Centre Stands on new bikes

[muldoon74]

I have a CB125F  2023 which has a centre stand.

 

Great bit of kit particularly since I don't have a paddock stand. 

 

My question is..

 

Why do so many new bikes, particularly the type of thing I'm looking to step up to, not have a centre stand. 

 

I've read that it's because they occupy precious space underneath the bike which lowers ground clearance and now manufacturers feel we should have more ground clearance (hasn't been an issue for decades but now I don't get one in case I take my new NX500 [for example] off road..)..

 

I think it's skimping on materials to save money personally. 

 

 

 

[bonio]

Don't know. Mine was sold without a centre stand, but there's one you can have as (expensive) option. It comes standard on the top model. So in this case it's all about cost cutting, and trying to make the top model seem more attractive. I've got a paddock stand for oiling the chain, so it's only inconvenient when I'm touring, and I've just bought a side stand jack to fix this problem.

[Tinkicker]

Yep.  Silly idea.  I bought a new CB1300 back in 03. It came with no centerstand and that truly is a bike that requires one.

It cost me £120 back then to buy a genuine CB1300 centerstand kit that had everything in it to fit a centerstand.  All the required mountings were already on the frame. Just needed to slide the stand pin through and fit the springs.

 

The two bikes bought new previously, 97 VFR750 and 2000 Blackbird, both sports tourers, both had centerstands as standard.

 

Conclusion.  Honda found a possible way to get their grubby mits on yet more of our money.  Nothing more or less.

Edited May 9, 2024 by Tinkicker

[husoi]

Think that they save money by not fitting it.

Plus the 20min production line they shorten.

All amounts to less money spent.

Not everybody finds it easy to use the centre stand mostly on heavier bikes or riders who aren't as strong or have the technique to do it.

Add to that the added revenue of selling the part as option and people paying to get it fitted.

 

It's a win win solution for the manufacturer.

[S-Westerly]

My bike didn't have a centre stand and I paid an extra 200 odd quid for the privilege. Rather think it was a waste (no chain to oil) as its quite a narrow foot print and not stable on anything other than flat ground. I've used it once.

[Nick the wanderer]

Have a look at exhausts on new bikes and where they sit, the space just isn't there anymore in a lot of cases, it's full of catalytic converter.

[RideWithStyles]

mech loves them

 

 

Edited May 14, 2024 by RideWithStyles

[Geordie Oldie]

Not having a centre stand is a pain but you can buy paddock stands for next to nowt and pretend you are a racer.

[Capt Sisko]

It's all about marginal gains and peoples perceptions.

 

Marginal gains, less manufacturing & assembly cost. Less weight equals better performance and/or lower emissions. You could add decent sized mudguards, a proper exhaust can (i.e. on some bikes the collector box is also the exhaust), minimal size pillion seat, etc to the list. Individually the cost & weight of a centre stand is negligible. Collectively it all adds up, (oh, and by the way, we can make even more money by selling them as 'extras').

 

Perceptions is different. Once ALL bikes had centre stands, then came the sports bike revolution and hey, it's a sports bike for goodness sake, you don't need a centre stand and if you want to look the the part you've got to use a paddock stand don't you. That philosophy also applied to ADV bikes and filtered down the line to others. Then a bean counter read the above and OEM centre stands became the preserve of touring biles, R1200RT and the like.