I am a big guy but old and I have a hard time swinging my leg over when getting on or off the bike. I see a lot of guys stand on the floor board on swing their leg over. I am not sure my floorboard of jiffy stand would take all 275 pounds of me and not tip over. how many of you stand on your floorboard with the jiffy stand down when getting on or off your bike? And do you feel safe?
I weigh a lot less and sometimes I mount the bike from the high side. On long late night rides If I start to get drowzy I stand up , do some flexing of the leg mussels and knee dips to get my blood flowing.
I never stepped on the floorboards to mount the bike. But I'm sure it can handle the weight. The wife does step on the passenger board when getting on - but she only weights 110 lbs.
When I have the solo seat on with no backrest, I mount from the left and don't use the footboard. When I have the driver backrest, 2up seat and Tour Pack on, I stand on the right floorboard and mount from the high side. Doesn't matter which way the bars are turned and I don't grab the front brake unless the situation calls for it--parked on slope, sidehill, etc. I like the high side mount. Only precaution is that as I put my weight on the board, I lean over the bike to control the center of gravity. You can feel this. From the right side, there is no concern about weight on the jiffy stand because you are actually lightening the load on the stand. I'm not quite as heavy as you these days, but I weighed a lot more than you when I first got my bike and never had a problem with the footboards. They're very strong. I think you should try the high side mount and dismount. It's easier when you get used to it.
I almost always mount from the high side, and have been known to step on the floorboard on occasion. I weigh about 240 and have never had a problem or felt that the bike was unstable.
I'm not a big guy, tried mounting high side several times, seems safe, I just can't get use to it. It just feels wrong. So with the backrest I do the lateral dance to get on.
2nd the wife stands on floor boards to get on and off . But she don't weigh 110 lbs any more . Me getting on is how limber I am that day some days low side. Some days high side also depends if I have drivers back rest in the seat .
I always mount on the high side however I am still flexible enough to just swing my left leg over the rear fender. When I have my add-on luggage strapped to the fender rack during long distance trips, it is so tall there is no way I can get my leg high enough to clear the luggage. In that situation, I step up onto the high side floorboard and straddle-step over the seat. I dismount the same way, stepping backwards away from the high side. The bracket for the floorboards are pretty substantial in design, so I wouldn't let it worry you any.
I mount highside with help of left hand grabbing handful of pant leg (old age, lol). High side because motor cops told me right way
old habit, not changing.
After a motorcycle accident a few years ago, the legs ain't what they used to be. I mount from the high side. My weight is about 300. Handlebars locked to the left, hand on the brakes. Right foot on the footboard. Swing left leg over to left side passenger footboard. Sit down. Yes, if you don't get enough weight over top of the bike, it will try to come upright off the jiffy stand a little. Never been a problem though. Dismounting is the opposite: Handlebars locked. Hand on brake. Left foot on left passenger footboard. Right foot on right footboard. Stand up. Dismount from high side. Makes it really easy.
At 175 lbs I don't think my Ultra Limited will be affected by me standing on either floorboard......So, I'll give it a try. But as another said from years of riding horses and mounting on the left it will be a tough habit to break.
When I first started to ride... everything was still kick started.
You got on a horse from the left...and this was just an iron horse ...and with your foot on the rightside kickstarter ... it all made sense at the time .
After reading all of the posts ..I'll wondering if maybe I was wrong all of theses years ???? :dunno
Now you got me wondering why I always felt it was more natural to mount/dismount on the left side. Other than the nag my gramps bought us to ride when I was about 8 I've never rode horses so that's not it. Maybe its from watching Westerns!
I do occasionally mount from the right side though when it seems like its necessary for some reason, and have noticed that it almost seems easier.
I must be retarded (no PC disrespect intended). I can mount from the high side, but just can't coordinate my brain to dismount from the high side. Am I left-brained or is it something more serious that I need to worry about? Will more Four Roses Small Batch solve this ailment?
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