VTR250 centerstand addition

After hearing of Martin Kulbe putting a centerstand on his bike, I knew I had to have one, too: I used the one from a '85 VT. Well, the centre stand shaft was half an inch too short and needed to be replaced. The centre stand itself it a bit too long, so the rear wheel has one inch clearance to the ground now. I could not find out, if it affects in any way the cornering capability: I definitely have a problem with my boots before anything of my bike comes close to the tarmac.

As Martin said, he'd scavenged his from a VT500, I was having a hard time finding a VT500. But I did find a VTR250 microfiche for $10 on ebay. One day, while perusing the schematics on the microfiche reader (which had been dug out of a dumpster by the U of MN medical school) something caught my eye.

Sure enough, there was a centerstand--marked as optional equipment!

I jumped for joy, and started scribbling part numbers. One day, my box arrived, and it was time to fit the beast. Here are the parts I ordered:

The prices are what I paid through cycle-parts.com. Just plug in the part numbers and go to town :)

Once I got them, assembly was simple enough. There was a cover on the right-hand side of the pivot point that had to be removed. Just a tiny flange of metal. It was screwed in place, so once the screw came out, the pivot pipe slid right through.

Once the pivot pipe was cotter-keyed into place, I learned I had a new problem. I had no way to stretch the spring into place. My sister's husband Doug happened to be over, but even once we got a vice-grips locked onto the spring, and he stood on it, we couldn't stretch the spring. So I took the rest of the day off.

Later, my buddy Dirk called, and I related the story to him. He (just like my father) said that I needed a special tool. Unlike my dad, he also said "but you can do it with a screwdriver." Aha!

Out to the shop I went, and grabbed my least used screwdriver--a Torx driver. I hooked the spring on the frame, then levered the torx driver against the bottom of the centerstand, and tried to slide the spring down it. The Torx bent into a U.

At this point, my dog, which is tied up around the front wheel of my wife's car, is getting plenty nervous. That old hound knows me pretty well, and can recognize when I'm frustrated. Either that, or she was afraid the spring would come sailing in her direction.

I swore profusely, and grabbed an old damaged craftsman screwdriver. That was strong enough not to bend, but the flat-blade end kept popping the spring clean off of the lower hook. The spring would then launch in a random direction--lodging itself in the ceiling, wall, or convenient passerby.

After the third time of finding the spring, and with the poor dog now thoroughly traumatized, I got smart. I broke out the metal file, and filed that flathead down. With the now tapering head, the spring snapped right into place.

Voila! Centerstand. The only issue is that the bike is currently fitted with enormous saddlebags, so there's no real grab point for popping the bike onto the centerstand. But it's a light bike, so it's no big whup. Hey, this is a great $80 project, but Honda really should have thrown this in with the bike in the first place.

Comments or Questions? Email me!