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Kickstand on the Scout

39K views 178 replies 41 participants last post by  Benggolf  
#1 ·
Other than leaving the bike in gear, has anyone tried a modification on the kickstand to move it forward or anything else to make it more stable?
 
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#2 ·
See? I need a question mark. I'm not sure what you mean Halld. I've had no trouble since I got mine. Can you explain please?
 
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#3 · (Edited)
On level ground the kickstand can roll forward on you in neutral .. Had it Happen .. If lock your Forks over hard left will pretty much prevent it but if have a slight downhill grade as found out I did in my Driveway will still roll .. I was pulling into Driveway left it in neutral running and opened my gate same way have done with other Bikes for years with no problems it fell over and broke off the end of the clutch lever .. Would have probably been more damage if hadn't got to it when saw it start to fall .. Did a thread about this the day it happened back in December .. Bike was only 4-5 days old ..
 
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#5 ·
On level ground the kickstand can roll forward on you in neutral .. Had it Happen .. If lock your Forks over hard left will pretty much prevent it but if have a slight downhill grade as found out I did in my Driveway will still roll .. I was pulling into Driveway left it in neutral running and opened my gate same way have done with other Bikes for years with no problems it fell over and broke of the end of the clutch lever .. Would have probably been more damage if hadn't got to it when saw it start to fall .. Did a thread about this the day it happened back in December .. Bike was only 4-5 days old ..
Ok , thanks Jay. I always tilt the bars as you say so haven't had the pleasure of the dance you had. Very worth remembering.
 
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#6 ·
I think RBinTEX was going to as he mentioned it in this thread - Kickstand modification Indian Motorcycle Forum but he never said if he did or not.
I finally gave up on the kickstand switch, because the US edition of our Scouts don't have the same wiring harness as the ones going to other countries.
It would have cost me $800.00+ labor charges to change out the wiring harness to use the kickstand switch.

I did have it figured out that I could scab it into the wiring harness by cutting into the wiring and inserting my kickstand switch the circuit.
I decided that I didn't want to chance voiding some warranties by doing this.

But to get back to the mod's it would take to change the angle of the kickstand to a more desirable angle so it wouldn't roll forward off the kickstand in certain circumstances..... I have been neglectful to approach it yet.

But I think that I could do it if I did some tricky angle grinding in the slot the kickstand swivels in to make it settle in a little further into that saddle!

I haven't dismissed it yet, but have not had the time to mess with it yet.
I need to get it to my sons work shop so I can get it up on a lift.... I have gotten to the age that it is very hard for me to lay on the ground and get up off the ground with any ease whatsoever! <VBG>

Right now I just now pay very good attention where I park, always stop it in gear and always cock the handlebars to the left.

I have gotten used to doing this, but it is still a major pain in the ass that should have never been an issue from the factory.
 
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#7 ·
I mentioned this to the dealer and he went over what needs to be done. We took a Scout and in gear tried to roll it far enough to have the kickstand go up. It didn't but it did move. That was fine, however, it looked as though if anything else contributed the kickstand would go. Possibly on uneven ground or gravel.
What I tried was to roll the bike slightly in the direction it would roll until all the play was out against the gears. That took out that short roll distance.
I am used to shutting down by dropping the kickstand in gear and then turning off the key. I never used the kill switch. A time for change. I guess the method for me now is in gear, kill switch, key. Putting it in neutral to shut down will eventually get me.
 
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#8 ·
I am used to shutting down by dropping the kickstand in gear and then turning off the key. I never used the kill switch. A time for change. I guess the method for me now is in gear, kill switch, key. Putting it in neutral to shut down will eventually get me.
I know what you mean, really hard to turn off the ignition when your left hand is holding in the clutch.

One other thing that I have gotten in habit of doing after shutting off the switch, is to roll the bike as far forward as I can while in gear before I put down the kickstand so that there is no slack for it to roll forward on that ridiculous straight up and down kickstand we have.

Then,of course, I do the recommended turning of the handlebars the full left
 
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#9 ·
When I arrive back at the house, I just beep the horn twice and an automatic rubber mat rolls out just in case of accidents. The device only takes seconds to deploy and is a semi full proof method of protection. Can take longer though if the wife insists on putting her shoes on first before coming out!!! It really is a good job she does not read this...............
 
#10 ·
Too Funny !! By the way - nice pic of you and the German Shepherd! Love that breed - my hubby and I are on our 5th Shepherd since we got married 31 years ago!
 
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#24 ·
I don't get the problem here. I have not had any movement problems on any surfaces?
Not doubting you Jay... Just saying
I agree with yOu Jimmyr, but I can see the potential for it to happen. I played with my scout on the weekend, on the stand, in neutral, level service, gave it a little nudge and felt that the potential for a fall over was On the cards. And as they say, an ounce of protection,.....
 
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#37 ·
HARLEY handbooks advise turning off with kill switch but I can't recall reading that in the Scout book. Doesn't hurt to anyway.
 
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#47 · (Edited)
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Alpal, thanks for being our task horse and getting a good fix for us.

As for where to grind, after taking off my kickstand like you did and after seeing your pictures I would have most likely made the same decision on the location to grind as you did. Job well done!
Mine is gonna be done soon.
Do you feel that it has more stability now Alpal?
It definitely looks more stable.

One more question, does it lean just a little further to the left now than it did?
Fantastic and great pics, you know they always help. Did it pass the shake test? What number grit did you use on the stone or did you use as course as you could get?
Hi Guys, News Flash. I did a little run to the supermarket because I knew they had slope there. Placed the bike on the stand, in neutral and gave her a gentle push or two forward. While it was better, I felt that it needed to be more "over centred". So, bought the wine and back home. After drinking all the wine I,.....naaa,... Only joking!,.... I put Silk back her her stand and ground a little more off. This time, for any International Scout bikers out there I also had to take a little off the heal for the kill switch. Once again I checked often and when happy put her back together and headed out to Wanganui for a visit to the Honda shop to glote. No, not really. Geoff Koewn, the owner was in his truck the day I had my accident back in 2013 and I have been back to thank him a couple of times and this time to show him the replacement for the HARLEY. Sadly he wasn't there but one of the mechanics came out and we had a ten minute chat about the bike etc etc. I know the news will get back to Geoff. He's a good bloke and dealer. Anyway I did more shopping with lots of stop and park ups on both level and sloped areas. Rock solid Lads! Even on a slope, in neutral with some gentle forward persuasion it did not want to rock over the "overcentre" as it were. Hopefully the photos will give you some idea of where the stands needs to rest up. Take it slow and all will be good. To reiterate, I used a Gremmell grinder. They are a super high speed grinder that uses very small and soft stones glued to a shaft. They wear out very quickly doing work like this but they are cheap to replace and NOT aggressive. As to lean angle, I filled up in Wanganui and did wonder if I would get less in the tank. No, it still took 10.5 litres like always. I sense that it leans more to the left but that could be just my imagination. Time for the photos. I ran a tape along the wheel track and used a square to try and give perspective and something for you to gauge off and hopefully it works for you all. I don't know how these parts are made but maybe their die for this part is a little out of plum.
All the following photos are Mod 2.
 
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#67 ·
I appreciate the skill and thought process that went into fixing the kickstand. My point is why should we have to spend our money and time to fix a factory defect. Come on Indian fix the kickstand!
 
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#68 ·
I appreciate the skill and thought process that went into fixing the kickstand. My point is why should we have to spend our money and time to fix a factory defect. Come on Indian fix the kickstand!
Indian is not very well known for speed on anything... especially delivery of accessories.

I would rather do it myself! I don't want to wait until the 2017 or 2018 models come out with the fix!
 
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#69 ·
Indian is not very well known for speed on anything... especially delivery of accessories.

I would rather do it myself! I don't want to wait until the 2017 or 2018 models come out with the fix!
I'm with you RB. The mod is done. It was not hard to do. The bike is far more stable now than before and I'm glad I did it. Yes, this is Something Indian should have been aware of and fixed but I'm happy with what I have done.
 
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#71 ·
Can't fix what ain't broke.

Don't cross your bridges before you get to them.

I will lean,..(???) on them?,......
 
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#75 ·
I had not noticed that Roaddawg. I'll have a look this morning when I go to work. I can say that after doing the mod the bike is 100% firm on any ground when you get off. No rock and roll forward, dead solid and I feel all the more confident about flicking that stand down now and stepping off.
 
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#77 ·
I'm sure you all know what your doing regarding mods and changes. But just makes me a little nervous with recalls going on. I'm sure Polaris like many manufacturers would look for any excuse not to honour a guarantee. I just do not want to give them an excuse.
 
#78 ·
I'm sure you all know what your doing regarding mods and changes. But just makes me a little nervous with recalls going on. I'm sure Polaris like many manufacturers would look for any excuse not to honour a guarantee. I just do not want to give them an excuse.
Do you think they would honor the warranty if your bike rolled off it's kickstand even though it is a well know niggle of the Scout?

So what kind of warranty would they not honor if I alter my kickstand so that it wont fall over easily?
 
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#79 ·
Ronnie, maybe I'm just over cautious with this, but I won't be playing with mine this early on. Normally, you fiddle with a fundamental part the manufacturer can invalidate the Warranty, and it applies to the whole object not just the part tampered with. Not always the case, but it is a risk. Anyway, enough said, ride safe and I hope the mod works for you.
 
#80 ·
Normally, you fiddle with a fundamental part the manufacturer can invalidate the Warranty, and it applies to the whole object not just the part tampered with. Not always the case, but it is a risk. Anyway, enough said, ride safe and I hope the mod works for you.
I am not going to live in fear of my warranty!

If me altering the kickstand to correct a factory default so that I can't get another factory fault corrected, then so be it!

Now if something happened to the bike that was directly attributed to the kickstand being corrected then I could see it.
But how could that alter a warranty on something on the engine or a rear brake failure or an electrical failure or a gear shift linkage failure?
 
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#83 ·
Anyway I did more shopping with lots of stop and park ups on both level and sloped areas. Rock solid Lads! Even on a slope, in neutral with some gentle forward persuasion it did not want to rock over the "overcentre" as it were. Hopefully the photos will give you some idea of where the stands needs to rest up. Take it slow and all will be good. To reiterate, I used a Gremmell grinder. They are a super high speed grinder that uses very small and soft stones glued to a shaft. They wear out very quickly doing work like this but they are cheap to replace and NOT aggressive. As to lean angle, I filled up in Wanganui and did wonder if I would get less in the tank. No, it still took 10.5 litres like always. I sense that it leans more to the left but that could be just my imagination. Time for the photos. I ran a tape along the wheel track and used a square to try and give perspective and something for you to gauge off and hopefully it works for you all. I don't know how these parts are made but maybe their die for this part is a little out of plum.
All the following photos are Mod 2.
I do appreciate you taking the Bull by the Horns on this one Al .. Will be doing this myself soon for better peace of mind ..
 
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#84 ·
Jay, something that I hadn't mentioned when I did my little grinding job.
Depending on how dexterous you are and what you pick to grind off the surface you may not need to take the kickstand off to do the job.

I used a Makita grinder with a layered sandpaper disc to do mine and did not remove the kickstand.

Great care should be taken in your placement of the disc to keep from touching anything else but the surface you want to grind.
I was lucky to do this by being very careful and meticulous about the tool use.

Something smaller like a Dremel tool might be safer than what I used! <G>
I had to take quite a bit off mine but Alpal only took a small amount of his, so I guess you need to use care and keep checking your progress. carefully as you go
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#87 ·
Jay, something that I hadn't mentioned when I did my little grinding job.
Depending on how dexterous you are and what you pick to grind off the surface you may not need to take the kickstand off to do the job.

I used a Makita grinder with a layered sandpaper disc to do mine and did not remove the kickstand.

Great care should be taken in your placement of the disc to keep from touching anything else but the surface you want to grind.
I was lucky to do this by being very careful and meticulous about the tool use.

Something smaller like a Dremel tool might be safer than what I used! <G>
I had to take quite a bit off mine but Alpal only took a small amount of his, so I guess you need to use care and keep checking your progress. carefully as you go
.
We almost had ours fall over this weekend. I was standing on the left side of the bike, she went to fasten the snap on the back of the saddlebag. Just that little bit of pressure forward on the bike cause it to roll off the stand. Fortunately, I was right there to catch it before it fell.

So... this weekend it looks like I'll be doing the fix. How hard would it be to take the bracket all the way off to grind it down? I have access to a machine shop with a milling machine, So I'll be able to mill it down nice and neat.

Another observation and thought... If I simply took the 1/4 inch rubber piece off the bottom of the stand, would it not lean over more and be a little bit more stable?
 
#88 ·
I thought that too Mikehell, about the rubber, but I sorta kinda liked seeing it there so left it on. It may work but I still feel the stand needs to overcentre more, hence the grind off. But, hey, don't let me put you off. Try it. You could always put it back later.
 
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#89 ·
Reply from Mark at Aeromach:
Right after we almost rolled our own Scout, we knew there needed to be something done.
We're a little maxed out production wise at this time but as soon as we can catch our
breath we're going to seriously look into this.

Take care,
Mark
Any chance of getting an idea how long before they will be able to work on such a thing?
 
#101 ·
Well done all! When all is said and done it should be Indian fixing the fault, not the guys and girls in the Indian Forum.

It will be interesting to see what Indian does in the coming weeks.
 
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#103 ·
I do use the steering lock but more times than not I just pull up, pop into neutrals, stand down and walk away now. I am that confident that the bike is now stable. I have purposely parked on slopes, front wheel straight ahead, bike in neutral and it's been fine. I have even stood to the left of the bike and given it a good rock. It does not overcentre at all. The steering lock would play no part in saving the bike from falling. Many in the states put their bike on full left lock when they park up and the bike can still roll off the stand. Having a bike with a steering lock would, I feel, change nothing. If the bike rolls forward, it will fall, lock on or not.
 
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#107 ·
I could not get my dealer to fix mine after it was tipped over in there shop. So I fixed it my self. It was an easy fix with a burr tip and a screw gun. It took about 15 minutes, you grind down about 1/4" of the kickstand that hits the stop on the bike frame.
 
#109 · (Edited)
I have been tinkering with the kickstand on my Scout a bit. Here is a 'before and after' shot. Now should I change her name from "Lil' Red" to "Lil' Bigfoot"? Even the 'before' shot has a modified stop to allow the stand to open more than the precarious stock position. The 'after' shot has the stop altered again for even more over center action and a steel foot giving almost twice the contact area of the original stand. Now I can park my scooter in the yard when I wheel it out of the barn and go back to shut the barn door. I also feel it is much safer now sitting at work in the hot sun on asphalt.

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If anyone needs a baseline for determining how much to alter the stand, I took before and after measurements while resting on the stand. From the front of lip of the left footpeg to the back of the tip of the stand the readings were: 18.25" stock and 17.12 altered.
 
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