Plastic bike stands...for under $20!

[Gary Roach]

Finding a bike stand for our Pentons has been tough. Most of the stands that you see out there are for modern bikes, and are either not wide enough for the width of the frame rails, or are so tall that you pull you back out trying to get the bike up on it.

Kent Knudson just found these plastic folding step stools that work great for a bike stand. The stand is 12" high, which is just high enough to get the wheels off of the ground, and it's 15" wide, which means that it's plenty wide enough for our Pentons. It's rated for 300lbs, so I decided to test that. I put one of my bikes on a stand than climbed up on the bike (I weigh 220lbs), and stand held up just fine. It folds up to just 2" thick for storage. I'm not sure how much the stand itself acually weighs, but I'm guessing that it's maybe a pound or two. When you unfold it to use, you must make sure that you push the sides out all of the way out, and the sides will lock in place which makes the stand sturdier. The ones we have is the "Mainstays" brand from Walmart, but I've seen this same stand available online under the name "E-Z Foldz". Here's the link to ones at Walmart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-12-Folding-Step-Stool/16206978


Gary

 

[brian kirby]

I am going to get some of those! Looks like a good stand for me to kickstart open class bikes too. I like your footpegs even better than the stand.

Brian

[Gary Roach]

quote:Originally posted by brian kirby

I like your footpegs even better than the stand.

Brian

Thanks, Brian. The pegs, pins, and springs are all modern KTM items. I would like to take credit for this great idea of using modern pegs, but it was actually Kent's.

[brian kirby]

Do they go right into the hole in the stock frame post or did you modify it?

Brian

[Mick Milakovic]

Gary, thanks for the tip on the bike stand; we've been using steel milk crates for 40 years, but you can't find them anymore!  

What modifications had to be done for the modern pegs?

Mick

[Gary Roach]

You'll have to make a U-shaped bracket for the modern peg to set in. I've done it by heating and bending a solid piece of metal, and I've also seen the bracket be made by cutting out 3 seperate pieces, then welded into a U. The bracket needs to be tall enough so that when the spring is installed, the end of the spring is preloaded by the bracket. If the bracket is too short, than the end of the spring will be hanging out of the bracket, and will not be preloaded correctly. You'll need to drill the brackets out for the pins before welding them on.

Before doing any cutting on the frame, the first thing you'll want to do is put the bike in a positon that the stock pegs are level with the ground. You'll need to measure from the top of the peg to the ground, and also from the front side of the peg to a stationary position on the frame (like maybe the front motor mount bolt). The reasons for these three steps are this; when you weld the new bracket on the frame, you'll want the new peg to be in the same postion as the stock one was. If the new peg is tilted too far forward or back, you'll probably won't be happy with them. If the top of the peg is too high or too low, or is too far forward or back from what the original position was, you may have trouble reaching your shifter or rear brake pedal.

I cut the stock peg post off flush with the outer plate that reinforces the stock post. Then the U-shaped bracket is welded to that.

I then put the peg into the bracket with the pin (but no spring) and lay a level across the top of the peg before I weld it in place.

One important note..and trust me on this one because I saw it done incorrectly before. Do the left side first. Before you weld the bracket on, make sure that the bracket is back far enough so that you can still get the clutch cover off. If you don't, the cover will hit the bracket, and since the cover has to come off over the shifter and kicker shafts, you may not be able to get the cover off without pulling the motor. Once you have the left side welded on, you can then measure from the front side of the left footpeg to the stationary measuring point that you used earlier, and then go to the right side and weld it into the same postion.

One other thing...the springs on the modern pegs are heavy duty and a real pain to install...wear safety glasses!!!  


Gary