Bike stands

If you're just planning on doing chain lubrication, you can definitely do without a stand. You'll just need to walk the bike as you lubricate or clean it. You can probably find a cheap stand on Craigslist or Facebook but be weary of the quality and the way they hold together, especially if they come in multiple pieces. Trackside is a pretty popular "cheap" stand but since it's made of multiple pieces, it can come apart and your bike can fall off it. It can even become loose and cause you trouble. Any stand that comes in pieces that you have to put together, you should always check it for tightness before you do any bike work.

Also, do not run the bike on the rearstand to do chain maintenance. It will cause a check engine light that can only be cleared at the dealer.

Now if you are going to do tires, Pitbull stands are the way to go. They are expensive, even on the used market, but they are one solid piece of metal and they will last FOREVER. You will have them the rest of your life guaranteed. The guy that started making them and runs the company has produced shit that is on the International space station. There is absolutely no question that Pitbull stands are the best. They are fairly lightweight considering their solid construction and I store mine up in the rafters of my garage

Pitbull also sells a "tire wedge" that is sold seperate (and expensive) that assists greatly in doing tires yourself. IT will definitely save you time and especially aggravation.

You definitely save money taking the tires off. Most places by me charge about $30 each tire to change the tires ON the bike but it's usually half or a third of that to do the tires off of the bike. I have a guy that charges me $20 for both tires off the bike so I essentially save $40 for every tire change I do. If you run the stock tires, you'll save a lot of money in tire changes as those tires usually last only about 3000 miles. If you switch to a sport touring tire, you will require tire changes less often. Eventually though, the stands will pay for themselves and you'll be in the green, saving money to do yourself.

The flipside of doing tire changes (especially the back tire) is that they aren't the easiest thing to do by yourself. They can be incredibly aggravating to do yourself if you don't have the proper tools. I have had an occasion where I spent 45 minutes trying to get a rear tire on. Although since I bought that Pitbull tire wedge, I haven't had any major issues with tire changes since. But putting on the rear tire requires you to squeeze the tire between the swingarm with the spacers that can fall out, while trying to get the rotor into the brake caliper, while trying to slide the axle in without knocking the caliper off it's perch. And you only have 2 hands. It can be incredibly aggravating to do yourself. And even after that, you have to then line up the chain with proper chain slack. There's tools to make all of this simpler but they cost you more money. Going to the track, riding aggressively on sport tires, and changing tires often. It's worth it. Sport touring, changing tires every 5-10000 miles, Maybe not so much.

There are companies like Bursig and SVRacing (cheaper) that make center stands but they are harder to do maintenance on because the bike has a tendency to rock on the stand as you're working on it. I use my SVRacing stand for my trackbike for tire warmers but my Pitbull stands for all maintenance.

Thanks! Exactly what I needed to know. I'll be determining tires later. I run Pirelli Angels on the FJR. Likely will run Michelin Road 5's but it really depends on several factors including whether I'm commuting or not. If this bike is just for local fun I may not be putting as many miles on it as I'd like. That might justify the sportier tires for a while.

So I'll skip the stand until spring and then decide. I'm 90% sure I'll go with Pitbull if I do it at all.

Just as a quick comparison. I've had both the cheap amazon stands and have a set of pit bulls as well.

The difference in stability and build quality is greatly apparent.

If the bike is just sitting or lubing the chain or minor little things. The cheap stands have done well for me.
Doing any mechanical work where you are putting side pressure on them or leaning on the bike...Not so confident.

I found my head lift stand and rear stand on FB market place for less than a set of amazon stands.

If you plan on keeping your motorcycle I’d recommend stands, they are a necessity as you will come to realize. You can start off with the rear and eventually get a front when you perform caliper maintenance or front wheel removal or other. I would recommend the Pit Bull brand.
If you choose this brand & get a front stand, for the MT 10 you will need ABS friendly Hybrid Swivel, part # F0100-007. It’s a game changer.
Otherwise if you follow the manual, you will be unplugging your front wheel speed sensor every time you lift it.






Pit Bull # F0100-007

Oh ok I’m unaware of that one.
I’ve had this stand for many years & had to get this part for compatibility w the MT 10. Otherwise you can lift w the headlift stand

I looked at stands for a long time, and finally settled on the Pit-Bull (I'm cheap).  I settled on the Pit-Bull because I trusted that I could leave the bike jacked up in the garage and return with the bike in the same position.   As others have said, you can get by doing general maintenance without it, but it was worth it to me to invest in the stand.  Makes lubing the chain a breeze, and makes changing the coolant and oil an easy job.  I had done these without the stand, and though I was able to do it, a pain the the @ss to get all of the fluid/oil out, having to stand and hold bike up, walking the bike, etc.   The stand will pay for itself in short time with the amount of time I save and the fact that I can do most maintenance without a mechanic.

I use the standard Pitbull front stand with both my MT and my '16 R1. It just takes a few extra seconds to spin out the sensor mounting bolt with an appropriately-sized T-handle allen wrench. *shrug*