Greetings from the Oregon Outback!

Hi Richard,
I know Brian, the owner, of Bend Lock and Safe quite well.
Since you made your second post you have gotten past the "moderator required" business and can post away at will.
Regards
Bill

Yikes! One of the first uncharacteristic surprises I've had with this bike--the rear master cylinder has been replaced with one from some other bike, including welding a mounting bracket onto the right-hand triangular engine mount.

It all works fine, and the brake fluid is eerily clear, but it's a niggling doubt.

Onward and upward.

The good news is that I now have all the external signs of legality, headlight, turn signals, brake lights, and of course a new plate and insurance. Now that I've gotten past the carb issues from the eternal dust in this part of the world, the bike is running great, and feeling like a true "muscle bike." The last big task will be mounting the new tires. It's a bit irritating, because both of the old tires on the bike are nearly new, judging by the tread depth, but are far past their "sell by" date, and actually have heat/aging cracks in the sidewalls. I plan to at least get a few savage burnouts out of the rear tire before I throw it away. Sigh.

Fortunately, one of the tires I bought for my Gold Wing is the same size, and I've already bought the other. I have a Harbor Freight tire mounting tool, plus the motorcycle add-on accessory, so hopefully the actual job won't be too bad. I've mounted several car tires, and it was an unholy amount of labor, so I'm hoping the smaller bike tires will be easier. Yes, I do have a set of rim protectors. And amazingly, an extra set of wheels, so I can mount the new tires and just swap them in.

Even with Nikola's explicit directions, and his video, I'm still having real trouble getting the bike up on the center stand. At least I now know that a major source of the problem is having a sufficiently smooth and hard surface to rest the bike on. It's becoming clear that even with a 1/2" piece of plywood on top of the gravel, I can't apply enough force to rock the bike up on the stand, even when I step on the CORRECT part of the center stand. I did figure out that if I open the seat, I can at least get a decent grip on the frame directly above the center stand, which was the key to getting my '82 CB-750F up on its stand. It at least had a great grip in just the right place.

The replaced rear master makes sense- those are becoming almost impossible to find. If it works, it works.

As far as the center stand, you've got most of the important techniques. If you're missing the grab handle, grabbing the frame under where it goes works just as well. The important bit is to not think of it as lifting the bike- your leg needs to do a lot of the work. Focus on pulling your leg and arm holding the frame apart, rather than any kind of lifting motion.

The two may seem similar, but there is a small difference.

I do feel that I'm not able to get my foot properly on top of the "foot pedal" part of the center stand. It's as if the stock rear air shock is not extending far enough to make room for my foot. If I lift up the back of the bike I think I'm hearing and feeling the shock top out, though. I still don't have a pump that will safely inflate the shock, though, so I'm going to order one today.

Thanks for your suggestion! It sounds exactly like the way the center stand worked on my CB750.

If your shocks are too low, that makes a huge difference too. A lot of guys lower the shocks on custom bikes and aren't able to get the bike up on the center stand anymore.

Set up properly, the 1300 is easier to get on the center stand than the early CB750s and WAY easier than a GL1000 (I have both).

Thanks for the comparisons, that's very encouraging!

I'm about 90% sure now that the real problem is with the shocks.