Side stand or main

[Dr Jekyll]

I tend to park my bike on the side stand because it seems more secure, which is what most people do. But 'professional' bikers, coppers and paramedics, seem to park theirs on the main. There was a suggestion I came across that leaving on the side stand concentrates the oil on one side of the engine, especially on a BMW boxer, which might explain it.
Is there any advantage either way? Given that so many bikes come with only a side stand I can't really believe it's a problem.

[Pat H]

I almost always use the centre stand.

One of my bikes is an R100 BMW and I don't like using the prop stand.

The bike is pretty heavy and it's a lot of weight to have canted over at an angle if you use the prop. .

There may be a greater risk of a bit of oil draining into the combustion chamber, but it would just chuff away pretty much as soon as the bike is started. For me, it's purely that the bike usually feels more secure on the centre stand.

In fact, I dislike prop stands and wouldn't buy a bike without a centre stand if I could avoid it. Maintenance is so much easier if you have a centre stand.

[trickywoo]

It’s only really scooters and old men’s bikes that have centre stands

If I had both I would only use the centre stand for long term parking or maintenance.

[Dr Jekyll]

Which is ironic because it's the young kids bikes with only side stands that tend to be 'long term parked' from September to June.

[Pat H]

trickywoo said:

It’s only really scooters and old men’s bikes that have centre stands

Yep! And you don't get more of an old man's bike than a BMW R100

The worst are those weedy spring loaded suicide stands that you get on old Ducatis and the like. Bloody 'orrible.

[black-k1]

There can't be any real issues with using the side stand as so many bikes only have a side stand.

I tend to only use the center stand for parking in the garage or when cleaning. The rest of the time the side stand is my preference. No reason other than getting any bike onto and off of a main stand always seems to be a risky time for the bike to fall away from you.

The side stand on my R100CS is easily up to holding the bike up although, if the bike is hot, some oil can get past the rings on the left cylinder while it's parked, leading to a bit of a smoke cloud on start up.

However, the center stand stops on those old R can wear, allowing the front wheel to sit closer and closer to the ground until it eventually touches and the bike becomes unstable.

[KTMsm]

Dr Jekyll said:

Which is ironic because it's the young kids bikes with only side stands that tend to be 'long term parked' from September to June.

Most of mine only have a sides tand, the few that have had a centre stand I use only in the garage as it means they take up less space