No Toil Industries

For 2009-current Harley-Davidson Touring bikes only

$79.95 plus $4.00 shipping

kicker.notoil.com

Also sold through Drag Specialties, Parts Unlimited and Dennis Kirk

You roll up to a stop, put the kickstand down (or jiffy stand as Harley likes to call it), get off your bike and it suddenly hits the ground because the stock locking mechanism didn’t keep the stand in place. I had this problem on both my 2003 Heritage and 2006 Road Glide and after complaining about it, I adopted the procedure of holding the kickstand in place with my foot until the weight of the bike was entirely on the stand.

Dan Jensen from No Toil Industries experienced that same scenario more than once, but rather than complain about it he came up with a solution to the problem. He invented The Kicker. This unit replaces two pieces of the stock Harley system; specifically the kickstand spring and the leg stop, which attempts to hold the stand in place when it’s fully extended.

After watching him demonstrate it on his new Road Glide, I wanted one really badly. But this was brand new and, for now, only fit the 2009 to 2015 Harley Touring bikes. He hadn’t had enough time to design and manufacture it for other bikes yet. He gave me one to try out on a friend’s bike.

Once in place, the new retainer and heavier spring will snap the kickstand into place the first time, every time
Once in place, the new retainer and heavier spring will snap the kickstand into place the
first time, every time

Just before Christmas I met with Rick Jensen from Monterey Bay H.O.G., who had recently purchased a 2014 Ultra Limited Harley, at his house. His mechanic, Dave Morgan, was also there to install it. Although the directions were easy enough to follow, what really helped was the installation video on the web site, showing the easy procedure of installing the unit.

Dave removed the two bolts holding the left floorboard, which exposed the kickstand and mounting plate. Removing the kickstand was easy enough once you unscrewed the stock leg stop. The stand now just rotated forward, allowing the spring to come loose so you could remove it.

The two bolts holding the kickstand mounting plate on were next. Once the plate was off, you installed the new spring relocating bracket from the Kicker kit and bolted it on with the supplied bolt and nylon locking nut. Now it was just a matter of putting it all back together. The old spring was replaced by the new high-tension spring and the leg stop was replaced with the new alignment locater. The combination of the new spring and alignment locater was what made the Kicker work so well.

The kit and the stock kickstand compared with the new improved kickstand
The kit and the stock kickstand compared
with the new improved kickstand

Once installed, the new system snapped that kickstand right into place with a solid clunk you could hear across the street. Don’t forget to use blue Loctite on all bolts and observe proper torque specifications during reassembly. The new parts won’t help if they vibrate off before you get to put the kickstand down.

Rick took a trip to Palm Springs right after that for the rest of the week and put the new stand through its paces. Upon returning he said that the stand performed flawlessly—however, his biggest complaint was that the stand was now harder to extend because of the shape of the new alignment locater. He did say that it was something he would get used to after using it for a time and the kickstand snapped solidly into place every time he put it down. He also thought the unit was priced a little high. He’d like to see it down around $50.

To my way of thinking, though, $83.95 was definitely cheaper than replacing a dented piece of chrome or repairing paint damage. My biggest complaint is that I can’t get one for my old Heritage or Road Glide but Dan says that he’s working on outfitting more Harley models.

11 COMMENTS

  1. I just read the article about the new aftermarket kickstand to replace the lousy one that Harley installs. My question is, why can’t Harley actually put a decent one on their overpriced bikes in the first place?? I own a Harley Softail, and have never had a kickstand fail, but I have seen it happen.

    There are so many aftermarket improvements for Harley because it appears Harley makes bikes that have so much that needs to be improved on!

    Which pisses me off, actually.

  2. Do you make this improved kick stand spring kit for my 2009 Harley Heritage FLSTC? I have replaced mine four times already. Please help.

  3. I have contacted the designer of The Kicker and company owner, Bob Jensen, who said that the only Kicker they sell is still the original one for the 2009-2015 touring bikes. He said that because of the expense to bring a new model to market and lack of sales volume on the old one it was just not profitable to expand the product line so for now only the original model is available.

    I agree that Harley makes a great bike but an inferior kick stand unit. For now all I can recommend is what I do, when you put the stand down, use your heel to lock it as far forward as you can before putting the weight of the bike on it. It’s kind of a cumbersome method and it doesn’t fix the problem but I have never had my bike fall over since I adopted it and after awhile it becomes habit.

    Harley does recommend buying a new spring and/or bushing if you’re having this problem but both my bikes did this when they were new. The Sportster riders have a real problem with kickstand sag and are always looking for some way to fix it. There are some innovative ideas on some of the internet blogs but research carefully because none of the blog writers are going to stand behind their fix if it’s responsible for bike damage or worse yet, a crash causing bodily injury or death.

    The new website for The Kicker is https://notoil.com/product/the-kicker-kickstand/ if you have any questions for them or want to order the one they still have.

  4. Sorry this took so long to respond but I just found the comments on the article. I agree with you as I have had two Softails and a Road Glide and I’ve had the kickstand bounce back and fail several times. I tend to jump on and off my bike quickly in order to grab a quick photo and I have had this happen more than once. My normal practice now is to push the stand forward with my heel and hold it until I put the weight of the bike on it.

  5. Hi There.

    I’m interested in purchasing a kicker for my 2014 Ultra limited. However I live in Australia. Do you have a distributor of the kicker in Australia and if not can you ship to my home address?

    Regards

    Craig

  6. Wow, reading the comments you people are either stupid, lazy or both. I’ve never had an issue with my Jiffy Stand. And to pay $64 to $95 dollars for this is insane. That’s the price range on this exact same item.

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