Seat height of the KLR is pretty tall right out of the box. Add a bunch of weight and a wider Corbin saddle and it becomes a little ‘taller’. Which is why Tom lowered his a bit (in the rear shock).
The problem is that when you do that the stock sidestand is way to tall and the bike wants to fall to the RIGHT when parked.
Luckily for those that lower their KLR, the aftermarket community makes a shorter version that you can just bolt on.
The problem with this KLR is that it wasn’t lowered enough for the aftermarket shorty sidestand. This bike wanted to always fall over to the LEFT.
One sidestand is too short – the other is too long…
Today, I took the shorty off and replaced it with the stock (too long one).
Here’s what the two look like side by side:
After putting on the stock one it was indeed too tall.
I stopped by Tomm’s and we decided to split the difference – hacking off an inch or so off the bottom of the tall one and splitting the difference between the two.
Really, just an inch…
Next we needed to make the foot section a little wider so it wouldn’t sink in the sand. Tomm found a bit of 1/4 plate in the back of his shop and …
With a little sawzall, a little grinder, and a little welding we had a nice and shiny sidestand that was JUST RIGHT.
Of course you want to have a bit of grease in there so it operates smoothly so I loaded it up with a little Phil. 🙂
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, had a big cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and is currently building a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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