Centre Stand or Side Stand

eoinkildare

Well lads,
With all this windy weather I've been worrying about my bike. It's parked outside the apartment and chained to a railing with a cover on it.
Luckily enough I have it right up close to the railing as recently it has come up off its side stand and I've found it leaning against the railing. Its been leaning at about the same angle as on the side stand so no damage so far, but i'm worried that the mirror will get broken off if it keeps happening.

I've also taken the cover off on a number of the really windy days as it really catches the wind sometimes.
Anyway, question is, would it be more stable on the centre stand??
I'm worried that if I try it then one day i'll walk out and find that it has fallen over in the other direction.

What do you guys do yourselves when storing the bike outside? Have many of ye had your bike fall over in the wind?

Ideally in the future I will have a ground anchor of some sort at the side of the bike and will use a ratchet strap to tie in down on the side stand but I can't do this outside the apartment as I know the neighbours will report me to the management company.

Anyway, thoughts??

Cheers,
Eoin

minidazzler

Side stand is much more stable, a wide stance with 3 solid points of contact with the COG at a low point to the side.

On center stand you massively raise and center the center of gravity on the bike, and you have 3 points of contact on a very small stance. This means the bike can technically fall either way.

I'd face the bike into the wind if I was you and then have it as close to the fence on the right side of the bike as possible. No Cover, it's essentially just a giant sail in this weather.

But definitely dont have it on the center stand.

Hotblack Desiato

Have the railings on the left hand side of the bike and get it as close as possible. Leave the bike in first gear and roll it forward to get all the slack out of the chain before putting it down on the sidestand. That way the bike can't move forward and make the sidestand fold up. You should be able to get a ratchet strap onto the railings without anyone seeing it, it shouldn't be a problem if it's just to steady the bike in very windy weather.

BrokenArrows

When putting it on the side stand turn the bars all the way so that the front wheel is pointing to the right.
This will increase the lean angle a bit and every bit helps.

Wonda-Boy

SIDE STAND ALWAYS.....ALWAYS TED!!!

eoinkildare

Cheers for the advice lads, sorry for the delay in replying.

Yeah I was thinking that the best option might be to ratchet some part of the frame to the railing.

Thanks again,
Eoin

KTRIC

BrokenArrows wrote: »

When putting it on the side stand turn the bars all the way so that the front wheel is pointing to the right.
This will increase the lean angle a bit and every bit helps.

A bike should ALWAYS be parked with its wheel pointing to the side of the side stand, which is the left. Otherwise the centre of gravity is off and it's more likely to fall.

Del2005

eoinkildare wrote: »

Cheers for the advice lads, sorry for the delay in replying.

Yeah I was thinking that the best option might be to ratchet some part of the frame to the railing.

Thanks again,
Eoin

My brother in law has a chain from the pillion rails locked to the railings outside his apartment. More to stop it falling over on inquisitive kids but works for wind.

thecivvie

My Pan sat outside the house during the storm, was blasted by 90km/h gusts, Kept on Centre stand and never budged

Blondie919

thecivvie wrote: »

My Pan sat outside the house during the storm, was blasted by 90km/h gusts, Kept on Centre stand and never budged

Same here, mine was at the back of the house close to a wall and on the centre stand while 90+ kmh winds hit head on. It's still there upright.

thecivvie

I live right beside the Atlantic here in Co. Galway. I have no wall, just sits on the drive way. I think it is a mute argument as it depends on the bike. All my bikes have lived outside, with a bike cover thrown over them and never one has fallen due to weather

Wonda-Boy

thecivvie wrote: »

My Pan sat outside the house during the storm, was blasted by 90km/h gusts, Kept on Centre stand and never budged

Alot depends on where you have the bike also....and if its covered. The cover I have and the location in an L shaped alcove, the bike is like a boat with the sail in full flight. The wind gets up and under the cover and totally runs amuck. I have it ground anchored but still with 3 bungee cords the cover is half off. So alot depends on the position of the bike in relation to the wind.

thecivvie

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

Alot depends on where you have the bike also....and if its covered. The cover I have and the location in an L shaped alcove, the bike is like a boat with the sail in full flight. The wind gets up and under the cover and totally runs amuck. I have it ground anchored but still with 3 bungee cords the cover is half off. So alot depends on the position of the bike in relation to the wind.

Bike has a bike it cover on, acts like a kite. Bike was sideways onto the wind, I know as I went out a couple of times. The Pan centre stand is quite wide. I do need to sort out a ground anchor as well

Wonda-Boy

Plus the Pan is a heavy sod to boot.....

thecivvie

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

Plus the Pan is a heavy sod to boot.....

Excuse me, are you saying my lady is robust

My Deauville used to be kept in the same spot. I do think it is just a matter of luck most of the time

rat_race

In my case, on my heavy-ish bike, I feel my bike doesn't lean over enough when on the side stand -- probably a design feature as it would be much harder to straighten up if any lower. Because of that, I don't trust that a really strong gust of wind couldn't lift it off the side-stand and let it keel over onto the other side. Or if on a slight slope, I feel a wind could move the bike.

However, I find the centre stand extremely sturdy. On really windy days, I use the centre stand and I feel it is much safer. It would take a lot of effort for a person to try to push it over either side while on the centre stand -- which is another advantage. It's also an absolute buggar to get up onto the centre-stand in the first place (much harder than other heaver bikes I've tried like the 1200 GS)...so it might be a particuarly sturdy design compared to others, with the tradeoff that it is hard to get the bike up on.


There's mixed opinions on this, if you search the net. My guess is that there is no single best option; it depends on the bike, the side-stand and centre-stand.

Wonda-Boy

rat_race wrote: »

There's mixed opinions on this, if you search the net. My guess is that there is no single best option; it depends on the bike, the side-stand and centre-stand.

Along with location and cover used.