kickstand worries
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,156
Likes: 11,247
From: San Diego, CA
You need to ask some old kick start guys about HD stands. I have had no starts that I kicked until I could not kick any more when I was 24 yrs old. This is standing on the right side of the bike and jumping full weight on the kicker 20 or 30 times with the bike on the stand. The bike moves all over the place but after a few times you just learn to trust it.
I'm not 24 anymore, long gone, but just thinking of those times makes me want to take a nap...!!
But to the OP, yeah, the kick stand always held up.....!
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,432
Likes: 290
From: FL
You can always tell when there's a new Harley rider getting off his machine at the gas station. If they jump as the MC rolls forward a couple inches, they're new to the brand!! Jiffy stands are awesome!
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 430
Likes: 2
From: Dirty City
While the stand won't fold up and let the bike fall on its side, it won't prevent the bike from rolling while using the stand as a ski. I've seen a bike roll fully out of a space on a hill before, which is why you should leave it in gear.
Cruiser
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 112
Likes: 0
From: Mesa AZ
The Jiffy stand was the AH HA moment coming from the metric world (not going back). Using it was the first thing I saw that Harley actually gets it and pointed me to the fact there is a reason for most Harley designs. Surprise the metric have not copied it, oh yeah that would cost another $.25.....
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 500
Likes: 2
From: Springfield Ohio
Yepper... jiffy stand locks in place well, but that shiny chrome scoots across the pavement real easy in a strong gust or incline. I had the pleasure of chasing my SG down the driveway, forks locked in neutral. I got 5 feet away from it before it started to leave without me. Got to the brake lever just as it was making the turn past 45 degrees... and I always park in gear.
Now I always check that the neutral light isn't on before I shut her off.
Now I always check that the neutral light isn't on before I shut her off.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 7,101
Likes: 1,013
I guess I'm the only one in the world who has had a problem with a jiffy stand. When I was shopping for bikes I sat on one at a dealership, it was outside and I noticed right away it was on a slight downslope. I got on it, worked the controls, checking the bike out and made sure to give the stand a nudge forward just before getting off. The bike must have been in neutral because the next thing I know the bike rolled forward. Fortunately I was still on the bike and close to a building support because the bike fell to the left and it took just about everything I had to keep it from falling harder than it did. It was at that moment I learned how heavy these bikes are once they reach the fall over point from straight up. The bike stopped falling only because of the building pole it was parked next to and I managed to muscle it back upright from that point. It was a real test for my reconstructed knee and shoulder, both on the left side where the bike fell. I shouldn't have lifted the bike back from the pole and instead wait or call someone over to help me out, but the ego took over from there. I was a little shocked but happy I saved it without my knee giving out, but for my next act I made double sure the jiffy stand was forward, bike in gear and I'll be damned if it wanted a repeat performance, WTF? Damn thing started to do it again and I stopped it from moving beyond the point of no return and it was not the normal slight movement forward that I'm aware of since buying a RK. This time I waited for a salesman to come by and take control of the bike. I told him what happened so he got on it and made sure it was in gear, moved it back and forth a couple times to make sure the gearing kept it in place then sat down on the jiffy stand. It was OK then. All I know if it fell the first time there must have been something amiss, even in neutral. However, I read in this post that the locking mechanism was in place on 06 and newer bikes? The bike wasn't a spring chicken, an older machine that looked well worn, I think it was a Softail. Out of that experience I just make sure the bike is in gear no matter what the level of the ground is below me. However, for a while after buying the RK the slight jiffy stand movement still gave me a little scare. Just a word from personal experience relating to kickstands. Make sure the road or parking spot you choose to set your kickstand down on is stable and solid, or at least try and check it out first because one time I stopped at a lake parking lot, near the edge of a not so good a shape lot and put the stand down on my Ducati 916. Myself and three others decided to go skinny dipping because it was blazing hot out so we stripped off the leathers lake side and jumped in. About five minutes later some dude is yelling at us from above asking if anyone of us owned a red bike. We kind of looked at each other and laughed because three of the bikes were red Ducatis. Anyway, he described a bike on it's side in the lot and turns out one of the guys went up there and discovered it was my bike. He yelled back and told me it was mine and I reacted very calmly and decided something like that wasn't going to ruin my cool down time. I leisurely went back to the bike and at that point I wasn't a happy camper because the bike's kickstand went through the soft asphalt and below that was a hole, so nothing slowed the bike down like soft asphalt will do and it fell like a sack of cement. The damage was worst than when I crashed the bike the month before at the race track, I mean it was major damage. Took me a few bucks to get that fixed. Anyway, word to the wise.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,034
Likes: 128
That "slop" in the jiffy stand has been there for a long time. Yes, until you get used to it you think it is going to fail and fall over, but it never seems to. I was parking at the local Walmart one day and as I dismounted the bike kind of crept forward just a little bit. There was a guy sitting in a pickup watching me and as I was walking away he says "I thought it was going to fall". I have never personally seen a jiffy stand fail but if there is one thing I have learned on this forum and that is no matter what you say there is someone out there who has a contrarian view and will disagree.
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 144
Likes: 0
From: Sacramento
Ditto! I came back to this thread and the first thing I noticed was my lack of paragraphs, the post looked like crap, like one big run on sentence. I went from one subject matter to another without stopping. I don't normally do that, but I posted in the late AM hours and I was rummy. You know, maybe I thought I was on Facebook where hitting the return button is the send button, so I avoided it. Sorry about that.
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Cruiser
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 167
Likes: 4
From: SoCal
The only complaint I have about the HD jiffy stand is that it doesn't shutoff the bike if it is down and you put it in gear. Have you ever seen what happens when someone rides off not knowing that the jiffy stand is still down? Not pretty, for the bike or rider. And yes, I know it's a matter of paying attention, but nobody is perfect.