I would be very disappointed if they did this and it might alter future decisions on the size of the bike I own. My previous metric bikes did not have a locking stand. These were the only bikes to ever just fall over. The worst was my 1984 Suzuki GR650 Tempter. It was a great bike but if I parked with any forward grade the stand would fold up. Sometimes it fell over while I was 100 feet away.

Since I don't have the same upper body strength of a man I rely heavily on my kick stand locking in place. If my 720 pound bike started to go over I might not be able to stop it and just might get hurt trying. This could be a big concern to women riders.

 

Anotherblacksg and Big Jim Daddy:

Park your bike in neutral on a downhill slope while holding on the brake.

Put down your jiffy stand, lean the bike over onto it. Point the front wheel down hill, get off the bike, and release the brake.

Wear a heart monitor to measure your reaction when your bike starts to roll, but then stops.

 

I did not know my side stand locked either.

 

I've always parked in gear so never noticed. I'm now going to have to check this out.

 

Cool...I've had metric bikes fall over on me in the past and learned to NEVER park pointing downhill like that. I'll try it out...(nervously)

 

It is not April 1st, so I have to believe you are serious. This is the type of question that gets raised in a committee that has NO LEADER. It should never have made it out of that committee. It is the type of question that is raised when a company is run my an accountant, a bean counter. Harley's design is one of the best, positive yet when the bike is upright, the stand swings freely.

No shut off switch to fail, no micoswitch to make it impossible to shift into gear, no dash light to say "Hey stupid, your jiffy stand is down".

But, eliminating it will save almost $ 0.70 a bike based on material, maybe more.

Hell, My Mountain pedal bike has a locking kickstand.

Oh wait, I get it, they are going to offer it as an aftermarket part so you can upgrade to a locking jiffy stand for $ 99.95.

If they are willing to screw with something like this, that I can plainly see, what other penny cost savings are they looking at that will make the bike cheaper that we will not know about until we have purchased a new bike.

They better get their heads together. If they are taking their time to deal with cost savings like this, they open the door for the competition to over take them. I am all for innovation, new designs, but not to just save a few bucks so that some accountant can get his bonus.

Please tell me you are just trolling! If you are not, I sure am glad they at least had the sense to ask you. But I guarantee, if they asked the question, they have already made their decision. They will not listen to you. It is like a public town meeting, their decision has already been made. I suspect that this is window dressing to make it seem that their decision is supported and your voice will be reflected in the minority opinion so it can be ignored.

Maybe it is a sign that fewer and fewer of them still ride. It used to be they rode Harley's. Now maybe the executive parking lot is filled with Ducati's and Guzzi's.

 

Then after they offer the new and improved side stand they'll .... re-invent the wheel ????

 

To hell with the jiffy stand, work on a better rear brake height adjustment rod linkage thingamajingy instead!

 

when the side stand is down, and the bike leans over on it, there's a tab on the stand that fits into a slot in the frame, essentially locking it in place. So if it were to roll forward (or be pushed) the side stand will not fold back up.

 

I also answered this question with, "you already have the best stand in the business" so leave it alone. The following question asked if it would sway your decision in your next bike without it, to which i said yes. Hopefully they get the message loud and clear.