Now its coming up to winter again i wondered how you all get your bikes off the floor to stop flat spots on your tyres. I have a pair of paddock stands, they're pretty old and have the cups to attach onto the rear swingarm and the front one goes into the bottom of the forks. I would like the ease of having some bobbin type stands for both front and rear as i've never used the front one i have. So what do you use and where did you purchase them from??
R & G bobbins & Andy at Deemon Tweeks sorted me out with a rear stand. I wanted a quality stand without spending shed loads of dosh. He sold me a middle price range one - their own stand for under £40 I have been very happy with it. Good quality stand. Have since bought a few bibs & bobs from Andy. He's a good guy & won't sell you duff gear.
I've got a Constands vertical lift that plugs into the side of the bike, don't think they are made anymore but have seen similar things used in endurance racing on TV, best tool I ever bought.
Can't beat the Harris stands for the build quality and 'balance' but for a long lay-up and also for certain jobs which are awkward on paddock stands the ABBA stands are great and they now do front lift add-on which looks much better than their previous attempt.
Harris Performance UK - Performance bike parts UK - Ohlins Shocks and Steering Damper Products quality gear
If you move the bike around with that prevent flat spots? Will have to maybe invest in stands myself for winter i guess.....winters are long and cold here so i doubt i'll be out on the bike....hate riding in the wet!
There are so many choices with regards to paddock stands from cheap to very expensive and most have different abilities, I have quite a few sets of stands and means of getting the bike off the ground for various maintenance work I carry out on the bikes. For basic front & rear wheel raising/removal pretty much any set of stands will work, such as your own current set. You may be able to buy a set of bobbin pickup forks for your rear stand which will be cheaper and take up less room than new stands. I currently have a set of alloy front and rear stands which were linked earlier in the tread, these get used a lot for things like washing the bike and basic maintenance duties. Next I have an abba stand which can be used to again raise both front and rear at same time (with assistance front a small bottle jack) this is great when wanting to work on suspension or engine removal (was put to great use on ColinBr's SP1 rebuild last winter). I also have a headstock stand which I use normally with the abba instead of the bottle jack, this type of stand is great when working on forks and such. The headstock stand complements any rear bobbin stand too so no need to specifically use an abba. Basically what I am tryin to say is what sort of things will you be doing yourself with the stands as this will impact what you should be looking at purchasing. If you are just looking to raise your wheels over the winter I would recommend buying the bobbin forks for your rear stand and swap out the cups you have now.
I might look at getting an Abba. My trusty Oxford paddock stands now require the strength of 10 men to lift the rear of my bike since fitting the bobbins and hooks. Doesn't feel good trying to lift the bike without a grabrail to help steady it (like my previous bike). The centre mounted stands look far easier. Will have a look at the NEC bike show come November....
Abba stand with optional front lift thingy. Just remember to remove front lift before running the engine so it doesn't stick to the exhaust downpipes etc. Not that I would have forgotten to do it once. Twice though is a different story I also have rubber matting down in the garage to keep the tyres away from the concrete for the rest of the year.
