Tech Tip: Fixing the kickstand auto-retraction
 

New GasGas riders will quickly find out that our bikes come equipped with a "nice" feature... an auto-retracting kickstand of death. You can thank Spanish laws for this feature, most riders get wacked by it at some point and/or dump their bike on the ground.

The "auto-retraction" is due to the spring attachment point being rearward of the kickstand pivot. To prevent this, you could cut/reweld the spring eyelet farther forward. However, there is a much easier method using a chain link. Take a spare chain link and drill one of the holes slightly larger to accomodate the mounting bolt. Then, just attach the spring to the other hole... problem solved!

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f7.../image0005.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f7.../image0004.jpg

Fixing the kickstand auto-retraction
 

Thanks MattR. I now have a remedy for this dangerous weapon. :cool:

I'm glad you liked it!

I can't take credit on the chain link idea, but I wanted to explain the issue and provide my photos. Many riders complain about the kickstand and this is such an easy fix that I had to make a Tech Tip for it.

Proud to say I do know who invented this trick - and I'm related to him! My brother (kx200 on Smackover) figured out this simple way to beat the auto retract within a month of owning his '02 XC250. Falling motorcycles have a way of ignighting ingenuity.

Man was that one spring a bear to stretch into place! I can't do it with my shoulder surgery so I got my neighbor to help. He had to try about 6 times to get it. Does yours make a loud clicking sound when U lower and raise the kickstand? Plus it makes a grinding noise. But that sucker sure stays put. :D

My shoulder clicks also, but it doesn't grind.:D

Sounds like U have had similar issues a I. I've banged my right shoulder four good ones since I was twenty and I'm just shy a month of 57. This last one was a doosey. And yes, I used to be able to swing my arm in a underhand softball pitching motion and hear loud pop-pop-popping. Back then I was in the army and the Doc. wanted to cut me open to see what was wrong so I let it heal on it's own.

There is definitely more tension with the relocation. Maybe the newer springs are shorter than my bike year. You can compare my coil spacing to yours based on the pictures. My spring rubs a bit on the pedal now when deployed. Also, as you swing the kickstand down/up, the upper spring hook makes a bit of noise trying to reposition itself on the chain link. Maybe this is the source of the grinding sound???

Thanks Matt. Just good to know it's common to have a little noise involved with the deployement. I might bend my link towards the back a tad and see if it helps, I'm very happy with the outcome. I still have a dent in my right shin and a scab on the inside of my right heal from that sadistic little bugger! But not no Mo!!! :D

Just another tip...

Check that your left side panel is not very close to the kickstand in the up position. If it is too close, you can break/chip the plastic as the kickstand hits it under higher spring tension. You can bend the lower mouting tab on the subframe (the one with the rivet nut) to make the side panel miss the kickstand. It is an easy tweak with some vice-grips. Just a little tweak is all it takes. This pulls the bottom of the side panel further outward.

Thanks for the tip Matt. I have already damaged my side panel with my kickstand:mad: . I'll give this a try to stop it from getting worse.

!@@#$%%^
this stupid bastard is makin me mad.
i have an 07 300' and it looks nothing like this pic, i mean its similar, but i dant have anywhere near enough room to remove the bolt, i cant even get an open ende wrench to it, let alone on it, sockets and pliers are also waaaay out of the question. any suggestions? im to the point where im about to just take tha bastard off, between the shin damage and the radiator and plastic damage. all the damage on this bike has been caused by the !@#$%^ kickstand and it really is irritating to cause hundreds in damages to a 7000 bike because of a !@#$% 2 dollar spring that was put in a bad place. http://www.gasgasrider.org/gallery//...89&ppuser=1031

leave the kick stand mount in place. remove just the kick stand. My 06 300 has a small spacer/bushing that goes between the kick stand pivot bolt and the kick stand. This is so you can crank down the kick stand pivot bolt and it won't tighten down on the kick stand thereby allowing the stand to rotate freely. Grind this spacer/bushing down enough so that the pivot bolt WILL crank down onto the kick stand. TA DA!! crank down on pivot bolt which now cranks down on kick stand and the auto retract feature no longer works.

on a side note the kick stand springs are strong. I use a big long beefy spring puller designed for removing springs from snowmobile exhausts. one that can push and pull.

not mine but scroll down for hte push pull spring puller
http://www.hiperf.com/ATV/acatalog/S...t___Tools.html
mine's better but I can't find it??

BTW the auto retract feature is an EU regulation.

That tool looks great. I'll make one for myself.

Yeah, the '07 bracket looks different. The pics were from my old '01 XC250. When I did it on my '07, I was a bit frustrated too. You can back off the top mounting bolt a little ways, but then you find it is impossible to get the bolt out right? The trick that young grasshoppers don't initially see is the lower mounting bolt holding the bottom chain roller (under the swingarm). Remove the lower mounting bolt and chain roller. Now, the kickstand bracket can move around/dangle from the upper mounting bolt. You should be able to remove the upper bolt without further issues.

By the way, it also helps to use an inner chain link plate for this modification. The inner chain link plate has a larger ID from the pin that was pressed in. This minimizes the enlarging of the hole that you need to do in order for the upper mounting bolt to fit thru.

Just get rid of the stand, they do more harm than good. I do this from day #1 with a new GG. Throw it in your cooler with just a bolt for use at gas stops that are on the road. There are plenty of trees in the woods to lean on. Use a shop stand or triangle stand in the garage or at camp.

I just may have to begin doing this. My kickstand bracket or the kickstand itself is slightly bent. It likes to rub on the swingarm occassionally during shock travel. Now, the swingarm has a few nice gouges in it. Stupid stand!

yeah, i got the nasty rub marks on my shiny swingarm too. sod :(
i got the whole assembly off, that lower chain roller bolt was hard to fenangle out, im going to cut the eye off and reweld it in front of the upper bolt on the kickstand mount.im sue itll drag on the peg a little, but oh well.

Just use natures stand. Trees! :D

cut off the tab, to find out the whole 300 yd spool of wire unraveled inside my welder, so i went the chain link method. im only using the lighter of the two sprins now, and its more that enough to withdraw it, and hold it in place while riding!
as soon as my now cam is charged ill try to take pics

I'll have to try that. I have both springs hooked up and if U don't pull it up by hand it bangs the side panel underneath quite loudly. Thanks.

Finally did it!
 

I finally did the link mod and "fixed" my stand, hey .... it's only been a couple of years. One thing I may have done differently on my '05 FSE was to go to "Tractor Supply" and get some generic size 60 master links. They still have to be drilled out (I heated it to cherry red and let it air cool first) but since they use a much larger pin on the #60s it wasn't a real big step up and the extra length positioned the springs out just a bit more though they still rub the pivot bolt.

Bruce

thank you very much. i would never have thought of this myself, i probably would have just taken the spring off and made a cradle loop out of wire for it. so thanks for the tip! works like a charm.

Alternate fix
 

Like everyone else, I hate the auto retract. The chain link method is simple but the spring tends to crab as the stand pivots.

Stock dimensions of the spring eye to eye: up is 8.750", down is 10.625". The extra yank really contributes to the auto retract.

I wanted the new attachment point ahead of the stand's pivot point. I figured the original spring tab would be in the way so I ground it off the stock bracket.

I made up a piece that is held by the pivot bolt. A grooved button attaches to it, along with a pin on the back that can torque against the stock bracket. The idea is that if the pivot bolt loosens up, the spring can't pull things out of place.

On the first try I used an intermediate link to get a smooth pivot action. Not shown in the photo is the extra holes in the link as I played with different spring tensions.

http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/pic...=3&pictureid=3

http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/pic...=3&pictureid=2

While the operation was slick, there wasn't enough tension in the up position even with more spring preload. From this I could tell that I needed to move the spring anchor higher.

My next bracket had a top torque tab and a higher anchor point. This would not be as high as the chain link method, but still high enough to gain some extra leverage. The spring goes around the button now.

http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/pic...=3&pictureid=6

http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/pic...=3&pictureid=5

This worked out great. New dimensions of the installed spring: up is 9.625", down is 9.875". Lots of force in both directions and .750" less stretch on the spring when down. Really smooth operation.

the sidestand foot
 

I don't like the angle the bike leans over at with the stand down. Too far considering the tiny foot at the end. Setting it on different shims indicated that adding .750" would be about right. I put a 3/4" piece of PVC sheet under the stand and scribed the shape. Set the jigsaw to a 30* angle and cut the plastic. This flares the new foot out for more area. I left the straight side at 90* because it's close to the chain when up.

I drilled and tapped two M4 holes in the end of the stand, then bolted on the plastic piece and painted it silver. It looks odd but works well.

http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/pic...=3&pictureid=7

http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/pic...=3&pictureid=8

http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/pic...=3&pictureid=9

Loosen the bolt for the lower chain roller!
 

I think somebody else noted it, but the key to doing this fix is loosening the bolt for the lower chain roller. That bolt holds the kickstand bracket, loosening it allows you to get a straight-in line on the bolt.

The bolt securing my kickstand was srtipped on my brand new bike when I removed it. First time I've ever pulled out a stripped bolt from the factory on a brand new bike!

Easy to see how it happened though, given the awkward design. Ran a tap through it and figured out that loosening the lower chain roller made the entire job reasonable.

Some pics:

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/gar...chmentid=91221

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/gar...chmentid=91222

Oh ya, don't attempt this fix without a good spring puller on hand.

Still a pain in the ass anytime you need to take it off or put it back on I can change both tires on my bike in the time it takes to mess with the side stand
But now the 2012 look like it was done right? well see!

Picked my gas gas up today, went to move stand up with my hand as I usualy do.

45 mins later in casualty I find myself with a broken index finger. What stupid bit of kit!

Has anyone devised a fix for the 2012's yet?

Chuck that stand off the 2012 in the garbage. Mine kept backing out...lots of use from helping my son start his bike after dumping it. Last time I was out I tightened it be fore I left and put it on its stand to help my son....i hear a snap and my bike hits the ground. Bolt snapped. Ill be using the trees for now on.

I think enduro engineering sells one for$10.
C

i personally like the idea that the kickstand has the auto retract feature.
a pretty bad problem can arise from it being left down and riding off.
a one time bruised leg is worth it imho.

auto retract kick stand fix on 2012-2013?
 

Anyone fix the the newer bikes yet ,please show a picture.

there is no place on the '13s to move the anchor post like on the 11s. may have a buddy look at something, it would have to be some big ungainly thing like the kick stand for my husky.
http://trailtech.net/kickstands.html

kick stand
 

I plan to do this mod also, I can see how that small difference in location keeps it down. This past weekend my kickstand was staying down just from the dirt buildup in the pivot.

On my 2013, I just bent the spring mount tap a few millimeters forward. Now the spring anchor point is just forward of the kickstand pivot...no more auto-retract. Works great.

A few taps with a hammer or some gentle force with some pliers will do. A couple chips of paint did come off where the bend is, but a dab of touch up car paint will protect it and make it in noticeable.

It looks to me like the mount on the new bikes are design to allow this easy modification. I think the auto retract is a gov mandated safety thing...or a corporate lawyer mandated thing.

Picture please??

LOL, now you tell us. Just started working on the bike again after a few months off and have wacked my legs a good 6 times forgetting about the stand....

A slightly different way of fixing these stands. I have a 2005 ec200 and i was used to the auto retract shin splitter (I only run the single smaller gauge spring), but was sick of the foot of the stand wacking the side plate.

I left everything connected but loosened the bolt underneath and undid the bolt that runs fore and aft so i could space the kickstand bracket off the frame with a chunky washer. Bolted everything back together and it works heaps better now.

The kickstand now sits slightly further forward and is much less prone to auto-retracting, and is about 15mm clear of the bottom of the side-plate when up. Also, the spring isn't being tensioned as much as it is when you use the chain link trick.

slightly off topic but does anyone know of a replacement side stand for an 07' EC300? Mine was bent beyond repair when I got it and I've just been dealing with it since. Starting to give me the irrits...