I'm a new owner (FLTRU), and I found it interesting that in the owner's manual Harley calls the kickstand a "jiffy" stand.

This might have been mentioned previously somewhere on these forums, but I'm curious about the name ....

 

Harley-Davidson has always called it a jiffy stand, at least as long or longer than it has been called a kickstand. H.D. has been around a very long time and had they been more popular in the early years everyone would be calling it a jiffy.

Originally, most bikes had a frame mounted 'center stand'. On most older HD models, there was a center stand clipped to the inside of the rear fender requiring the operator to lift the whole back end of the bike to swing it into place under the frame, the "jiffy stand" was a quick easy method of standing the bike up without getting a hernia...the term jiffy stand was coined to distinguish the center stand from the side or "kick" stand as it could be deployed in a 'jiffy'.

 

And if you forget to use it, your bike will be on the ground in a Jiffy.

 

The name and design are unique identifiers for Harley.

 

Thanks!

 

Actually, I think that a lot of brands use the same terminology. At least, when I took the state riders safety course, the instructors called 'em jiffy stands and we were riding Kawasakis & Yamahas.

BTW, OP, congrats on the new bike and welcome to the forum!

 

Regardless of what your instructors called it (they may have been Harley riders) I have yet to see a reference to a "jiffy stand" in conjunction with any other motorcycle brand. Used to be Harley didn't refer to the stand on Sportsters as "jiffy stands" either because they weren't. That's changed, but I think the Sporty still uses a stand without a lock.

 

Nice cut & paste http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_does_H...ner%27s_manual

 

Thanks! Because of this new fangled interweb, any moron can find & share useless... 'er, I mean useful information!

Daddy Knuck, my one instructor rode a Gold Wing & a Triumph. The other one rode 3 different metrics, but I don't remember specifics on them. Neither of them rode or ever owned Harleys.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Aerma...Q5fAccessories

http://compare.ebay.com/like/3503724...=263602_304662

It's no big deal - it's just terminology. Kinda like when someone asks for a Kleenex. Kleenex is a brand of tissue - not actually what the product itself is called.

Christ, people are a little "testy" on the forum today...

Agreed!

 

Funny how the name 'jiffy stand' never caught on with the faithful. It's just not masculine enough for a proper motorcycle.