Motorcycle Centre Stand Pivot

[COLIN MARTIN 2Participant @colinmartin2]

I have been lucky enough to be given great advice from the forum in the past, so here’s hoping someone can come up with something this time.

I have posted in the past requesting help with my 50 yr-old Spanish Ducati that has had a hard life. I now have to deal with a centre stand problem. The stand pivots on two shouldered bolts which have dimensions of: 10 mm thread followed by a 12 mm plain shoulder that fits in a corresponding hole in the frame, followed by a 14 mm shoulder that the stand pivots on. This system was used by Ducati for 30 years without any problems except eventual wear on the pivot bolts which are easily replaced. However, my bike has been run with the bolts loose in the frame for a long period, which has enlarged the holes and made them eccentric, with the result that the pivot bolts gradually work their way through the holes and cannot be kept tight.

The only solution that I can come up with is to drill the holes out and thread them and make up threaded steel bushes to screw into the holes to bring them back to standard size. However, the frame is made of high-tensile steel and is hard; would I be able to drill this with a hand drill? Would the eccentricity simply stall the drill bit? Would I be able to thread the hole with a hand tap? Would mild steel be too soft for the bushes?

There is no room to fit anything between the frame and the stand. I did think of bushing the frame holes and threading them to 10 or 12 mm and turning up new bolts without the step, with just a 14 mm shoulder right across  with threaded ends and screwing this into the frame, but apart from the previously mentioned problems, I am not sure that the threaded section would be strong enough and they would be bound to keep working loose. I am not a toolmaker and have rudimentary skills; I have a lathe and pillar drill though. The bike is in running order and I do not wish to completely dismantle it to address the problem!

All ideas will be welcome.

 

Thanks,

 

Colin

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