Sport Bikes banner

Buying a rear stand: Is this one good?

4K views 38 replies 14 participants last post by  JustSaying 
#1 ·
What's up SBN,

After dealing with the "walking it" method while cleaning my chain, I decided buying a rear wheel stand will save me time and frustration.

I checked craigslist and ebay for some local searches. This one caugh my interest the most:
Motorcycle Sports Bike Jack Stand Red Rear Stand Swingarm Lift Auto Bike Shop | eBay

The seller has a good rating and seems to be selling these consistently. Any opinions? Is it worth buying or does it look risky?

The last thing I want to happen is to have my bike fall over because of a faulty stand.


Thanks!
 
#6 ·
I have some cheapish stands that were about the same price as the one you're looking at, maybe a bit more (can't remember now). They have served me well... But fairly recently I was able to use a friend's Pitbull stands and realized just how much I've been missing out on. There really is a huge difference between my cheapy stand a quality Pitbull. This being said, I have no plans of buying a Pitbull any time soon. The cheap one works; it does what I need it to do. It's just not oozing quality like the Pitbull. I have no idea if the one you're looking at is good or not, but that's my experience with inexpensive stands.

Also, a couple of dollar bolts at the hardware store will do just as good a job as spools. That's what I've been using on my SV. When I got it, I had planned on getting spools, but I found a couple bolts lying around and put them in to do until I got around to ordering spools... Well, they worked well enough that I've never gotten around to getting spools. It's doubtful I ever will either.
 
#7 ·
even if the bike didnt have spools, you can still flip the hooks around and it will work, I would get it if I didnt have 2 already.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JustSaying
#8 ·
Yeah, but in my experience the cheap stands don't work well without spools.

Spools are like 8 bucks. You CAN throw bolts in there, but spools are cheap enough that there's no reason to not have them.

The cheaper stands work reasonably well with spools. That being said, I have three pitbull stands and no regrets on spending the money on them. I just wish they made one for my current bike still.

Oh well. For 40 bucks, it's a decent buy.
 
#10 · (Edited)
The nice thing about Pit Bull stands; you'll never need to buy anything else. Plus, if it matters to you, it's a product that is designed and produced in the good old USA.

I've used a lot of different stands, and IMO, there's a reason when you look at the AMA grids you see so many Pit Bull stands. There's such a difference in quality. Look at it this way, you can buy cheap stands now and replace them with Pit Bull stands because the cheap stands suck, or you can just buy Pit Bulls. Watch the WERA classified for used ones, or pay a buck for a "wanted" add for a used one.

Edit: Plus, if you decide that riding a motorcycle isn't for you anymore, you can sell the Pit Bull stand used to basically end up even with the netted price of a cheap stand (that is impossible to sell).

Note: Woodcraft stands are nice too, but I have a slight preference for Pit Bull stands.
 
#13 ·
I haven't really noticed any huge difference in spool rear stands, not enough to spend 3x the price on PitBull. The only practical difference is how high they lift, which is usually an issue only if you're running tire warmers. I actually really liked the bolt-together aluminum stand that HF sold a couple of years ago.

Front stands have quite a bit more "design" to them in how they cradle the forks. Even at that, the better stands may not fit your particular bike as well as a lesser quality stand - but I'm more inclined to spend extra on the front stand.

Front pin stands that lift from the steering head, I wouldn't do anyone but PitBull or a specialty stand for a certain model bike, because the fit is critical for them to work right.

KeS
 
#14 ·
They still make that aluminum stand.

Low Profile Rear Motorcycle Spool Stand

If you check the back of virtually any motorcycle magazine, there's usually a coupon for like $25 or $30. I can't remember which.

That's the stand I'm currently using as a rear stand. I have a pin lift pitbull front stand. Honestly, the aluminum one will be fine for lubing your chain and removing the wheel briefly, but I don't think I'd trust it nearly as much as a pitbull rear stand.

Buy once, cry once. If you ever plan on doing any work at all yourself, buy a set of pitbull stands. Get the pin lift for the front. Much more stable, and it allows you to work on the forks.
 
#17 ·
^true...

I have been on my bike MANY times when on my stands.

Honestly, if you are going to be into bikes for a while, buying anything other than pitbulls is pretty silly. They are not THAT expensive. And if you find them used, it's totally worth it.

Hell, I'd pick up another set just to have them around if I can across a used set locally....
 
#18 ·
PitBull. Yes they are like $50 more. Worth it.

The bike is worth like $3,500.00 - why would it be a problem to spend $50 more dollars to protect a much larger investment. The other stands will work just fine, until they don't.

Also Pitbull sells convertable stands that allow you to use spools or the swingarm.
 
#23 ·
This sounds like the "buy this $400 SNELL-rated helmet instead of that $100 SNELL-rated helmet because it's safer" argument.

How do y'all actually envision a rear stand failing? They are two chunks of pipe, each supporting between 100-250 lbs max (600lb bike, 300lb rider, 500lb on rear), almost directly in compression. If they fail at all, it would be from some sideways motion that would move the support point way off the center so that the leverage torqued the base and they collapsed laterally, like a tire ramp failure. But I've never heard of a stand failure, only bikes being dropped putting them on or taking them off.

That POS HF aluminum stand allows you to use spools or swingarm pads as well, btw.

KeS
 
#22 ·
Right- pitbull is NOT the only company out there that makes a good stand. But they are made in the USA, have a lifetime warranty, and the largest dealer network.

Anything on par with pitbull costs as much or more.

So yeah- if you find a deal on different nice stands, by all means go ahead and get them.
 
#24 ·
The pipe is not the only story with stands. Some are welded, some are bolted together. Some lift at different angles, which make them less stable or more stable. The lifting pads on cheap stands, in my opinion, are not shaped as nicely as the more expensive ones, and are MUCH easier to knock off.

If you have spools, like I said earlier, it's not as big of a deal. But the pads on the cheap stands SUCK.

Also, the cheaper ones are NOT made as well. They won't last as long.
 
#27 · (Edited)
With cheap (universal/pad) stands, I've seen the pads bend down and allow the bike to fall through. I've seen the swingarm slide down the pads allowing the bike to fall over. And I've seen the stand slowly bend out, allowing the bike to fall, similar the the pads bending down. Even when the bikes don't fall, swingarms are usually gouged pretty bad.

I haven't seen any cheap spool stands allow a bike to fall in person. But I guess this is the best way I can describe my experience with them. I've never seen Kia breakdown, and I don't know what their last JD Powers survey said. But when I had one as a rental car; it felt cheap and subpar compared the my Acuras and even my Toyota Tacoma. Maybe Kias are good cars these days, but I know my Acuras and Toyotas never break. If you've had good luck with Kias, I'm thrilled for you. But, I'll spend a few more bucks for my piece of mind.
 
#30 ·
Right, but again, that's not an argument against cheap stands. There's nothing about the *quality* or *design* of that stand that is causing his problem. Bikes that have spool holes are themselves designed so that the spools can be used without interference (usually!). Bikes without spool holes - aren't. Whether a given pad stand will have interference problems with a given motorcycle is largely a matter of luck. I had a PitBull pad stand that didn't work at all with my Moto Guzzi, either.

KeS
 
#33 ·
It's been a long time since I've been around a Guzzi, but I don't recall any shaft-driven bikes being all that friendly to any universal/pad stand.

Anyway, I didn't post the video as a Pit Bull advertisement/endorsement. I've just been watching videos on YouTube for about an hour and this one reminded me of this thread.
 
#35 ·
Thanks everyone for your posts. I have enough intelligence to figure out when I have a faulty or unreliable tool. If the stand seems weak, too flexible, or in any way unreliable, I will return it/sell it and get a better one. Like Kevin said: the bike will just sit on the stand. I wont put it through any side to side motion nor will I sit on the bike while its on the stand. I want it only for maintenance and tire changing.


Thanks again guys.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top