Centre stand where is the best place to get on her her Centre stand

[simonbiker]

hi blokes I am 5.11 and not exactly a small fella don't know if the DL1000 k2 I have is lowered on not but I need to change exhaust gaskets and she won't even slightly budge I'm like 14stone and not even a budge

[Rixington43]

Do you mean the bike won't go up onto the centre stand?
I assume the centre stand moves freely down to the ground but then won't lift.
Mine isn't exactly effortless but she goes up pretty easy and I'm the same weight as you. I find lifting up and back on the rear pannier rail helps a lot.
If the bike has been lowered then it will be super tough. At standard height the front fork legs should be flush with the top yoke and the rear dog bone links should be 140mm centre to centre.

[simonbiker]

hi yes that's is what I mean it literally won't budge I need to change exhuast gaskets on the manifold and the other ones due to exhuast leak or engine fart and completeloss of power for a second so I thought I would start with the exhuast gaskets but need to remove the rear suspension to get to the studs and currently the center stand is in the way of that as well

[simonbiker]

I did just check and the bones are 140mm

[Rixington43]

It's fairly unlikely that the crush gasket into the rear cylinder head is leaking, unless you have a reason to believe that's the case then I would leave that one well alone. The usual culprit for exhaust leaks is the sleeve gasket between that header and the collector pipe, usually because the welded on exhaust clamps have rotted away. This allows fresh air in before the lambda sensor and so the bike runs crazily rich. Make sure you smear a generous amount of assembly paste on that gasket, I also found it helpful to jack the collector pipe up with a block of wood to make sure that connection was fully seated. If the clamps are gone, or look less than ideal, then swapping them out for stainless ones is a worthwhile expense. I can find out the size I used if you need them.

[simonbiker]

the lambda sensor has all ready been cut by a previous owner was told it was done by a previous owner to the one who sold me the bike it runs and then farts and loses power so it feels like it could be the seals but I just thought I was a good idea to do all of them while I was there but I literally can't get her on to the centre stand    I am working my way through the problems one at a time

[Barbel Mick]

Run the back wheel up on a 1" - 1.5" block of wood. That helps if the bike has been lowered, should help even if it hasn't?
It's a bit of an art to get the bike up on the centre stand, but shouldn't take much more that your weight & a bit of a pull.
Hold the bike upright with the left hand on the bars & the right hand on the pillion grab rail. Push the centre stand down, with the right foot, until you feel it touch the ground then, with your right foot still pushing the stand down, rock the bike (gently) until you can feel both centre stand feet touching down.
When you've got it like that put all your weight on the stand & pull/lift backwards with your hands. Your left foot can come off the ground as the bike will balance on the stand while you're lifting. 

[Gert]

Do you perhaps know the brand of centre stand?  Snap a pix of the stand's feet to clarify whether there is anything abnormal. Perhaps the answer may lay there?
Other than that, binding brakes and / or incorrect stand setting technique need to be ruled out.
If all else fails, a working solution for achieving more leverage when setting the centre stand is shared in https://www.v-strom.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=43138.0