Newbie here, hello all.

I live in Solihull near Birmingham uk, and without givig my age away I started work at BSA in Small Heath as an apprentice toolmaker in 1957, I have been riding many bikes since and regular visitor to the Isle of Man TT.
Got onto scoots 2 years ago with a Burgman 400, liked it and recently bought a 1913 Swing 600, with all the extras and looks and performs like new, very pleased with it apart from cannot lift it on to centre stand, [and I am not a weakling] unless iI push back wheel on to a 1 inch thick piece of wood. Whether the YSS rear shockers lower the bike I am not sure.
I hope to ride many miles this year touring Scotland, and Wales and hopefully meet up with other owners.
Got some stick from the motorcycle club I am in until some struggled to stay with me on club runs, and noticed the advantages of weather protection, load carrying, and ease of use, a far cry from my 50's BSA DBD 500 Gold Star, [which I still own].
No doubt I will be picking members brains in future and sharing experiences.

Best regards to you all.

Welcome to the Forum Blondie from down south.

Make friends with the search bar to access the wealth of knowledge accumulated by members.
I find key words work best.
Look forward to reading your input.

To answer your question, having just fitted a set of YSS shocks, they are 15mm shorter than stock.
So it made it realy hard for me to get the Swing onto centre stand.
That said, there is a way around it.
YSS say they come preloaded, but comparing the lenght from the top eye to the fixed start of the spring(OEM) the YSS were 16mm shy, so I wound the pre-load ring down an extra 16mm. Bingo I can now get it on the centre stand again.
BUT I also carry


1" ply      

Hope this helps.

Be safe, be seen!

Ps If I remember I will measure what my gap is between top eye and spring start tomorrow.

Welcome to forum Blondie. The SW is a great all rounder. Enjoy.

Update..

Rear shock pre-load, measured from the centre of the top eye to the start of the spring on mine is 125mm Inc. the locking ring.

Hope this helps you Blondie

Be safe, be seen!

I have the same shocks on my SW. They fitted straight out of the box.

I may not have thought this through but I figured that the distance from 'eye' to 'eye' is fixed. Adjusting the pre-load simply compresses or decompresses the spring, not the ride height.?!

The distance from eye to eye is adjustable(the absorber movement), the length of that distance being governed by the opposing force of spring compression. So yes the spring compression dictates the ride height.
"Pre-load" is just a fancy name for ride height.

Hope this helps.

Be safe, be seen!

Ps. try my suggestion of 125mm from the centre of the top eye to the start of the spring, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Welcome aboard the board Blondie.

Welcome to the BEST SWing forum on the Net Blondie.
Like what has been said, the Search Box at the top left is your friend. If you can't find it there just put out a question and somebody will/might have the answer.

I fixed my center stand problems by triking out my 08 SWing and have no regrets. Not sure if you can do that in the UK.

Hi Blondie,
I'm sure you will do well with your SWing.
We seem to have trodden similar paths with previous mounts. My biking history covers Goldies - like yours ; Velo Venom Thruxton; 2 Bonnevilles; AJS 7R etc etc
My shift towards enlightenment began with a 400 Burger and then SWing in 2001. Have tried all the big maxis, but have come back to the Honda for their inherent simplicity and reliability. . Hope you enjoy it
Stuart

Hello, Blondie!

My method for getting the Silverwing on to the centre-stand was to hold tthe LH grip in my left hand, the LH passenger grab-rail in the right, stand at about 45° to the bike but facing the front, put foot on the centre-stand lever and 'surprise' it!
No smooth movements.

Welcome to the forum! As a newbie myself, I am sure you're going to find a lot of help on here. I sure have do far.

Hi. I'm Marie E Manigo and I'll be 53 July 1st.  I'm 5 foot tall  weighting in at 200lbs. I'm from Western Kentucky. I have a 2004 Honda Silver Wing. I have never operated a scooter or motorcycle in my life, but I want to learn. I have oodles of questions.

Welcome to the Forum missmanigo from the UK
Make friends with the search bar for the wealth of knowledge contained within these hallowed halls accessed by key words.
Failing that, just post your questions, including any info relating to your questions.

Hope this helps.

Be safe, be seen!

99 Suzuki Burgman AN400 with a few mods.
09 Honda Silverwing FJS600 with a lot of mods.

Welcome aboard the board mismanigo. (Tim, you might want to move this part of the thread under it's own new thread)