gravelocity

It just flops down instead of staying locked in the upright position. I of course can't ride with the stand scraping the ground, so for the time being I'm tying it in place with a bungee cord while riding.

I tried Googling it, but every single result is about loose kickstand brackets, which is a completely different thing than what I'm experiencing. My stand is built into the bike frame.

My bike is a 1980 Schwinn Cruiser.

bboy314

If the kickstand is bolted to the bike, just replace it. If it’s one of the Schwinns with the kickstand kind of integrated to the frame, like the below picture, you can take it apart and possibly repair or replace it, but dealing with those is trickier.

FBinNY 

That kickstand works with a cam that has pockets for both positions, and a spring that allows it to push in and leave one and go to the other. They die in one of 2 ways.

Either the up position pocket wears, so the latch isn't reliable, or the spring breaks, so it's not pressing in hard enough. If you look in the back you'll see that the back end is kept home with the cross pin, that sits on the cam. Fixing it calls for pressing it in to expose the pin, which you push out allowing the kickstand to slide out. Unfortunately, the spring is strong enough that pushing the kickstand in takes considerable strength.

There is (was) a tool made for that job, and there's a good that an old time bike shop that used to be a Schwinn dealer will have the tool. Otherwise you might be able to lever it back using the chainstay as a fulcrum. As for finding the parts, I'll venture they're still being sold on ebay.

base2 

FBinNY You can also effect the same result with the box end of an appropriately sized combination wrench. It will work like the catch of a screen door mechanism against the tight bend of the kickstand allowing you to lever some weight on the spring. Once the pin unloads it simply drops out or can be removed with thumb & forefinger.


At the OP: Deep down inside the frame mount, the 3 lobed block is clocked. 2 positions for the index pin (kickstand up, kickstand down) and 3 positions to install the block. It is possible to get this wrong. If so, there may be nothing wrong. The "kickstand up" index may just be clocked wrong. Rotate the block and reinstall. If that doesn't work, the index pin in the kickstand may be worn. IIRC, it's a standard issue roll pin available at any Ace Hardware, McMaster Carr or McClendons. Home Depot/Lowe's are not hardware stores. But it is possibly you might get lucky if you have no better options. An actual hardware store is much more likely to have the roll pin you need.

FBinNY 

WBITD, we had a mechanic who did this without tools. He'd brace the bike against a workbench, push the KS in with one hand and reach around for the pin with the other.

I never had that kind of hand strength, so I listened to Archimedes and used a lever and the chainstay.

dedhed

Jeff Wills

Note that there were different cams and kickstands to fit the many different Schwinn bikes. Fortunately the “Cruiser” models were quite common.

OP: it may be the grease inside has gotten gummy with age and is preventing the pin from seating in the cam properly. Once you have it apart, clean it up and inspect the pin retaining the spring. If it’s not obviously worn, grease the bejeezus out of it and reassemble.