Centerstand Dragging Issue

Customer writes:

I purchased a center stand for a 2012 KLR. I installed and it worked great until just recently when it began scraping pavement. It happens mainly at intersections where a 90 degree turn is being made. HOWEVER, I did scrape on an entrance ramp to a interstate yesterday. I'm 66 years old and I don't try to set speed records anywhere.

Happy Trails Technical Support responds:

If this issue only started to happen recently, you may want to first check if all the bolts at the footpeg mounts and the 4 height adjustment bolts (ie. ones right under the springs in your picture) are tight and have not loosened up allowing the stand to droop down.

Also your shock spring may be set too soft and thus the bike squats too much when you sit on it. You may need to adjust the suspension sag (or as a quick check, just see what spring setting it is currently set to if you have the stock shock still on the bike. If it is only on #1 or #2, try to crank it up to #3 or #4 setting to see if that helps.) If you tend to carry heavy loads on the tail rack or in side bags, many riders even at your weight (175 lbs) find they have to go with a stiffer spring as the stock spring is fairly soft.

Note we are making the assumption that your bike has not been lowered using aftermarket lowering links. Those can add to the problem when suspension sag is not set properly.

If there are still dragging issues after suspension set up, you should be able to gain some clearance by loosening the center stand height adjustment bolts and rotate the center stand up a little and then re-tighten the bolts. And/or loosen the foot peg bolts, rotate centerstand up and re-tighten. These steps will raise the affected area higher off the ground. BUT if you do this, make sure the stand is still stable when the bike is on the center stand. (ie. it is not easy to bump the bike forward off the center stand.)

You may also want to lube the center stand pivot points to make sure the stand is going up all the way when it is initially retracted and not still partially hanging down until you scrap it on the first turn.

04/02/14 KLS