KONA UTE KICKSTAND REPAIR, fender install, other
03-22-13, 04:42 PM
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Musicgalaxyman
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: ohio
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Bikes: 2007 Kona Ute
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KONA UTE KICKSTAND REPAIR, fender install, other
KONA UTE KICKSTAND and other IMPROVEMENTS:
KICKSTAND
I bought my 2008 Kona UTE as new (old) stock from a bike shoppe in Fla. in 2011.
Especially like the smooth ride provided by longer wheelbase, eliminates need for upkeep of suspension units, agile for bike trails.
BUT THE KICKSTAND…a 1950’s design, very heavy, solid bar steel held by steel tube welded to frame under BB frame extension. Thing malfunctioned from day one, spinning through its arc of movement without holding in the bottom position, so bike fell over easily. I believe this was due to shoppe employees leaning their full weight on the bike with stand down, shearing the positioning pin which normally holds the kickstand at the proper angle when down and supporting bike.
First I looked at a repair, but the lock pin which holds the bent steel bar type arm spins, and thus cannot be easily extracted, or tapped out. And…no parts from KONA.
So one day I grabbed a chisel and hammer, tapped the weld where the kickstand tube attached to the frame, and gently pried the entire kickstand off. One must be careful not to damage the frame on this repair. Smoothed and sanded with Dremmel tool, and covered with my standby aluminum frame repair method…clear shipping tape. Just keeps the salt off, and you can’t see where kickstand was unless you turn the bike upside down.
Then installed standard rear triangle kickstand at 1/3rd the weight of original, and it holds the bike more upright, so works quite well, even when loading with weight…well good enough for the weight I load. (If I ever carried LARGE WEIGHT loads, I’d drill a vertical slot through the tube as they do now from factory, and have a steel piece machined to fit the bottom of the tube, with the bolt going from the top of the frame extension tube, through the frame extender tube, through the machined piece and into the center stand. Likely would use JB weld (a metal epoxy used to fix broken metal/ engines) to glue the machined piece in place. It would hold well enough. Care would need to be taken not to overtighten the bolt, or one could drill a bigger hole and insert a sleeve for the bolt to go through, the held in place top and bottom on the tube with JB weld…again, way beyond my needs ).
REAR FENDER
In the muck, in NE Ohio weather, a rear fender is a must, especially if you ride trails most of the year as I do.
I figured that a fender providing ¼ coverage at the rear wheel would do the trick-- because the Kona Ute has a massive black plastic rear rack, so to keep the front derailleur and crank clean I just needed a fender added from the top-point of the black plastic rack down to the bottom bracket/ crank area, or an arc of 90 degrees.
I purchased a set of German SKS Commuter II set of black polymer covered aluminum fenders, and chopped off about half of the rear set, leaving an extra 3” long tab section, which I shaped and smoothed to create a tongue, and inserted tongue with slight bend to get height correct, between the bike frame and black plastic rack/ using bolts holding rack down to secure. This eliminated the need to add hardware or drill the frame.
So….the top point of the fender is held in the above manner, then there’s a manufacturer provided clip-on rear fender clip which went to the rear brake crossbar, held with a bolt and a plumbing washer, (holds tight due to rubber compression) with the bottom of the fender down by the BB held in place by a 1 ¼ inch titanium bolt, using 4 solid plumbing washers: removed rear wheel, then installed bolt, fender, and 4 washers, all going into a tapped threaded hole (already existing but with buggered threads) in the frame extender tube down by the BB.
Worked very well.
BAGS
A friend gave me a set of 1970’s Eclipse RED front panniers, with sleeve mounting set, so I just inserted one of the slide mounts between the black rack and frame, covered the edge with duct tape, and used elastic from WallMart to hold lower pannier to frame.
Right size and easy repair.
PEDALS
Inexpensive pedals often have the outer bearing race by the outer side of the pedal held in place by imprinting the axel for the pedal with an X (spreading open the metal) can’t get ‘em apart, can’t rebuild ‘em. Just took off black plastic cap (yes, they come off) and squirted in oil.
I like the Kona UTE but the kickstand had to be fixed, it needed the rear fender, and with a small Eclipse bag it works great. Pedals are just maintenance.
KICKSTAND
I bought my 2008 Kona UTE as new (old) stock from a bike shoppe in Fla. in 2011.
Especially like the smooth ride provided by longer wheelbase, eliminates need for upkeep of suspension units, agile for bike trails.
BUT THE KICKSTAND…a 1950’s design, very heavy, solid bar steel held by steel tube welded to frame under BB frame extension. Thing malfunctioned from day one, spinning through its arc of movement without holding in the bottom position, so bike fell over easily. I believe this was due to shoppe employees leaning their full weight on the bike with stand down, shearing the positioning pin which normally holds the kickstand at the proper angle when down and supporting bike.
First I looked at a repair, but the lock pin which holds the bent steel bar type arm spins, and thus cannot be easily extracted, or tapped out. And…no parts from KONA.
So one day I grabbed a chisel and hammer, tapped the weld where the kickstand tube attached to the frame, and gently pried the entire kickstand off. One must be careful not to damage the frame on this repair. Smoothed and sanded with Dremmel tool, and covered with my standby aluminum frame repair method…clear shipping tape. Just keeps the salt off, and you can’t see where kickstand was unless you turn the bike upside down.
Then installed standard rear triangle kickstand at 1/3rd the weight of original, and it holds the bike more upright, so works quite well, even when loading with weight…well good enough for the weight I load. (If I ever carried LARGE WEIGHT loads, I’d drill a vertical slot through the tube as they do now from factory, and have a steel piece machined to fit the bottom of the tube, with the bolt going from the top of the frame extension tube, through the frame extender tube, through the machined piece and into the center stand. Likely would use JB weld (a metal epoxy used to fix broken metal/ engines) to glue the machined piece in place. It would hold well enough. Care would need to be taken not to overtighten the bolt, or one could drill a bigger hole and insert a sleeve for the bolt to go through, the held in place top and bottom on the tube with JB weld…again, way beyond my needs ).
REAR FENDER
In the muck, in NE Ohio weather, a rear fender is a must, especially if you ride trails most of the year as I do.
I figured that a fender providing ¼ coverage at the rear wheel would do the trick-- because the Kona Ute has a massive black plastic rear rack, so to keep the front derailleur and crank clean I just needed a fender added from the top-point of the black plastic rack down to the bottom bracket/ crank area, or an arc of 90 degrees.
I purchased a set of German SKS Commuter II set of black polymer covered aluminum fenders, and chopped off about half of the rear set, leaving an extra 3” long tab section, which I shaped and smoothed to create a tongue, and inserted tongue with slight bend to get height correct, between the bike frame and black plastic rack/ using bolts holding rack down to secure. This eliminated the need to add hardware or drill the frame.
So….the top point of the fender is held in the above manner, then there’s a manufacturer provided clip-on rear fender clip which went to the rear brake crossbar, held with a bolt and a plumbing washer, (holds tight due to rubber compression) with the bottom of the fender down by the BB held in place by a 1 ¼ inch titanium bolt, using 4 solid plumbing washers: removed rear wheel, then installed bolt, fender, and 4 washers, all going into a tapped threaded hole (already existing but with buggered threads) in the frame extender tube down by the BB.
Worked very well.
BAGS
A friend gave me a set of 1970’s Eclipse RED front panniers, with sleeve mounting set, so I just inserted one of the slide mounts between the black rack and frame, covered the edge with duct tape, and used elastic from WallMart to hold lower pannier to frame.
Right size and easy repair.
PEDALS
Inexpensive pedals often have the outer bearing race by the outer side of the pedal held in place by imprinting the axel for the pedal with an X (spreading open the metal) can’t get ‘em apart, can’t rebuild ‘em. Just took off black plastic cap (yes, they come off) and squirted in oil.
I like the Kona UTE but the kickstand had to be fixed, it needed the rear fender, and with a small Eclipse bag it works great. Pedals are just maintenance.
