V11 Central Stand by Becker-Technik - Available from MG Cycle in USA - directly from Becker-Technik from elsewhere -

[p6x]

23 minutes ago, Lucky Phil said:

I've been using one of these for about 3 years. You use a 1/2" knuckle bar to actuate the stand. Easy and safe, unlike trying to use your foot.

Ciao

I am looking into getting one of these 1/2" drive breaker bars.

Insofar, I have had no issue deploying inside my garage using minimal force, following the OEM instructions.

[80CX100]

3 hours ago, p6x said:

 

Thank you very much for doing that and including the measurements.

Iirc the stand for the Griso is probably a little narrower, with a shorter cross frame member on the bottom, I didn't have much room to play with, to fit the hardware and sockets in place

From your photo I think I could come up with an improvement that's more secure and doable.

[billgreenman1]

Looks cool, but if it is a shop stand, wouldn't a more conventional (Beckley chock, Pitbull or other lift) be more versatile and useful? It doesn't look like it would work on uneven surfaces out of the shop, or lift the wheel high enough for wheel work. Am I missing something here?

[80CX100]

11 hours ago, billgreenman1 said:

Looks cool, but if it is a shop stand, wouldn't a more conventional (Beckley chock, Pitbull or other lift) be more versatile and useful? It doesn't look like it would work on uneven surfaces out of the shop, or lift the wheel high enough for wheel work. Am I missing something here?

I've never tried a Pitbull style stand, I can certainly see them being useful.

I've got a variety of chocks, by far my best piece of kit is a high quality scissor jack (Drag Specialties?)

If I want to raise my V11 to work on the rear & front at the same time, the rear weight bias of my V11, requires a second lifting device at the back. My Tontis are much more balanced, I could just lift the sump then stabilize it on stands or blocks, my Spine frame doesn't balance on the sump. 

I'm a little gun shy and overly cautious, because I had it up on the table on the scissor jack, strapped down tight, and thought I could remove the rear wheel through the drop plate and the whole works came very close to tipping over backwards.

 fwiw ymmv

[po18guy]

14 hours ago, p6x said:

Updated with a photo of the stand not deployed.

For some reason, I managed to mess up my thread, no matter what, it only displays the one photo. I am not sure where the problem comes from.

As to images, are you using Imgzeit? No problems there. 0.92¢/month.

I have the Teo Lamers center stand on my V11 (came with it installed). No foot lever at all and darned near impossible to deploy as is. The pivot point is too low, thus the initial lift is more up than back. Ouch. However, if you roll the rear tire onto a 2X6 board laid flat, it is then fairly easy to deploy. The problem is that the rear tire is held by the board. Placing the board just right will have it just roll off the board when fully deployed.  

[p6x]

11 hours ago, billgreenman1 said:

Looks cool, but if it is a shop stand, wouldn't a more conventional (Beckley chock, Pitbull or other lift) be more versatile and useful? It doesn't look like it would work on uneven surfaces out of the shop, or lift the wheel high enough for wheel work. Am I missing something here?

It is a crude tool; its merit is, it is still purchasable today, and does not take much space to store.

I want to be able to do my oil changes, and it will at least help me do that. I don't know if there is enough clearance to drop the wheels, you can elevate the front if necessary.

If I refer to suggestions in this thread, a 1/2" breaker bar may be the solution to deploying on uneven surfaces. Nevertheless, I would only use it inside my garage, where it is easy to setup.

It clearly not replace a real workshop elevator.

[p6x]

6 hours ago, po18guy said:

As to images, are you using Imgzeit? No problems there. 0.92¢/month.

I have the Teo Lamers center stand on my V11 (came with it installed). No foot lever at all and darned near impossible to deploy as is. The pivot point is too low, thus the initial lift is more up than back. Ouch. However, if you roll the rear tire onto a 2X6 board laid flat, it is then fairly easy to deploy. The problem is that the rear tire is held by the board. Placing the board just right will have it just roll off the board when fully deployed.  

I use flickr, which used to be free of charge. I have used flickr for decades, spread on more accounts because you are now limited to 1000 photos. They have also restricted the use of "private" photos. But as an Amazon prime member, I have unlimited storage for my personal photos there. Unlike Flickr, they cannot be shared like we do here.

I use Google photos too. My TV's are equipped with a Chromecast device, so I can display my Google photos on large screens.

The problem was not flicker but the actual post which I messed up by adding more photos at a later time, and I positioned this photos before the already existing ones.

It is easy to fix once you click on "source" and understand the code.

Because I owned bikes equipped with a center stand, I completely understand what makes the Teo Lamers a challenge to setup with a bike as heavy as a V11.

You would not have the problem with the Becker-Technik. The bike does not need to move over the stand. The stand pivots underneath the bike. This is what the wheels are there for.

I

[p6x]

Finding a 1/2" drive breaker bar is more difficult that it seems.

There is a slew of low quality tools on google, with photos of the 1/2" square broken, or the system to lock the square on the bar broken too.

I don't know what force is necessary to deploy the Becker Stand if using a breaker bar. 18" was the length I was aiming for. Maybe I should use a longer one, so I don't have to bend to actuate it.

Amazon is no longer a secure place to find real brand tools. They have no problem letting copies through.

[80CX100]

14 minutes ago, p6x said:

Finding a 1/2" drive breaker bar is more difficult that it seems.

 

I'm not sure what stores you have local to you, but up here in Canada, Princess Auto and especially Canadian Tire, has those big 1/2" drive bars on sale all the time. I think I've been picking them up for less than $10. They're not top quality but despite my best efforts, I've never broken one, I've bought a bunch of them 3-4? 

I've got them all over the place, I keep one in my car with a socket to tighten my lug nuts if need be, and I've got others in both garages in case a fastening gets fussy and won't come undone, those johnson bars and if needed a pipe extension for more leverage have never failed.

Just a wag, but I think Harbor Freight, Pep Boys, Wal Mart or something similar in the US should have them cheap.

fwiw

[po18guy]

The Teo Lamers engineering problem is that the pivot should have been about 2" higher which would have allowed an equally longer stand to be more upright when it contacted the ground. Thus, one would be rocking the bike more back and up instead of more up and then back. But, the price was right (bought by former owner) and it is very good for maintenance etc. 

[Speedfrog]

I too have opted for the Becker stand. I have been using one for the Griso for years and I've been happy with it, getting the bike on and off of it is quite easy once you've done it a couple of time. Once attached to the bike it pretty much functions as a good ol' center stand. I actually find it easier to attach to the V11 than the Griso.

My V11 came with a MG factory stand that had been altered to work like a Becker with two 18mm sockets rather than having the support directly on the porkchops lower nuts and although it works decently on the ground, I didn't like to use it on the lift as the handle ends up outboard of the platform and requires to be supported by a block of wood about a third of the way down the length of the handle. The Becker is much more compact and doesn't get in the way when working on the bike. Also the MG stand in its original configuration had left some nasty bite marks in the porkchops from its (mis?!)use by previous owners...

I toyed for a minute with the idea of modifiying the Becker stand I already had for the Griso and adapting it to the V11 which shouldn't be too difficult but that meant changing the fittings back and forth every time I needed it for the other bike and negating the possibility to have 2 bikes on the stand at the same time. Not worth it for the price of a second stand imho.

I got both of my stands from Stein-Dinse in Germany at quite a bit of savings compared to MG Cycles. I actually received that last one for the V11 last week for about $120 including shipping, along with other parts I needed and it got to my door in 3 days...! Very well packaged and faster than most suppliers in the US.

[p6x]

21 hours ago, 80CX100 said:

I'm not sure what stores you have local to you, but up here in Canada, Princess Auto and especially Canadian Tire, has those big 1/2" drive bars on sale all the time. I think I've been picking them up for less than $10. They're not top quality but despite my best efforts, I've never broken one, I've bought a bunch of them 3-4? 

I've got them all over the place, I keep one in my car with a socket to tighten my lug nuts if need be, and I've got others in both garages in case a fastening gets fussy and won't come undone, those johnson bars and if needed a pipe extension for more leverage have never failed.

Just a wag, but I think Harbor Freight, Pep Boys, Wal Mart or something similar in the US should have them cheap.

fwiw

Plenty of those specialized stores selling auto parts and auto products and tools around me. I will check what tools they offer later on today.

I don't think the force required to deploy the stand is excessive.

[p6x]

14 hours ago, Speedfrog said:

I got both of my stands from Stein-Dinse in Germany at quite a bit of savings compared to MG Cycles. I actually received that last one for the V11 last week for about $120 including shipping, along with other parts I needed and it got to my door in 3 days...! Very well packaged and faster than most suppliers in the US.

I communicated with Becker-Technik about selling directly to the US; they said there is a liability issue. This liability does not exist for third party vendors.

Too bad your suggestion to use Stein Dinse to purchase came too late for me. I added the link to my original post.

I know that MG Cycles is more expensive, but I don't mind paying a little bit of extra so they continue to thrive and sell V11 spares in the USA.

[GuzziMoto]

I have ordered a bunch of stuff from MG Cycles recently, and all three orders have been promptly shipped and arrived as quick as I could expect. And they had a surprising collection of parts in stock. I am happy to support people that are semi-local and keep this stuff in stock.

[Speedfrog]

I have ordered parts from MG Cycles in the past and they are a great vendor, in fact, I still have a running wish list with them.

I also order from AF1, TLM and Stein-Dinse as well as Ebay vendors for used parts and I am glad for ALL of them to exist in supplying the bits needed to keep our steeds running.

As for the purchase of the Becker stand, the savings were a bit too substantial to ignore, not only the base price at MG was almost twice that of S-D, they wouldn’t even disclose their shipping charges before purchase. To me, operating my moto passion on a limited budget, not knowing how much I’m gonna be charged before I order doesn’t make me want to pursue that particular transaction.