Quite the coincidence...I've just recieved the lug and side stand kit from Andover, myself. I HAVE been running without the side stand using only the center stand since purchasing my 74 Commando 9 years ago. For some reason unknown to me, the side stand and lug had been removed when the PO restored and powder coated the frame.
To have only the center stand is inconvenient at least, and worked out to be a disaster at worst.
-If on the slightest hill, it's difficult to shift the weight of the bike onto the stand, and then to get it off again. If you point it downhill, a sneeze will push it off. If you point it cross hill, then it falls over.
-If on soft ground, say the shoulder of a road, again forget putting it up on the center stand. It needs a firm surface for stability.
And the thing that made me decide to finally deal with damaging the powder coated frame was last fall when my wife dropped her bike onto her ankle. It was at a stop on a small hill and there I was fumbling with trying to get my bike out of gear and onto the center stand. What a mess!
To make matters worse, she wasn't able to put any weight on one leg so there wasn't a practical way to get her onto the Norton on it's center stand. She couldn't raise her leg high enough to clear the seat. Remember, it's on a small hill, so pushing off with two aboard would have been impossible, anyway. We used her bike which HAD a side stand. She draped the bad leg over and up the bike went. But I still needed to find a place to park my bike. Yup, you guessed it, nothing but soft shoulder.
That did it, no question that a side stand was required.
For littlefield: It'll be a lot easier to put it on now rather than trying to retro-fit it later.
Gene
