PRODUCT REVIEW
HANDY STANDY
Words & Photos : Ben Wilkins
Bike-Lift ’ s Centre Stand has done the rounds through a couple of our sheds for a while now and has proven its worth with both sports bikes and adventure machines alike .
T he ever insightful guys and gals at Eurobike sent us this Bike-Lift Centre Stand in the middle of the winter , probably foreseeing that we ’ d have bikes to fix . Not that we break them , not often anyway , but winter ’ s a great time for doing those service jobs you don ’ t want to touch while the weather is good and the riding irresistible . So far we ’ ve used the Bike-Lift multiple times on two very different bikes . First up was a 2003 Aprilia Tuono Racing , and then a 2016 Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin . On both bikes the stand was used to get the back wheel off the floor for taking the rear wheel out , changing sprockets , servicing the rear shock and suspension linkages . Most bikes these days don ’ t have centre-stands , which makes anything to do with the rear wheel or suspension a tad tricky . The Aprilia doesn ’ t have an option for a centre-stand anyway , and on the Africa Twin it ’ s a pricey optional extra , which most owners didn ’ t spec at the time of purchase . Paddock stands which lift the bike by the swingarm are fast and easy to use and allow you to remove the rear wheel . The trouble is , because they lift the bike by the swingarm you can ’ t take the suspension out or service the rear linkage , because the rear of the bike
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