So I have a question for anyone here who owns a Pitbull front center pin stand. Are there any secrets to installing this thing without it resting on the upper fairing? Its a really tight fit and I know the pin is directional - My bike has stock suspension and when its installed it seems like its resting on the fairing as the pin isnt seated all the way into the stem hole. Any ideas or suggestions - I did a search before posting and I didn't see anything on here.

Any help is appreciated

Thanks

Did you buy the bike brand new? I'm thinking someone may have raised the forks and lowered the front.

I have the same problem with my stand also. Not a pitbull unit. Stock suspension and not lowered.

* Last updated by: GPfan on 1/9/2015 @ 5:51 PM *

I'd have to look but I believe the pin is deep enough if you took the pin to the hardware store, bought a few washers, stacked the washers until the nose does not hit. You just want enough shim to keep it off the stand and not pop out of the triple's hole.

What I did was....put a long screw(maybe bolt the other threaded end so it won't fall out when moving around) into the hole there where the pin installs into the stand...now insert the pin.The pin will NOT come out of the stand as long as there's weight sitting on it.I always remove my fender as well...to get the stand to slide in and angled for the lift...I couldn't get the horizontal stand bar to fit in there safely without removing my fender.It touches the front tip at that cutout on the nose...right at the 'plate' that goes under there...but it doesn't push up on it.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 1/9/2015 @ 6:55 PM *

I have a Gen1 and the arm that reaches into the steering stem hole does come very close but it does not press against the upper fairing. YES, the pin does need to be installed in the right direction so check to see it is tipped a few degrees toward the front of the bike, not toward the back.

The pin is not going all the way up in the hole? It should fit in there all the way up to the shoulder of the pin before you lift it.

I'm thinking someone may have raised the forks and lowered the front.

Either that or maybe the rear stand you are using is too high? That would make it tough to get the pin in the steering stem hole.

Check out my stock suspension removal Ohlins install tutotrial in How-Tos for the stock height of the forks...or look in the service manual.

There may be some fairing/front fender clearance difference between the earlier models and the 2012's and up.MAYBE.

I tried mine with the pin in the stand arm and putting the screw in there to lock that pin...as it would normally be setup...it would not clear the front nose underneath.Putting the screw as I mentioned worked perfect....gave it just enough rise of the steering stem to fit without the nose getting pushed up underneath.I definitely could not get it in there and inserted with my fender on.

The angle of the pin inserted with the screw going through the pin...it didn't lift the stem up high enough for the arm to clear the nose when lifted.

"The pin is not going all the way up in the hole?"...it's possible that it wouldn't...I had this happen.If the angle is not right when you push the pin up into the stem hole,it can end up not going all the way,yet look inserted.The way I do mine...to avoid that happening is...

I slide the arm in there...I have to start lowering the handle a bit to get the arm at the right angle(this where taking the fender off gives more room to adjust the correct angle).Then I grasp the end where the pin is with my left hand...lift it up and into the hole till it seats against that step on the pin...then while holding it,I lower the stand handle and start the lift...once it has some weight on it...then I just back out from under the frontend and carefully lift all the way up.Maybe we have to have a pic or two to see HOW Marks stand is setup.It does have a couple of options at that joint on each side of the U handle.That would maybe clarify what Marks is working with.(I don't mean...what kind of stand).

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 1/9/2015 @ 9:58 PM *

I find the only problem when using the stem stand is needing a second set of hands when guiding it in so it doesn't touch the fender,use it on the 2007 and 2012.If I remove the front fender I don't need any help.I have the pitbull convertible stand

I have the converter stand and the the one that is just a steering pivot stand. Either one works fine. It is sometimes a little "iffy" inserting the pin in the hole but if I jimmy the thing back and forth a bit, the pin will go all the way up in the hole until the step in the pin touches...maybe not all the way around the circumference but it does definitey touch on the front edge of the hole.

I usually put a rag over the fender of my Gen1 to prevent scratches. I have a ZX-10 fender now but the stand seemed to fit with the OEM fender.

"I usually put a rag over the fender of my Gen1 to prevent scratches"...yup...I thought I could do that as well...but for me it's just too 'risky'...rather have lots of room.I might actually try it sometime though...could be the way I'm lining the pin arm up and all.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 1/10/2015 @ 6:21 AM *

Thanks for all the help fellas - I didn't mention the bike is a 2008 and fork tubes are definitely at stock height in the triple tree. Rook may be onto something as I'm using a t-Rex rear stand. Hub, your idea may work because I only need about 1/3" of clearance - I appreciate all the responses and thoughts guys. I'll report back as to what I find.

Rook - thank you especially for all the tech stuff you do - I may be new to posting here but I've used your articles from day one. Good info on the pin direction also - pitbull couldn't verbalize that properly for me at all :)

"I only need about 1/3" of clearance"...you'll get that if you put a bolt through that pin lock hole...and set the pin into it.(onto it)with the tapered part going up. You do not want to shorten the length of that stem pin by adding washers to it.....IMO.You certainly can though if you want..Hub's fix is valid.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 1/10/2015 @ 7:17 AM *

^^...or you could stack washers in the hole under the pin. That would do the same thing as setting the pin on top of the bolt.

My rear tire is not too far off the ground with either of the rear stands I use. Come to think of it, when I raised the height of my lifting forks on the Pitbull rear stand, the front stand did come closer under the nose of the top fairing (I think). I think I raised the lifting forks a whole inch and I was running into the same trouble you are. I raised the lifting forks about a half inch and it works fine now.

you could try rolling the front up onto a 2" thick phone book before you lift. That should give you the clearance you need but better make damn sure that that phone book is positioned just right before you lower the front. Too risky. I'd just get a new stand if the problem is that the back is raised too high.

you can see the rear is only maybe 4" off the ground even with the lift forks raised a half inch. I did that so the bike would sit level front to back when the front stand was put in. Without the extra half inch in back, the front was a bit higher when I put the front stand in.

My Heindl rear stand works great with the Pitbull fronts. it is even lower than the Pitbull rear stand. You can see here how low the rear tire is when I put the front up. It's only a couple inches. I've had new rear tires touch the floor after lifting the front. be careful of that, the bike could fall over if put a front stand in with a rear stand that is way too low. You can see that the bike is not level in this pick. If you wanted to level it, put some books under the Heindl before you lift. LOL just always be careful and watch what is happening when you lift the bike! That's when they fall. I'd say a rear stand would have to be extremely low before the spools could lift out of the forks when you raise the front...it would need to compress the rear suspension a bit and then some.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/10/2015 @ 1:15 PM *

"or you could stack washers in the hole under the pin. That would do the same thing as setting the pin on top of the bolt."....No...you CAN'T...look at your pin hole there on the arm...it goes all the way through.That's why they have the attachment bolt...to hold the pin in there.I'm tellin ya...insert the attachment bolt...insert pin in the hole...fits just how Marks needs it to...About a 1/2 inch raise and full pin tip length in the stem.IF he needs it higher,he'll have to fab up a thick spacer,however long he needs it more...and set that in the pin hole(on the crossbolt),and put the pin on top of that.If he needs any more raise...it can't be much...washers then might work fine.He won't need to do that though...You have to remember here...the more anyone raises that pin in there...the closer the arm is gonna be to the fender...which could make getting the stand lined up to insert a real bitch.

Removing the fender really isn't difficult and it saves a lot of having to be 'careful about scratching things'.OR cracking it putting pressure on it from the arm to align.Arm sitting on tire is MUCH better(or contacting it).

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 1/10/2015 @ 6:26 PM *

Been pretty sick all week fellas so I haven't even gone out in the garage. I'll update you all when I try some options. Hoping to get out there this weekend

Got it all worked out guys, thanks for the feedback. So I did 2 things that seemed to help

1. Settled the rear suspension down while on the rear stand
2. Lowered the PitBull upper arm to its lowest setting on the front stand

With the pin confirmed facing the correct way it went right in and came up onto the stand without touching anything. I have at least 1/2" of clearance till the stand hits the fairing within the entire range of motion while operating the stand. Here's a picture so you can see......

Way to go. Nice color too. No matter what anyone else says, RED is the fastest color...

Mad

"Lowered the PitBull upper arm to its lowest setting on the front stand"...yup...glad that worked for ya;)Sweet bike BTW...and those V&H's....nice.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 1/16/2015 @ 6:29 PM *

Maddevil - thank you.

Grn14 - I appreciate all the feedback on this one - the VH is hands down the best exhaust for these bikes IMO (of course I'm partial) ;)

Can't really say about the performance aspect of those V&H's...but the styling is IMO PERFECT for the big Ninja.

To protect my front fender, I stuck a bit fat strip of adhesive velcro (the cloth side) on the stand arm.

If you drop the front end 1.25 - 1.5" through the triple clamps can you still use the stand?

Most likely...but I can almost guarantee...the fender will HAVE to be removed before anything else.

It's a very tight fit at stock height :/

BTW...nice ladder Rook;)