I have ordered a pair of Metzler Roadtec 01s from Motoblouz, looking forward to trying them out.

I tend to order my tyres and then get them fitted by a local firm that charges £10 per wheel for mounting to the rim and balancing. This is still far cheaper than getting a local bike shop, or tyre chain, to supply and fit. £192 plus £20 fitting vs. around £260.

My my previous bike I just used the centre stand and a combination of bricks and a piece of wood for protection and some axle stands to support the bike whilst taking the wheels for a drive in the car to have the tyres fitted. With the TV I'm reluctant to do this. For a start there's nothing substantial enough under the engine to support the bike, used headers on the previous one. The fear of it toppling without wheels is too much to contemplate so I thing I need to invest in a front stand to make this job more risk free.

Budget is a consideration. I've had a look on eBay and seen a few that seem reasonable but am somewhat concerned about how good/stable they actually are. Whilst I appreciate you do get what you pay for this will probably only be used once a year so as long as they hold the bike securely that's all that really matters.

Adjust-ability to allow this to be used in conjunction with the centre stand rather than a rear paddock stand is essential.

Any suggestions?

Do you have exposed rafters or a couple tall step ladders to suspend the front and back while the weight is kept on the centre stand?

That's a good point. No garage currently so rafters are out of the question. Only one slightly wobbly tall step ladder as well...

That alternative is to put the tools in the panniers and do it wheel by wheel at the tyre fitters. Will have to drive the tyres there first though. Long torque wrench won't fit in panniers but I could ask if I can borrow theirs when phoning to book.

Ideally I want to buy the correct kit though, should have bought a front stand ages ago.

IF you call my shop and ask me if you can use my tools and facilities so that you can avoid paying me to do the job, what do you suppose my response would be?

Have done this before at several tyre fitters without issue. Last one that I rode my bike to and took my own wheels off even handed me his torque wrench having set the correct torque for my bike. Suppose some people are more understanding and generous of spirit? Seriously, places that offer a 'fit supplied tyres to loose wheels' service are used to this. Well, the ones I've used are. It's not as if I've rocked up and asked for all the tools to do the job, could have just used my own std ratchet to get me home and torqued it up there.

Anyway, that option isn't going to happen as am proposing to buy a stand and take the wheels in.

If the shop really is local I'd be tempted to do one wheel at a time

Decision made, stand purchased. Yes it's cheap and cheerful but has decent reviews for the same item on Amazon though, so should be up to what I'm asking it to do.

Just hoping that it will work in conjunction with the centre-stand rather than me having to buy a separate rear stand. The capability for height adjustment should make this more feasible as there is a limited range of lift that the centre-stand will allow for. In addition to saving unnecessary expense using the centre-stand means that the front stand will also be less stressed compared to using a rear paddock stand.

Had to order an oversized pin as the headstock on the Turismo has a 28mm internal diameter, the range included with the stand is significantly smaller than that. The biggest they had was 27mm but that should be sufficient.

This will allow me to remove both wheels and make the trip in the car in one hit. A side benefit is that it will also satisfy Chuck's concern about me imposing on the tyre fitter for the use of his torque wrench.

Being in a rural location nothing is particularly local on a UK scale. 30-40 minute drive each way and time is money. Added to which the tyres I've ordered are being delivered 2 days before a memorial ride-out I'm helping to organise. No doubt there will be a flurry of work that'll get in the way so the shorter the whole job takes the better. If it's quiet I'll benefit from the luxury of having a chance to scrub in the new tyres before the ride. Having the stand in the shed for future changes will be a distinct advantage in the future.

Stand delivered today, easy assembly and the 27mm spigot fits the TV headstock securely.

The adjustable height and folding design work perfectly to lift the front wheel off the ground whilst the back wheel is still free to rotate, this is whilst using the centre stand. Had fears that it would tip onto back wheel when 'camming' over the front stand but this was unfounded. The adjustments are quite fine as the first attempt lifted the front wheel clear but not by much, moving up one setting is perfect. Steering operates lock to lock and the stand clears everything.

Construction of the stand seems solid and weight of the bike certainly won't be an issue when using the centre stand which takes the majority of the weight of the bike. Wouldn't have a concern using this in conjunction with a rear paddock stand, can't see the point for the TV though.

Only issue was the extra 27mm spigot that I ordered had a poor thread for the retaining screw. Sorted that out by running an appropriate tap down it.

Now just waiting for my new tyres to arrive

Here's a link to the stand on the suppliers website, spigots are here (27mm was the one I ordered), rather than eBay link that will probably cease working over time.

FWIW, any front axle stand will also do the job - http://oxford-products.com/us/catego...rcycle-Stands/

http://oxford-products.com/us/produc...ock-Stand.html

When using a centre stand and not a rear stand in conjunction with a front stand, if the lift is too much the bike could be lifted off the centre stand by the rear wheel making contact once the stand is used or during 'camming over'. Not great and possibly disastrous.

If not un-weighting the centre stand there is a possibility of the rear wheel being in contact with the ground once on the stand preventing rotation. When cleaning having both wheels free is obviously an advantage. Adjusting my stand two more hight levels causes this to happen. There is plenty of range left beyond this. Would be less happy with my purchase if I had bought a fixed height stand that caused this. Admittedly putting the bike on the centre stand with its feet on a thin plank would solve this but it's not ideal.

On the stand linked to the small height adjustments, there are two holes in the red top tubes as well as holes in the chrome tube to enable sub inch increments, makes fine tuning of the lift height possible. The majority of stands I looked don't have this facility. Granted this potentially reduces the overall strength/safe lift weight of the stand or requires thicker tube/additional bracing. However, now I've seen and used it I'm confident that one I've purchased is well up to the job.

Also I prefer the headstock type stands rather than those that contact the bottom of the forks. The engagement is more positive and secure as well as allowing for removal of the forks should that be necessary at some point in the future. I obviously accept that this is entirely subjective.

Your statement is true for sports bikes without a centre stand, i.e. the rest of the MV range, where the use of the rear paddock stand and front stand together wont cause the rear wheel contact issue I've talked about above.

This is only really relevant to the TV, though had I started this thread in the TV section I would have risked it being moved and I know that would have irked you. See, I am trying