Jiffy - side stand mounting and turning bike
i have read many complaints about the jiffy tipping the bike too low, and complaints that it’s mounted on the engine.
The questions.
1- how safe is it to use the Jiffy - side stand for mounting / dismounting ?
2- how about using it to turn the bike in tight areas?
I'm qualified to give you educated guesses, but they are just that.. guesses. There is no extensive history with this bike, so nobody on this forum is going to 'know' the answer to your questions.
Over time, these will either become issues, or enough user (rider) test cycles will have been performed, to show it not to be so.
That said, if I were sitting in front of the computer, running the stress model, I would assume some 300 pound rider would try to climb on the bike using the Jiffy stand with a 200 pound passenger already on the back.
So I specify a design that works for that situation. Then the iterative design meetings occur... the bike is overweight... I'm told to shave ounces, so I reduce the safety factor.
Then I get assigned to some other project and my replacement is told to shave weight. Even though he works for HD (or more likely is a contractor telecommuting from Canada) he's never ridden a motorcycle, so doesn't see why the prior designer spec'd such a beefy part. He can cut the weight in half, meet the 'normal' loads on the bike leaning on the Jiffy stand, and look like a hero. While he's at it, if he moves the stand to the engine case, he can shave even more weight. Look how smart he is! "HD should hire more bicycle riding contractors, to reduce the weight of this pig of a bike. Motorcycles are too loud and bad for the environment anyway", he says to himself.
This 'hypothetical' scenario plays out over and over in the engineering shops for mfgs worldwide. I've seen it too many times.
So, until enough field testing comes in from all of us owners (beta-testers) I'm going to personally refrain from doing either. If the warranty is ending and it's a rampant issue, then I'll sell and get something else.
1 - I'm 250 and occasionally mount using the pegs, usually when I'm fully loaded and have no issue (I don not have ARH)
2 - haven't tried moving it on the side stand yet, but I have complete confidence that it will work fine.
The only negative, and I say negative loosely, is you have to get used to the kickstand operation. It's not like a regular kickstand. Hard to explain but it's just different. I still have to look down every once in a while to see what I'm doing. I like the way it operates, just muscle memory from my other HD's cause a little brain fart now and then

I learned from the video:
How to jump into the seat on my rolling Pan Am and also often jump off the Pan Am before it completely stops. I learned these skill on my Royal Enfield Himalyan and use now on the successor, the PAS.
Skip to 3:15 -> classic start as Jed mentions. Alternatively I start from the other side
then 5:10 -> this is how I start now the ride, specially with luggage, but no passenger ;-)
the 5:55 -> how I get of the bike, just the sidestand trick is not possible, so I jump off the rolling bike, even into the final parking spot in my garage.
Have fun and stay safe ;-)
(I am 186cm/ 6,10 foot and I still do not like to lift my right leg standing on the ground over the saddle)
And yes, you can turn the bike on the sidestand, at 24:06 at this video:
Last edited by bofh1599; Oct 23, 2021 at 12:15 PM.
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One thing worth checking though is the three bolts that hold the jiffy stand onto the engine case. One of mine wasn't torqued enough. Whether it had worked loose or wasn't tightened properly from the factory I don't know, but I added a little loctite to each one of the three and now check them every 500 miles at the same time I do my chain maintenance. So far, they are all good, so I think it was a one off.
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