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Jiffy Stand Spring Replacement

Rocket J.

Member
Well, I did a search to see if there was an existing thread I could add to, but didn't find one exactly a match, so I'll put up a new one.

Yesterday while starting on the homeward leg of my work commute (60 miles from home) my jiffy stand lost spring tension and wouldn't stay in place when up against the frame. This worried me a bit because any bump in the road would cause the stand to fall on down closer and closer to the pavement. I thought about using tape, or wire to hold the stand up against the frame, but solo that would be a real pain to do and I also needed to make a stop for gas which would mean repeating the process at that stop. I ended up just riding it home the 60 miles constantly pushing the stand up against the frame with the very firm conviction that I was going to fix this the next day and also do something to never have this problem again.

The jiffy stand spring from the Harley dealership for my '05 Electra Glide was right about $7.00. I used my Harbor Freight lift to raise the bike just enough to level the bike and allow the jiffy stand to stay closed up against the frame.
The old spring was easy to remove and the coils of the spring had spaces; it was obviously worn and stretched out. One end of the new spring was easily hooked into the appropriate hole in the frame. There was about 1/4 inch of heavy pressure required to stretch and hook the other end of the spring into the appropriate hole in the jiffy stand. I used the round shank of a small diameter long screwdriver, with hands on both ends of the screwdriver, to push the hook of the spring into it's hole in the jiffy stand. Everything's cool now as the stand is under spring tension and it didn't really take much time/effort...but I'm thinking there's gotta be an easier way to replace the spring. If anyone has one and feels inclined to post it here, I (and others too, I'd bet) would like to read it.

OK, springs are just naturally going to get stretched so the same thing is going to happen again someday. In my promise to myself to never have a loose jiffy stand ever again I've ordered the $20.00 Kickstand Kaddy that uses a nylon clip to hold the jiffy stand up against the frame even if you were to completely lose your spring and had absolutely no spring tension. I'll post here when that comes in and I've installed it and tried it out for a bit.
 
Because of the layout of my 94 wideglide i need to take the spring off before i can use the bike jack
popping a spring off is easy getting it back on can be a pain
support the bike on a bike jack so the side stand can be held in the upright position
i then put one end of the spring in my bench vice and pull the spring over to one side this opens the coils of the spring
place a washer or small coin in between each of the open coils of the spring
pull the spring the other way and do the same on the other side then pull spring out of vice and put the other end in and work through the spring till a washer between each of the coils of the spring
offer spring up to bike with side stand upright pull out washers with sharp nosed plyers till it fits then put side stand down and rest bike on it all washers fall out use dust pan and brush to sweep up washers and put away till next time
this procedure will work on any spring

Brian
 
Because of the layout of my 94 wideglide i need to take the spring off before i can use the bike jack
popping a spring off is easy getting it back on can be a pain
support the bike on a bike jack so the side stand can be held in the upright position
i then put one end of the spring in my bench vice and pull the spring over to one side this opens the coils of the spring
place a washer or small coin in between each of the open coils of the spring
pull the spring the other way and do the same on the other side then pull spring out of vice and put the other end in and work through the spring till a washer between each of the coils of the spring
offer spring up to bike with side stand upright pull out washers with sharp nosed plyers till it fits then put side stand down and rest bike on it all washers fall out use dust pan and brush to sweep up washers and put away till next time
this procedure will work on any spring

Brian
That is a great idea and I thank you for posting it. The simple solutions are always the best!
 
On touring and softails models I just take the nut & locking tab off the top of the kick stand let it move foward a little, makes taking the spring off and reinstalling it very easy without over stretching the new spring.
 
Way cool idea about the washers/coins in between the coils of the spring. If this spring lasts the five years that the first spring did I hope I don't forget that trick. Maybe I can search here and fine it again :)

I thought about unscrewing the nut and removing the locking tab to see if it would get the two installation holes closer together, but the arms of my lift either block the jiffy stand where it can't be raised or jam the jiffy stand up against the frame. Since most tension is off the spring when the stand is raised that's the way I did it. If I had a good enough friend sober enough to sit on the bike holding it upright while I messed around with the bolt and tab I could try it, but I just did the spring replacement solo.

Ummmmmm, ain't so sober now sooooo ... I replace jiffy springs alone..with nobody else. 'Cuz when I replace jiffy springs alone I prefer to be by myself..(with sincere apologies to George Thorogood). :p
 
NewHD74. that looks like a good deal for a chrome jiffy stand spring. I kept looking there for any tips on easy installation, but didn't see any. Tips about that seem to be scarce. I guess most folks are content to muscle them into place and really, it's not all that difficult (maybe 5 tries before having the spring's stand hook catch enough of the lip of the hole to give it a little tap to seat into the hole). I did find it easier for me to connect the frame hook first as that end required more precision to fit into the hole than at the hook end at the jiffy stand.

Robert Walter & Chopper, if you are so inclined to give it, just a bit more detail about your method would be appreciated. OK, I'm guessing you have the stand raised against the frame before allowing it to "move forward a little bit". If I raise my bike with the stand up the stand is pressed into the frame and can't be moved. I can lift the bike with the stand down, but cant raise it because it's blocked by one of the lifting legs. Maybe you don't lift the bike or you have a lift that allows you to move your jiffy stand with the bike raised.
 
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