floppy kickstand

My KZ400 project has a floppy kickstand. Spring seems to have plenty of tension to it. Ideas? I've never had a kickstand go bad, ever. And I have done projects from older bikes than this one. Was there a bushing of some sort where it is attached? Spacers? The factory center stand sure makes it nice to work on.

Dont know about your 400 but you may have a lug on your frame and a fork on the stand that fits over it with a bolt holding them together . On a lot of old bikes the fork opens up through age and use resulting in the stand flapping around a bit.. You can put it in a vice and squeeze it together agian but itll eventually open back up.
We all get old and things tend to get floppy!

Dear Matt.

A floppy kickstand is the last thing you need especially when trying to impress a group of female bikers..
Obviously wear and tear through age and excessive use is the cause of the limpness and it happens to all bikes sooner or later so you are not alone.
There are many dubious temporary cures on the market but as well as the kickstand fork opening up as Doctor Davido diagnoses, the hole on the frame mount also goes oval and the shaft on the pivot bolt wears too combining together to produce the embarrassing sagging symptoms you are sadly experiencing.
Nipping the fork up in the vice as well as fitting a new pivot bolt will go some way to stiffening things up a bit in the short term but only major surgery to the appendage on the frame by way of either filling the hole with weld and re-drilling or fitting a sleeve will offer a more satisfying long lasting result which will greatly reduce the chance of the bike not standing upright when you really need it in the future.

Regards, Dr Zed.

Now that was interesting. My kick stand was loose too. I tried to put it in the vice and it cracked. That little voice said use a washer. I didn't. I welded it but am now looking for a new one. Being I tightened it up and welded it, it is lower on my priority list. Try tightening it with the bolt and lock nut.
Steve

Dr. Zed: I put a blue pill in the gas tank, but that didn't seem to help.

On a serious note, dang, I was hoping it was something more simple, like a plastic bushing that wears and falls out over time. As the kickstand isn't covered in the service manual that I could find I was hoping you guys had some good news. It's floppy enough I don't even want to take it around the block if I can get it fired up this weekend. kickstand caused high sides are no fun: I don't heal as quick as I used to.

Thanks for help guys. I'll get in there and see what I find.

If by 'floppy' you mean loose when in the 'up' position, then try replacing the spring anyway. You can rarely identify a worn out spring by just looking at it. I've had this problem before an a new spring did the trick.

It might be the spring, but I wasn't going by looks, I was going by the amount of tension in the spring. It seemed to be more than enough to pull up an keep in place a sidestand from a 400. I'll tear it down and see what we've got.

If its really so floppy that youre in danger of flipping the bike, Id agree with Mattblowers. Change the spring.If the fork has opened up,itll just wobble a bit from side to side. As a temporary fix,take a roll of gaffer tape with you and just tape it up when on the road.
I wouldnt advise tightening the nut/bolt to pinch the fork together, chances are youll just strip the threads out.You need to do it with a vice or frappe it a bit with a big hammer.

A pic would be helpful.
Steve

Another question: where can I get a spring replacement? Comparing it to pics online, this is a homemade fix. Someone just used a cut down hing spring and jimmied it in there. Came out really easily. Not nearly enough tensile strength. It's not stretched out or anything, but it's the wrong thing.

Z1E should have them.
Steve

www.cmsnl.com/search/index.php?spbmbrand...saki++KZ400&spbmvin=