News:

Welcome Rad Power Bike owners!

Buying a Rad Power Bike? Support the forum and use my affiliate link: https://radpowerbikes.pxf.io/Wq1EzZ

Be sure to sign up for a free account to see posted images.

Note: To help support to ongoing costs of running
the site we use Amazon affiliate links.

Main Menu

Side kick stand on a original green Rad Runner, how, which?

Started by Mtolesen, June 15, 2023, 02:11:02 PM

Previous topic - Next topic Support the rad owners forum

Mtolesen

Hello, my wife got the original green Rad Runner with the center stand.
She find it a bit difficult to lift and drag the heavy bike up on the stand, so she would like to have a side kickstand on it, like there are on the Rad Runner Plus.
In the meantime, i do not think that the original rad Runner have the little metal hole to mount the side kick stand, like the Rad Runner Plus have, so any ideas for what kickstand will fit to original Rad Runner?

handlebar

https://amzn.to/3Ntgdvi

You'd need one like this that bolts where the center stand bolts. I see possible problems. The bolt would have to be long enough. The leg would have to clear the fat tire when swung up. It would have to be short enough. (This one is advertised for wheels down to 24", but the Radrunner is equivalent to 23".)

I hated the center stand but grew to love it. As long as there's firm, level ground, it's more stable than a side stand. It lifts the rear wheel so I can work on it. If I put a few pounds on the back, it lifts the front wheel, instead.

The right technique makes it easy to lift the bike onto the stand. If I grabbed the bike near the seat tube, I'd have to lift most of its 70 pounds (if I remember correctly) while manipulating the stand with one foot.

Instead, I use my right toe to push the stand down and hold it on the ground. Then I grab the rack over the back axle, about a foot aft of the seat tube. Lifting it there would leave about half the weight on the front tire. Lifting straight up might take 35 pounds, but I pull up and back so that the pivoting stand does much of the lifting. It takes little effort and the weight on the stand keeps the process stable.


atarese

I agree with the OP.  I bought a used RadRunner 1 and I'M BEGGING for a NORMAL side kickstand solution.  I am nearly 70 and love the bike but am developing a very painful center back pain that I keep re-agitating having to yank this heavy bike with no choice but to stand in an awkward position.   I could care less about center stand ease of 'working on it'.   This awkward yank problem is going to become real injury soon. 

Already had to return a stand I hoped would work.  So far it appears there's no kickstand for a 20" bike that is not for kids and/or not for this way extra thick and wide rail for attachment. I'm in biking wonderland and all the local bike stores are scratching their heads.

Thank you in advance if anyone can share a recommendation that works.

handlebar

Quote from: atarese on June 17, 2023, 11:25:31 AM
I am nearly 70 and love the bike but am developing a very painful center back pain that I keep re-agitating having to yank this heavy bike with no choice but to stand in an awkward position.   

I'm 76. Facing forward and with my left hand on the handlebar, I use my right toe to hold the stand against the ground. I put my left foot about 18" to the left of my right foot, and I stand straight.

My right calf is alongside the rear axle and my hand is by my thigh. To curl my fingers around the rack, I need to lower my hand 4". I lean a little right as if moving my head to avoid an obstacle. That drops my right shoulder. Back that far, I need to apply about 35 pounds, but only until the stand starts levering the weight up.

I lift by leaning a little back toward the left to bring my right shoulder up. Standing nearly straight, lifting is easy. The rack needs to come up less than 2". It also needs to come back 3", so I lean back as I pull. With my toe anchoring the stand, the bike won't let me fall backwards.

That's not much bending, and it can be done with no bending at all above the knees. I can flex my knees a little to bring my hand down to grab the rack. I can pull it up and back by leaning back at my ankles as I straighten my knees. If my left foot is a little farther back than my right, leaning back is even more stable.

atarese

 I appreciate that, and i thought I found a much better technique than I first did that sounds similar, but got the same developing injury - can't avoid the same muscle or something.  Seems like no matter what you do you can't avoid the yank which is a completely different act than with an effortless side stand and problem is you have to do this a LOT.

Maybe a center mount sidestand is the answer, don't know what to look for or avoid in that style.  Maybe a motorcycle stand??

Really disappointed that RadPower has ignored my request for a solution or recommendation.  They apparently used to offer one that's now discontinued.

Thanks again.

handlebar

A center-mount side stand for a 24" bike might fit it it's made for fat tires. The bolt would probably have to be at least 2.5" long. It would probably keep the bike too upright for stability. That might be fixed by shimming where the stand clamps to the frame, in order to tip the end of the stand up an inch or so. Playing cards make handy shims because you can add cards to make the needed thickness. Then you could make a shim that thick.

Sometimes I lean my Radrunner against a wall instead of using the center stand. Normally, the handlebar would turn, causing the front wheel to roll and the bike to fall. I carry a shoe lace which I use to tie the rear brake lever to the hand grip with a clove hitch. Pulling it tight makes the rear brake my parking brake. If the back wheel can't turn, the handlebar won't turn.

(With the Bolton controller, applying the brake turns on the brake light even if the display is off. I switch off the battery with the key.)

(The side stand on my Radmission is so far aft that if I put, say, 30 pounds in the basket on the front rack, the bike's center of mass is so high and far forward that it could have the leverage to lift the back wheel and turn the bike over. Contrary to what you want, I've wanted to change the standard side stand for a center stand. That doesn't seem possible. If just occurred to me that the antitheft lock bolts to the frame and locks the back wheel. This would allow me to lean the bike against a fence or wall for more stability than the side stand.)

atarese

Thanks, that info will come in handy.

Also might be possible that a stand too long with an easily removable rubber foot could have some inches cut off.

I will post when I find a solution.  Time for another where there's a will there's a way... that list is getting long this lifetime. :-)

Radio Runner

The center stand takes a different method to (addressed here already) deploy and is a bit heavier but once deployed it is vastly superior in every way when supporting the bike.


Support the rad owners forum