It was all going well. I actually ordered the stand before I bought the bike (pristine 07 Breva 750), and the chaps at Peter Stevens said 4 weeks from Italy. It arrived yesterday. For me, a centrestand (yes, that's how we spell it here) is a must-have, even though I don't need to oil the chain.
As it turns out, one of the most useful tools needed to install a centrestand is a pre-installed centrestand. "You can just do it with the bike on the sidestand" I hear you all say. Well, after removing the mufflers and one headerpipe and removing this part:
which I am going to call "the thing that was installed before the centrestand" (TTTWIBTC), I discovered that the weight of the bike leaning on the sidestand distorts the fame when it is not reinforced by TTTWIBTC. So, after rigging up some temporary supports to stop the bike falling over, I tried to fit the newly-arrived Replacement Part That Holds The Centrestand And Reinforces The Frame. Except, of course the frame had now sprung and was too close together to fit the RPTHTCARTF. A half-hour later I had made a jacking bolt and forced the frame apart enough to get the RPTetc installed.
Then I realised I had managed to leave the lambda probe wiring (still attached to the crossover pipe) on the wrong side of the RPTetc and I wasn't about to remove said part..... It was going to be a long day.
Stretching the springs proved to be a challenge. After I had successfully avoided stabbing myself with a screwdriver a number of times, I finally resorted to using a tiedown attached to the rear wheel to encourage the springs into place.
Finally, it was all back together and I have a centrestand that works. I also now have a spare TTTWIBTC. Maybe I can sell it on eBay?
Gonzo
