Kickstand Brace

For Those Who Live on Slippery Slopes or California???????


In California and other places where the earth tends to move at unexpected times, some riders have eyebolts set into garage floors.  When they park the bike it gets tied down to those eyebolts so it can't move forward (or back) possibly causing the kickstand to collapse and the bike to fall over.     Obviously it doesn't take an earthquake for this to happen.  Just walking the bike around intending only to move a couple of feet (so why put the kickstand up?) could cause the kickstand to fold up and the bike to fall.

Les Covey has come up with this wonderfully simple solution that requires no welding, very little drilling and maybe five dollars in materials.

Painted kickstand brace

{Gadget Note: Based on LC's instructions I made my own sidestand brace but departed from his instructions 

ss_brace_finalparts_assembled.jpg (40774 bytes)
just a little.

Instead of using the pipe clamp, I used a spring loaded tool hanger (brooms, mops and such) so there's no need to fiddle with wing nuts. he brace just snaps on and off the bike. I've painted my brace International Orange to help me remember to 'remove before flight'}

 

 

Parts needed
What You'll Need

  • 1- Length of 1.5" flat mild steel stock
  • 2- 1/4-28 bolts
  • 2- 1/4-28 wing nuts
  • 1- 1" pipe bracket or broom clamp (your choice)
  • Rubber strips (not shown in picture, pieces of old inner tube will work)

 

How to do it

Brace Bending
Using the photos at left and right as a guide, bend your piece of flat steel in a hook at one end using a vice, hammer and, if you have it, some heat from a propane torch. You'll want to clamp a piece of round tubing or a socket just a little larger than your crash bar against the steel to make a nice even curve.

Now, with the bar in a vice, twist it so the other end is at a 45 degree angle in relation to the top. 

Once the hook is finished, slip it over your crash bar and angle the bar back toward your stand.  Test fit the clamp whether you're using the pipe or tool clamp and mark the bar for cutting (and if using the hose clamp, drilling). Drill holes through the bar matching the holes in the pipe clamp or make up a second piece to match the tool hanger and drill it for bolts.

lc_kickstand_brace_2.jpg (86286 bytes)

ss_brace_onbike_side.jpg (55491 bytes)
You're going to end up with something that looks like the photo at left (not painted yet) or the one on the right

 

Glue some rubber pad to the bar where it will contact the kickstand and to the inside of the pipe clamp to prevent scratching.

Voila! You have a kickstand lock that will prevent the stand from folding up on you while pushing the bike around the garage or...when the earth moves.

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