centre stand

[RDfella]

I posted a few days ago elsewhere on this site about a centre stand I'd made for my project. Given the frame is a '60 or thereabouts GF, naturally I copied an original - but made it almost an inch shorter.
Reason I'm posting this is because I can't get my '58 GF onto its centre stand. Damned difficult to lift / pull especially when one isn't as strong as one used to be. But this one is a breeze - foot on side lug, pull back on handlebars and it's up on the stand.
The reason for the difference is height - ie the fact the stand is shorter. When on the stand the back wheel just touches the ground, whilst on the '58 GF it's about 2" in the air. So now I'll shorten the original stand for the '58 bike - probably by a strong 1/2". Of course, there's not enough meat on the foot to simply cut the bottom, so I'll cut the legs an inch or so above the feet and arc the feet back on. I'll add a side lug as well whilst I'm at it. Not standard, but why struggle?

[Black Sheep]

When I had a similar problem with my plunger Star Twin, I invested in new fork and plunger springs. Did the same job but in a different way.

[RDfella]

Today I re-fitted my A10 stand, having shortened it by around 3/4" and added a side lever.  What a difference! Just a gentle one-finger pull up and it's on the stand, with the rear wheel about half an inch off the floor. Not only does the shorter stand mean one doesn't have to heave the bike so much, but the side lever has two advantages: you no longer have to have a foot infront of the rear wheel to hold the stand in place (putting one alongside the toolbox in an awkward place to lift) but one can now use that lever as, well, a lever to help lift the bike up.
It's so easy now I'd recommend it to anyone struggling or using bits of wood etc to put their bike on the centre stand.

[Joolstacho]

Lots of people will know this wheeze, but some may not...
The easy way of course is to roll the rear wheel onto a piece of 13mm thick (or thickness to suit your bike) wood then pull it onto the stand. That's 13mm less you have to lift it up.
'Course it's probably for the garage only but...

[Greybeard]

The centre stand on my bike gets the rear wheel only just off the ground; I need to be careful on uneven surfaces. Luckily I have the side stand.

[RDfella]

Jools - yes, tried that but didn't find it made a lot of difference. The side lever is what makes most of the difference because a) you're no longer standing in an awkward position to lift and b) applying weight with one's foot on the lever almost lifts the bike without need for a heave by hand. Dunno why BSA didn't fit a lever as standard - they did apparently on other models.