I recenty acquired a 1992 R80 to replace my old 1980 R65. All was well in handling the new machine with the exception of the flip-up sidestand. I had been used to the old R65’s stand that could be kicked down from the saddle and also retracted before moving off (that is if I remembered…!). Of course the R80 stand automatically retracts, as a lowered sidestand can be a bit dangerous, but a retracting stand also means that if someone was to lean on the right bar, the bike could easily topple over. On enquiring about a Surefoot stand, I was told that it was now withdrawn from the market as it contravened EU regulations, as it was not interlocked with the ignition system.

I was still not happy to have to dismount without the sidestand being down, as I find the bike is quite tall for my short legs, and the thought of dismounting with camping gear on the back seat filled me with dismay.

I did some thinking and decided that the fulcrum for the return springs had to be moved to obtain the flip-up / flip-down that I wanted. The difficulty I then found was that there is very limited space between the engine and frame to do anything at all in the way of modifications. I decided that I needed to pull the return springs on a line through the front engine mount and so my idea was to make a plate that would pivot on the spacer that goes between the engine and the frame. The original peg for the spring attachment was in the way, and just in case I needed to return everything to ‘normal’, I made up a new spacer and bracket without the peg for the return springs. So that the plate would run past the bracket, I fitted a small nylon button to the plate as a bearing point.

Well it works! – I now have my flip-up/ flip-down sidestand. But how do I know it is down so that I don’t ride off with it extended? Well, I got a brake light switch from my local motorcycle shop ( the square section type with rubber boot and single nut mounting: the make on the packet said Hi Level part 727000) and made up an L shaped bracket to secure it to the rear engine mount bolt. It is operated by a 2" long spring attached to the new plate. I then considered how to make it operate a light or buzzer, and realised that, very conveniently, the oil light warning switch is just adjacent to the gearchange pedal, so I just paralleled up the new switch to the contact on the oil light switch and the adjacent earth point. Now when the stand is down the oil light on the dash shows, and that is good enough to remind me not to move off. The advantage of this approach is that none of the bike’s electrics are compromised – full interlocking would involve a relay in the kill circuit wiring, I suspect.

Unfortunately, I have a friend who has a 1992 RT100 with the same problem – although he managed to get a Surefoot. He asked me to make him the ‘Mike mod’. It all seemed a bit to complicated the way I had solved the problem in regard to the new bracket with the 2 bends. I decided to try to make my plate work with the original BMW bracket and spacer. I made up a new plate to run smoothly on the original spacer and just bent the lug that holds the spring return peg outwards so that it was clear of the plate. To provide a bearing surface that keeps the plate from scuffing the engine casing, I wanted to sandwich the plate between a couple of nylon washers. As yet, I have not located a source for them, but have used 2 fibre sump washers instead. The ones I got were 27mm OD with a 19mm hole, and I just filed out the holes to 22mm. They do the trick, prevent the plate from rubbing on the bracket or the engine, and offer enough clearance for attaching a spring to work the warning switch.

So there you have it. By making one simple plate as shown in the diagram, you can convert your old flip up stand to a flip over one, and if you buy a regular brake light switch you can arrange a warning light. The most expensive part is the switch!

If you need any more information or photographs, feel free to contact me by e-mail at gm0etc@quista.net, there are probably some obvious details that I have forgotten to note.

Mike McCreery (R80 in Glasgow with the flip-flop stand)

The 16mm dimension is a guide, as it depends on the type of operating spring you decide to use.

Here are some pictures that may help to make all clear.  They are base on the original plate I made with my new bracket, but apply in principal to the 'production' design.  Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image. (They are quite large, but need to be to get resolution)