translates directly into more lean before scraping.





Don't forget to finish with a bit of black rustoleum on the shaped metal. This makes it easy to see where you scrape later on (hopefully not at all). Also, a dab of grease on the bumper where it contacts the metal plate. I'll report back with my observations. I'm not about ready to go out on a knee-dragging run, but I should be able to say if this makes a difference for me after putting some miles in. I'd appreciate any comments from anyone who does this mod, as well.

Stay safe!

[Kaos]

Hmm, thats an interesting idea.

I've thought of removing mine, and likely will when the Pacific NW scooter racing circuit starts up this season, but I hadn't thought of TRIMMING the stand. How much extra clearence does it give? I can lean it pretty hard both ways and have lifted the wheels when catching it on the center stand before on the left, and scraped the pipe on the right. You're not going to get any "don't lean so far" arguments from me

[ScooterTrash]

Not going to lie, will be doing this

[dalvarado]

Ok, I couldn't help myself...

I just got back from a test ride. I figured it was better to test under semi-controlled conditions that to find out on a busy street on my commute. First stop was a empty parking lot. Around and around I went, trying to scrape. Nothing. I went faster and leaned harder. No scraping. I tried another lot, then another. Next I found a few large cul-de-sacs in a industrial part of town. The surface was crowned so I thought these would be a good test. Around and around. Circles, figure 8s, leaning as much as I could. I looked for bumps, dips. No scaping. My final test was returning to the scene of the crime. A left turn where I last remembered scraping a few month back. Luckily there were no cars around on this Sunday afternoon. I ran that turn like four times. Each time faster, leaning harder. I couldn't scrape. Not once. It looked like maybe the street was resurfaced. Hmmm. I tried the hard left on the next street over. Several tries. No scraping.

While I was stopped in a cul-de-sac, I dismounted and carefully leaned the scoot toward the left. I noticed that the transmission actually touches the ground *before* the stand does now.

After a stop and a few pics at West Coast Customs (I knew it was around here somewhere!), I went home. I was out for maybe an hour or so. I tried my best. No scrapes.

I can't imagine leaning much more that I did today in day to day riding. Heck, I lost one of my MB buttons during the test. Probably from the insane G-forces As far as I'm concerned the scrape issue is not improved. Its eliminated. Now, its time for better tires. Those Prima whitewalls look pretty nice.

[Kaos]

[Skootz Kabootz]

What a great mod. And a really well put together tutorial too. Nice job!

[BuddyLicious]

Dalvarado,

I know of at least 1 MP3'r over at Modern Vespa who could use some help with centerstand issues.If you get a chance ckeck out his story on crashing cause of the centerstand.Heads together can go far....


http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic60725

[dalvarado]

[ericalm]

Great write up!

I've seen someone crash a Buddy (BlackJack, too) by hitting the stand. I think every Buddy rider has at least scraped it.

[Kaos]

[kneil67@yahoo.com]

very cool dig the concept

[GrantSR]

Any chance we could get an update on this original post?

[ericalm]

I may be able to get the original pics from Dalvarado and add them.

[dalvarado]

Hmmm. I guess I deleted the images from the server. I'll see if i can dig them up and re-upload them tonight after work.

[ericalm]

[GrantSR]

I know this isn't the best thread for this, but while we are discussing missing pictures: In my perusing of the site I found many posts with broken image links. Not all of them, mind you, so I know it is not something wrong with my browser. Just a lot of them.

In addition, there are a lot of posts that I can't get to at all. Instead I get the following error message:

[ScooterTrash]

Save your time and just remove the metal stop on the gearcase cove. Takes 2 minutes with the same result.

I felt dumb when I figured it out

[ericalm]

[dalvarado]

[GrantSR]

[dalvarado]

[GrantSR]

[LunaP]

I'd seriously like to do this as well. Problem is, I have to track down a friend with a dremel and the proper bits...

Dalvarado, you're genius.