Jiffy stand foward roll
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 56,052
Likes: 88,804
From: Western South Dakota
I always start my bike in 1st too, never have to deal with the "clunk" that way, ever. Don't like neutral..or have the need for it either basically.
Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,529
Likes: 8
From: Central Fl.
I will say when I had my '99 Road King, it would roll, but was never uncomfortable with it. When I got my '09 Police Road king it scared the crap out of me, and you could actually see the stand bend as you let the bike over on it. Kinda like they didn't beef up the stand for the extra weight of the new frames etc. Now I'm back to the '03 Classic and it's just like the '99. I don't park in neutral normally (flat Florida), but there are times I do depending on the slope.
Last edited by chevele72; Nov 3, 2010 at 01:25 PM.
When I first got my (used) RK it scared the hell out of me when it rolled forward. I swore it would have kept going if I hadn't stopped it. So I started parking in gear (flat surface). Then I realized the spring was on upside down. Tab fed from the back at the spring bottom. I looked in the manual and there was a note to make certain the spring was installed correctly. Once I corrected it the roll wasn't so bad or so far. I still park in first gear.
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 359
Likes: 1
The amount of "play" in the stand has always made me a bit nervous. I see the the dealer boys yanking and dragging the bikes around the showroom and the garage backward into parking spots and whatnot... and it makes me more nervous. They swear it is a reliable proven design and will not "give" or let the bike go over... still, I tend to be overly cautious any time I let the bike down on the stand.
Put my foot against the base of the stand and make damn sure it is locked in place before letting the full weight on it and dismount.
My last bike tipped over once. My own fault that time. Had the stand resting on a block of wood to level it some while checking something on the opposite side...nudged the bike a bit and the stand popped over the edge of the board, closed up and the bike fell over. the footboard landed on the cable of my battery tender which was hooked up. The cable got chopped in half and the fuse blew...luckily no other damage besides a few scuffs on the bracket.
...learned a lesson and from then on, no matter when or when the bike is parked I make a point of being sure the stand is fully locked and tested/rolled forward and back before i get off and walk away...and no more small blocks of wood. HA.
I have always left parked in neutral.
I will also, from now on, make a point to leave it in gear when parked after what I have read here. It makes sense and cant hurt.
Put my foot against the base of the stand and make damn sure it is locked in place before letting the full weight on it and dismount.
My last bike tipped over once. My own fault that time. Had the stand resting on a block of wood to level it some while checking something on the opposite side...nudged the bike a bit and the stand popped over the edge of the board, closed up and the bike fell over. the footboard landed on the cable of my battery tender which was hooked up. The cable got chopped in half and the fuse blew...luckily no other damage besides a few scuffs on the bracket.
...learned a lesson and from then on, no matter when or when the bike is parked I make a point of being sure the stand is fully locked and tested/rolled forward and back before i get off and walk away...and no more small blocks of wood. HA.
I have always left parked in neutral.
I will also, from now on, make a point to leave it in gear when parked after what I have read here. It makes sense and cant hurt.
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 280
Likes: 10
From: Knoxville, TN
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 20,616
Likes: 4,440
From: anacoco, la
Maybe "gave way" is an inaccurate description. The bike was slowly rolling forward because it was in parked in neutral on a downward slope. The kickstand was fixed in place but the bike kept moving slowly forward because of the slope. The angle of the kickstand to the bike kept shifting towards the rear of the bike as the bike moved forward. The mechanism in the kickstand that's meant to hold the bike in place could not withstand the force of 850 pounds moving forward and the kickstand dislodged out of that safety notch or whatever you call it and the bike fell. Once we picked the bike up and parked it in gear so it couldn't roll forward the kickstand worked fine. I'm not a technical person so I'm probably not describing this so it can be clearly understood, and I don't know the kickstand mechanisms in detail, but the lesson I learned is not to rely on the kickstand to hold if you park the bike in neutral on a downward slope; it will fail under certain conditions.