Do I need a paddock stand?

If you clean or adjust your own chain, yes — it turns an awkward job into an easy one, and it takes the weight off a tyre over winter. The first question is not which stand, but which lifting points your machine has, because that is not a preference.

What it lets you do

Turn the rear wheel freely, which is what chain cleaning, lubrication and slack measurement all need. Remove a wheel. Store the machine without a tyre loaded in one place for months. None of it is impossible without a stand; all of it is slower and more awkward.

The three lifting points, and why the machine decides

A swingarm stand takes the machine under the swingarm on rubber or nylon cups, and works on most conventional swingarms. A spool stand engages bobbins screwed into threaded holes — many sports machines have them and many other machines simply do not. A front stand lifts under the headstock or the fork bottoms and needs the rear supported first. The manual publishes which points the machine has.

The figure to read

The published load rating in kilograms, against the weight of the machine and with a margin, because a stand is loaded dynamically while the machine is pushed onto it. Then the wheels, which have to roll on a garage floor under that load — it is where cheap stands flex.

The part that is often missing

Adapters. A stand sold with two cups and no bobbins is half a purchase if your machine needs bobbins, and the bobbin thread size is published by the machine maker. Width adjustment matters too, since swingarms differ and a fixed-width stand fits one machine.

The alternative that costs nothing

A centre stand, if the machine has one. It does most of what a paddock stand does for chain work, and machines that have one need the paddock stand far less.