Duo-Glide Center Stand Rebuild | Part 1 Repair and Prep Work | Riding Vintage

Duo-Glide Center Stand Rebuild and Install, Part 1

This 1964 Duo-Glide center stand rebuild covers the repair work needed before a used Harley-Davidson center stand can go back on the motorcycle. I picked up the stand about a year before installing it on my 1964 Harley-Davidson FLH Duo-Glide and ordered replacement hardware from Colony, then went through it piece by piece to correct worn bearings, damaged clip mounting, and wear on the bottom of the stand before moving on to the actual installation.

This article covers the repair and reconditioning side of the job. Continue to Duo-Glide Center Stand Rebuild and Install, Part 2 for the final mounting work, or explore more in Panhead Tech.

Used Harley-Davidson Duo-Glide center stand with Colony replacement hardware

Inspecting the Used Center Stand

Like most used center stands, this one had seen some abuse from coming loose and being dragged under the bike. Before mounting it, I wanted to deal with every obvious wear point so it would be road worthy again instead of just bolted on and hoped for the best.

Damage on the bottom of a used Duo-Glide center stand

One of the pivot bearings was missing completely, and the other was badly worn.

Missing pivot bearing in Harley center stand

Worn pivot bearing on a Duo-Glide center stand

The retaining clip that holds the stand in place was also bent and cracked around one of the rivets, so that area needed attention before the stand could be trusted again.

Replacing the Pivot Bearings

The first step in reconditioning the stand was replacing the bearings. Since one bearing was already missing, I simply hammered a new one into place. To remove the remaining worn bearing, I used the new bearing to drive the old one out while installing the replacement at the same time.

Driving a new pivot bearing into a Harley center stand

Repairing the Retaining Clip Mount

Next I drilled the heads off the rivets and drove them out with a punch. On my stand, the rivets had already broken through the back of the tab, which made removal fairly easy. Otherwise, they would need to be drilled out more carefully. Use a #29 drill bit or smaller here because the holes will need to be tapped to 8-32.

Driving out damaged center stand clip rivets with a punch

Once the rivets were removed, I used a #29 drill bit to clean up the holes and then tapped them to 8-32.

Tapping center stand clip holes to 8-32 threads

The Colony kit uses a different style clip, and that clip also has slightly different hole spacing.

Original and replacement center stand retaining clips from Colony

Drilling Alternate Clip Positions

Using the new clip as a template, I drilled and tapped two additional holes. This allows the clip to be positioned in two different locations. The closer position is for solo motorcycle mounting, while the farther position is used when a sidecar is installed because the exhaust bracket spacing changes.

Drilled and tapped alternate mounting holes for Harley center stand clip

Repairing the Bottom of the Stand

With the bearing and clip work handled, I moved on to the damaged feet. Using a TIG welder, I ran a few beads over the worn sections on the bottom of the center stand.

TIG welding worn bottom edges of a Duo-Glide center stand

Then I ground the excess weld material off with a belt sander to give the center stand the correct profile.

Center stand profile restored after welding and belt sanding

Ready for Installation

At this point the center stand was ready to go back on the motorcycle. Continue to Duo-Glide Center Stand Rebuild and Install, Part 2 to see how the stand mounts on the bike and how the finished setup looks in place.