Stand to make the bike more stable at rest?

[jgillman]

I recently moved to a new place and there's a wonderful family living in the other unit in the house. They have two kids, the oldest being about 6 years old. We're all on good terms and they think the bike is really cool, but they've expressed some concern about their 6 year old getting on the bike and/or knocking it over.

I know it's actually quite stable when it's on the kickstand, but I understand their concern. I've considered getting the center stand, but I've also been looking at more generic rear stands which would be helpful when lubing the chain / changing oil and so on. Would these help make the bike more stable when I've got it parked? Anything else I'm not thinking of? (short of locking the kid up )

 

[MZ5]

The kickstand is more stable than the center stand, as it is a triangle larger in size than the 2 legs of the center stand + rear wheel. The 'race stands' that lift the front and rear wheels are pretty good. I had a set of those for my CBR. I don't believe I would describe them as more stable than the kickstand, though. The small wheels on them are still not too far apart. Still, on second thought the bike might indeed be a bit more stable against a child climbing on the bike... I'm not certain.

 

[2brnut2b]

Just tell the child to be very careful when he climb the bike...

 

[mwcogburn]

Personally, I would go for a center stand. You always have it to use wherever you need it.

Depending on where you park the center stand could be safer. It is very stable on flat concrete, for example. Also, it would keep the little devils from pulling the clutch in and possibly allowing the bike to roll and fall over (especially if the front tire is downhill). Of course a steep hill would not be good for a center stand either.

 

[kpinvt]

^^^^ What they said. Plus, I would get a cover for the bike and cover any time it was parked there. I think it would be kind of difficult to climb on the bike if you can't see where to grab onto.

 

[drdubb]

Make sure it is in gear.

 

[rebersole23]

I too would go for a cheap $35 cover from Walmart or something. You can also tell your neighbors to not let their kids around your bike. If they have enough incite to know that the bike may fall, it is their responsibility to watch their children around it. I am a father of five and I keep mine covered and my kids walk right past it.

 

[Ruggybuggy]

How about the parents controlling their kids and telling them to stay off your bike.

 

[Old Can Ride]

A duck foot and a center stand.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

As mentioned above, your neighbours have an obligation to keep their kids off your bike. Think of the scratches on paintwork etc. Again, as mentioned put a cover on it.

One other thing you can do is park it with the off side very close to a wall. That way if they overbalance it, the wall will stop it going over. Also put it in gear.

 

[Fuzzy]

You might consider a wheel chock if you can leave it there you park your bike. A 6 year old will never push it out of the chock.

 

[wildeone]

center stand is for sure better option but it's not a good idea allowing any kids to climb on bike without assistance.
Damage to the bike won't matter but what if bike fall on kid? good luck in court.

 

[Ed Up]

Parents should be adult enough to keep their kids off someone else stuff. I don't blame the kids, but do hold parents responsible. Maybe explain how hot things get after a ride. If they burn themselves, who is responsible?

 

[anglachel]

As mentioned above, your neighbours have an obligation to keep their kids off your bike. Think of the scratches on paintwork etc. Again, as mentioned put a cover on it.

One other thing you can do is park it with the off side very close to a wall. That way if they overbalance it, the wall will stop it going over. Also put it in gear.

+1 for the wall idea.

park with the wall on your right, the kickstand will keep the bike from falling over to the left (I'm fairly certain I could pull the bike over the kickstand on top of myself if I wanted too... but that's grabbing the top of the bike from the farthest point and leveraging that against 200lbs of me... a 50-60lb kid isn't going to be able to get that leverage with out some kind of simple machine.)

You may also want to tell the child, and encourage the parents to re-enforce the idea that you never approach your bike on the right side where the NC keeps the shiny and extremely hot muffler. Might also want to keep them away from the cat... and the chain... engine block, radiator, brake rotors.... maybe a quick tutorial of all the things that could take a finger off or cause third degree burns on the motorcycle is in order.... there aren't very many places at 6 year old height on the bike that are safe!

 

[Chris]

+1 for telling the parents & kids about the dangers of playing unsupervised with a bike.

If you put the bike on any sort of stand that lifts the rear wheel off the ground you just open up the dangers of amputated fingers if you ever forget to leave the bike in gear. Kids are curious and will pull & twist at anything. A forward nudge is also able to knock a bike off a side-stand surprisingly easily at times.

Do whatever you can to make the bike safe - but they need to keep their kids out of harm's reach too. Don't forget the younger one either - my son was only about 2 when he took my car keys, climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. My neighbour's daughter is only about 18 months but the other day she toddled into his garage, picked up a bottle he keeps petrol (gasoline) in for chain cleaning and took a swig, fortunately she didn't like the taste and there were no sources of ignition nearby. Kids don't need any encouragement to do crazy things.

 

[iaRider]

These are all solid suggestions. So long as there are no complaints, I'm going to hijack this thread a bit and ask if any of you have problems with bike stability away from home? I work at a university and like to ride in however, my bike has been knocked over not one, not two, but three times (!!!) since I've been riding it (a grand total of 6 weeks at this point).

 

[jgillman]

Amazing responses! I love you all so much.

I think I'm going to go with a cover for the bike, cheap and easy (plus I should have one anyways).

I'd also like to get a "duck foot" for my kickstand as well but searching "duck foot" isn't coming up with any results What can I search for and/or does anyone know of one that works well with the NC700? Old Can Ride's pic looks like a perfect one...

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I just wanna note that the kid and parents are both great. The parents are very responsible and the kid has never touched or climbed on the bike. This is more of a "just in case" kind of thing, not a "our kid runs wild" kind of thing!

 

[draco_1967]

You might try a ratchet strap to go around the base of the side or center stand and through the front wheel. This helps prevent the bike from moving forward off of the stand. It works well on a center stand, but should also work on the side stand.

 

[CB4ME]

There are a number of foot pads available. I think the Givi is model 1121 but don't quote me. Foot pads, foot enlargers, duct feet, etc are great on soft ground but lessen the amount of lean and are sometimes hard to deploy if the left side of the bike is on the upside of a slight slope. There's also the danger of thinking the side stand has fully engaged. I parked my bike on a slight downslope, walked away and 2 seconds later the bike fell forward and over. The left side of the bike was so enraged by my maleficence that 2 weeks later it tossed me over on the right side at 50 mph. Now my twin tail exhaust has matching scratches on both sides.

 

[Mattbastard]

How about the parents controlling their kids and telling them to stay off your bike.

2nd. Are you at fault if their kid is messing with your bike when you're not around and it falls over and kills it?

Personal responsibility seems to be going the way of common sense around this country sometimes.