I had this big idea the other day about raising the rear of my electric motorcycle, which does not have a center stand, instead of using a shop stand. I was able to lift the rear of the bike off of the ground using only two cheap car jack stands and I did not even need a floor jack. I first blocked the front wheel to make sure that the bike would not roll forward. I placed one stand under the right swing arm and just below it. I then placed the other jack stand next to the left swing arm and levered the bike upright from the left side, using my hip to push against the seat so as to tilt the bike vertically while holding on to the handlebars and using the stand on the right as a pivot. I then used my foot to move the left stand under the swing arm. This took relatively little effort. Placing the jack stands on their lowest position lifted the rear tire just enough to spin the rear wheel and made it easy to tilt the chassis upright. If you wanted to prevent scratches to the underside of the swing arm you could cover the support plate of the jack stands with a rubber pad.
Auto jack stands are a whole lot cheaper than a motorcycle rear wheel shop stand, which typically cost around $100, or more. They can be purchased from any automobile accessory store, such as Kragen or Sears. They are also lighter, more stable and you don't have to worry about tripping over the shop stand arm when walking around the motorcycle. I can't ever recall anyone else suggesting this idea before. I don’t know why this wouldn’t work on most other motorcycles without a center stand, as long as they have a two-sided swing arm, of course.
Attached are photos of my bike positioned on the jack stands.
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