‘Stand’s been a huge support’
Sealey headstock stand £143.94
Tested by Simon Relph for 15 months
Paddock stands are a great invention, come in all shapes and sizes, and at the end of the day do a great job of keeping a motorcycle stable so that you can work on them.
I have made do with a couple of paddock stands for years and have been able to carry out most jobs. But when I came to take the wheels out of my Suzuki SRAD, disaster struck as one of the pinch bolts snapped off in the fork leg, which now meant removing the fork to take out the bit of stud left in the threaded hole. So I was left scratching my head as I tried to work out how I was going to support a fully faired bike with only a sidestand.
I had seen the headstock stand used on the likes of MotoGP bikes when they are preparing bikes before a race, so spent five minutes on the internet searching for something similar. I soon found Sealey Products make a headstock stand which fits a range of bikes with headstocks between 830mm to 925mm, and the stand comes complete with a set of five swappable headstock pins which are 13, 15, 16.5, 17 and 18mm – so are suitable for most motorcycles.
The stand arrived in kit form, but was quickly and easily put together and ready to use. Select the pin that fits best in the bottom yoke of your bike, then fix this head of the stand securing it in place with the M8 cap screw, with the stand height adjusted to the same as the bottom yoke. The next bit is made easier if you can get someone to hold the bike upright while the headstock pin is inserted fully into the bottom of the headstock.
The bike can now be raised by pulling the front part down until it sits flat, firmly on the floor. This is the beauty of this stand because it allows the front wheel to be removed, but also the fork legs. Well made and engineered from steel tubes welded with substantial fittings, it feels very stable when the bike is raised up, but afterwards the assembly folds almost in half, making it easy to stow away. It’s a great addition to any workshop.
Quality Value sealey.co.uk