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I know a couple other guys say they have this problem, so it ain't just me. The kickstand on my 2020 Heritage has a tendency to snap back up if I don't push it ALL the way down. If it doesn't plant itself down on the pavement or ground, it can sometimes snap back without my noticing it because it doesn't make any noise when it snaps back up.
I've almost dropped the bike a couple times. I have to be extremely careful every time I park it. Anybody else have this problem and if so, know of a fix?
I've had the same issue. Somehow, the "designers" at H-D managed to take the best side stand in the business and make it one of the worst. To make matters worse, when the side stand is down, it's so short that it's completely hidden by the left footboard, so you can't see if it's completely down. I've already dropped my bike in the garage because of this, putting a nice crease in the rear hatch of my car with the clutch lever.
What I've learned to do is hold my left foot against the side stand until I set the weight of the bike on it to be sure it's deployed all the way forward. That's the best I can do with such a poor design.
Last edited by Uncle G.; Apr 17, 2022 at 01:34 PM.
I've had the same issue. Somehow, the "designers" at H-D managed to take the best side stand in the business and make it one of the worst. To make matters worse, when the side stand is down, it's so short that it's completely hidden by the left footboard, so you can't see if it's completely down. I've already dropped my bike in the garage because of this, putting a nice crease in the rear hatch of my car with the clutch lever.
What I've learned to do is hold my left foot against the side stand until I set the weight of the bike on it to be sure it's deployed all the way forward. That's the best I can do with such a poor design.
Yep, same here by keeping my foot on the stand, as well as keeping pressure on the stand while giving a tug back on the handle bars just to be sure the stand is locked forward.
Its all muscle memory now & hadn't really even realized I do that until after seeing this thread.
Yeah.....just plain junk....I've been searching for a replacement and the only thing I can find that COULD work is this kickstand from a 2018 FatBob. Part # HD281-031
I may pull the trigger if I can find it used. Otherwise I may attempt to make something using the old reliable jiffy kickstand. You would think 3rd party would make something since oem is terrible engineering.
Yep, same here by keeping my foot on the stand, as well as keeping pressure on the stand while giving a tug back on the handle bars just to be sure the stand is locked forward.
Its all muscle memory now & hadn't really even realized I do that until after seeing this thread.
I do something similar. I always stretch out and look down to make sure the kickstand is just forward of being straight up and down. That way, I know it's locked in place. Still, it's a pain.
Yeah, the incompetent engineers at Harley Davidson changed the best side stand in the industry to one of the worst. I will never understand changing to that design on the Heritage.
And, to add to the above, the Heritage stand has those sharp edges that do not allow it to slide into place on uneven ground like most parking lots seem to have. Helps some to bevel the edges, but still not a good design at all.
I wonder if just replacing the whole damn kickstand with a pre-2018 Heritage would work...
Don't think so. Never have compared the old to new but guaranteed the bracket is totally different. Engineers like to change things even if it the design worked perfectly. My father was an engineer so we had many arguments at the kitchen table.
You get the new, younger engineers that have to justify their existence and paycheck. Too bad they don't know anything. But I'm sure it cost less to mfgr. That has been going on for quite a while at Harley. Save a buck, screw up good a good thing.
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