the first time I mounted the spring without a tool and the spring flew away cutting the stud of the frame. I have two springs may be n.o.s. , now I try the other one.
I saw rear stands that are lower than others on the march. It may be that the spring works badly in this position.
My stand is not original, I could stretch a little the arm ......
on a short ride i don't worry about it but on long runs the stand gets an elestic strap doubled around the cross bar then hooked onto the rear carrier.
Constantly bouncing wore the hole in the frame quite oval in the first 50,000 miles and mushed up the frame stop both on the frame & stand.
Then again i do 300 - 500 mile day runs fairy regularly so it might not be a problem where you need to show your passport 3 times on a 3oo mile run.
When the rear stand is in the up position, but still quite near the road, it is usually because the owner has put the snail cam (chain adjuster ) the wrong way round.
I'm quite sure that neither of my M20 stands bounce. However it is impossible to put the springs on without the aid of a stretching tool. Ron
yes, the wear of the stand-holes in the frame is mostly on the bottom/rear side so it not the use of the stand but the bouncing which causes this. And the RHS where the spring is fitted is usually in worse shape then the other.
And this wear has again great effect on the position of the stand when in use and causes extreme forces on the pivots when the stand is too far under the bike.
Maybe a grease nipple on the bolts would help to prevent this wear ? or a clip on the mudguard, vintage style.
Here an example of a tool which stretches the spring, can't do without:
I've knotted a loop of innertube rubber onto the lower mudguard stay at the pannier welded stud, it is then looped over the foot of the stand. This works a treat, quick to put on or off and if you put it on the near side it doesn't get dirty from the exhaust.
Richard