I recently heard of a case where the Defendant claimed that it was
routinely possible to park a motorcycle on the centre stand so that
neither wheel touched the ground. As a motorcyclist myself I find it
impossible to believe not least due to the design, centre of gravity,
wear on components, uneven surfaces etc. I just wondered if any
bikers can ever seen such a task accomplished?

Desmo Paul wrote:
I recently heard of a case where the Defendant claimed that it was
routinely possible to park a motorcycle on the centre stand so that
neither wheel touched the ground. As a motorcyclist myself I find it
impossible to believe not least due to the design, centre of gravity,
wear on components, uneven surfaces etc. I just wondered if any
bikers can ever seen such a task accomplished?

If the bike was balanced such that the centre of gravity was above a
line between the two contact points of the centre stands, it would be
possible, but all my observations suggest that the normal design of
motobikes is that the centre stand is offset sufficiently rearwards from
the normal unladen centre of gravity that motorbikes on centre stands
normally have the front wheel on the ground as well.

Rgds

Denis McMahon

Desmo Paul wrote on 30 December 2009 07:40:38 ...
I recently heard of a case where the Defendant claimed that it was
routinely possible to park a motorcycle on the centre stand so that
neither wheel touched the ground. As a motorcyclist myself I find it
impossible to believe not least due to the design, centre of gravity,
wear on components, uneven surfaces etc. I just wondered if any
bikers can ever seen such a task accomplished?

You're probably referring to the Wolman case (Wolman v. London Borough
of Islington and City of Westminster - see
http://keycases.parkingandtrafficapp...iv%20823.d oc
)

Wolman is a barrister who parked his motorbike on the centre stand on
the pavement in Chancery Lane and also at home in Islington. He took
the councils to court on a point of law (wheels not touching the
pavement), and it went to the Court of Appeal. He lost the case, so
don't try the technique yourself!

His evidence said that at Chancery Lane he "parked his motorcycle on its
stand in a . . . recess next to the main pavement and hard up against
railings on the east side of Chancery Lane". It sounds to me as if he
was relying on the railings to stop the bike tipping over, possibly by
jamming a handlebar into the railings.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

On 30 Dec, 09:59, "Richard J." wrote:
Desmo Paul wrote on 30 December 2009 07:40:38 ....

I recently heard of a case where the Defendant claimed that it was
routinely possible to park a motorcycle on the centre stand so that
neither wheel touched the ground. *As a motorcyclist myself I find it
impossible to believe not least due to the design, centre of gravity,
wear on components, uneven surfaces etc. *I just wondered if any
bikers can ever seen such a task accomplished?

You're probably referring to the Wolman case (Wolman v. London Borough
of Islington and City of Westminster - seehttp://keycases.parkingandtrafficappeals.gov.uk/docs/Wolman%20v%20Isl...
)

Wolman is a barrister who parked his motorbike on the centre stand on
the pavement in Chancery Lane and also at home in Islington. *He took
the councils to court on a point of law (wheels not touching the
pavement), and it went to the Court of Appeal. *He lost the case, so
don't try the technique yourself!

His evidence said that at Chancery Lane he "parked his motorcycle on its
stand in a . . . recess next to the main pavement and hard up against
railings on the east side of Chancery Lane". * It sounds to me as if he
was relying on the railings to stop the bike tipping over, possibly by
jamming a handlebar into the railings.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Thanks for the link. That was it. Have now re-read it and find it
remarkable that such a point went all the way to the Court of Appeal.
I think it would be very difficult to park a bike as suggested even
with the assistance of a railing but he may be a better "parker" than
I am! Ta again.

Virtually any case can get to the court of appeal if you feel strongly
enough about it. However the costs soon ramp up and are not worth
pursuing. T

I had a BMW R850, one of the original ones, I can't vouch for the
updated model, and found it was easy to park it on the centrestand
with both wheels off the ground. The ground had to be reasonably level
though.

Neill

On Fri, 1 Jan 2010 11:46:10 -0800 (PST), Neill
wrote:

I had a BMW R850, one of the original ones, I can't vouch for the
updated model, and found it was easy to park it on the centrestand
with both wheels off the ground. The ground had to be reasonably level
though.


One of my several BMWs also had both wheels off the ground when on the
centre stand. It was an R65.

My current BMW doesn't have a centre stand. :-(