Probike headstock stand works fine with abba stand, I made the Abba rear lift but it was very hard to lift the bike I thought it must be my guess work that tbh looks much the same as theirs so I ordered one and get this....it's the same very hard to lift the bike and the force it applies to the rear shock holding the weight up is way to much IMO to leave it over time maybe handy for washing etc so gave my home made stand to a mate and now have the abba lift that prob won't see a lot of use, the video is a little misleading tbh as you need to push down hard to the rear end of the bike, fine if you have a rear seat etc but seat cowl, not for me...sorry abba but this time your idea is a little naff! Abba rear lift 4/10 Abba header pipe lift 2/10 Abba stand 9/10 Probike headstock stand 8/10 Other Probike stands 8/10 http://probike.co.uk/it050004.htm
The Abba stand idea is probably best where the weight distribution on the bike is more even then. Thanks for the headstock stand idea though.
Indeed the centre of gravity and centre axel/pivot points from model to model are all different as we all know, funny thing is the demo vid of the abba stand front lift (the one with the strap not the header pipe lift) is my model bike and tbh it looks easy in the vid, but considering my bike is a huge amount lighter than an OEM bike I found it hard to do while avoiding pressing down on my 300 quid tail and 100 quid seat cowl! Bit of a let down, also as I say lots of load on the strap and all pulling down on the shock, think my poor shock would thank me to keep using the head stock stand for long term storage.
I found the the same with the front lift thing with the strap, way to hard to get the front off the floor and a lot of stress on the shock. It will be going on eBay soon and just use my headstock stand.
If I did not have twenty five or more stands in my workshop Id send it back! But in my case you can never have too many stands....lol I will say I have the dealer kit and a couple of abba stands and they make my life much easier shame the front lifts not easy or rather worked out better.
That would be great, but i have a Fireblade 954 not one of the newer 2008 bikes, so what ever works on the newer blade may not be the same on my bike, trying to find someone with a 954 and an Abba stand is the difficulty !!!
Arthur my only worry was the stress on the rear shock and as I would ideally want it to lift it for long periods. I will avoid that for now. Arthur have you had any experience setting up one of these constands? I can't figure what I'm doing wrong lol
Should think the stand will be ok on a 954 aswell, the arm that goes under the headstock is adjustable in height so should be ok, I'll get some pics to show you what I mean
Thanks, my bike is with KAIS suspension at the moment (being lowered as after the Ohlins and comfy seat upgrade its just a bit tall for me !), and they sell Harris headstock stands, that as you say, are height adjustable.
The make of mine is Qtech, not heard of them till i bought the stand which i got off ebay for £40, heres the link Motorcycle HEADSTOCK Head Lift Paddock STAND Track | eBay for the money its a good stand. You can see the height adjustment in the ebay ad. And heres some pic of my bike on it with abba stand. front wheel rear wheel not as far off the ground as with using a rear paddock stand with it but i only use it with the abba stand, its fine for storage and working on.
That would be just fine for me.... but thats on an RR10.... Mine is the RR2, I suspect it could be different.
You may be right.... they are good value at £40, are they easy to use with the Abba stand in place ? I note in your picture you have a cloth over the front mud guard, is this to stop any damage should it catch it ?
Very easy to use with the abba stand. Yep got the cloth over the mudguard just to stop it scratching or anything when I put it on and take it off. Just don't need to be as careful then.
I asked this question a while back as I'm looking for a front stand to use in conjunction with my ABBA and this looks ideal and a good price too! I assume you've had no issues with it at all then I'll get one on order. Thanks for sharing this with us
Only issue was I had to get a bigger pin made up for the head stock as the supplied ones only go up to 18mm and you need a 23mm one for the 08 onward blade, don't know about earlier ones. But getting one made wasn't any prob.
Hi Jollygiant, my stand arrived and I assembled last night. Got a few questions for you if you could help me out. You say 23mm, is this the pin diameter? Also the flanged section below where the pin inserts, what diameter did you make this? When I tried the 18mm the flange is only just wide enough around the head stock hole. The silver insertion parts that give the adjustability, which holes do you have yours set on? The welded nuts on the sides, what are they for? Cheers for your help, made up with the stand anyway, well made and finished for the price like you say.
pm'd you back mate. only thing i missed was the welded nuts question. In the pack is a couple of long bolts that go into them, im pretty sure they are for hanging the front brake calipers on for when you take them off instead of letting them hang.
Cheers mate, I got your message first so I've asked the question again. The hangers are a good idea anyway, neat touch, just what I need when I whip the wheels out for a reboot.
Hi have found this thread a bit late, but does anyone know is there enough clearance to remove front and rear wheels when using a ABBA stand and a Qtech headstock stand?
