Riding With a LegUp—Landingear That Is

Operating a huge and heavy touring motorcycle is challenging enough at highway speeds. But once you slow to a crawl at the parking lot, things can really get difficult.

Whether it’s due to age, injuries, or simply being born that way, some riders experience difficulties with keeping their motorcycles upright. As a result, they might be tempted to switch to a trike, like a Can-Am—or even ditch motorcycling altogether.

If this all sounds familiar to you, we have good news. LegUp Landingear helps support your motorcycle when your hips, legs, or knees no longer can.

This automatic stabilization system deploys when the motorcycle slows down to parking lot speeds to help keep the bike upright. Once the rider speeds up, the support leg retracts and allows the ride to continue as if it was never there.

With the LegUp Landingear installed, aging, disabled, or injured bikers can keep riding without exchanging their beloved motorcycle for a trike. Let’s take a look at how the system works and the man behind it.

How It Works

LegUp Landingear is a computerized stabilization system intended to help riders who have problems keeping their touring motorcycles upright at low speeds. The system consists of hydraulics that extend a wheeled support leg when the sensors detect the motorcycle slowing down below roughly six mph.

Some might compare the support leg to “training wheels,” but that’s absolutely not what it is. If anything, you could compare it to a slow-speed kickstand, as its sole purpose is to support the bike.

Another fact making the “training wheels” comparison inaccurate is that LegUp Landingear is not for beginners. The system still requires you to have full control of the motorcycle, and it’s intended for experienced veteran riders with the skills to keep their big touring bikes upright but have lost the physical ability to do so.

And speaking of big touring bikes, those are the target market. In fact, due to the size of the stabilizer system, it requires installation in a full-sized saddlebag.

The air compressor system sits in the saddlebag, while the support leg attaches to the side of the bike. It connects to a proximity sensor located at the rear or front wheel that measures the motorcycle’s speed.

To engage the system, the rider must press the deployment button on the handlebar. This tells LegUp to extend the support leg the next time the bike slows down. Having the rider tell the system when to turn on prevents accidental deployment during slow turns, for example.

After pressing the button, the LegUp deploys once your speed drops below the aforementioned six miles per hour. Although you still have to maneuver your bike as if the leg wasn’t there, the current second-generation LegUp system is strong enough to support the bike’s entire weight.

The LegUp Landingear is available for select Harley-Davidson, Honda, Indian, Kawasaki, and Yamaha touring motorcycles. Custom installations for “unsupported” bikes are available for an extra cost.

A skilled motorcycle mechanic can install the LegUp system as a DIY project. If you have any doubts about self-installation, however, your motorcycle service shop, dealership, or the LegUp company can easily perform the installation.

The Man Behind LegUp

The LegUp Landingear system is the brainchild of Pete Giarrusso. The New York native moved to Florida in 1978 and worked in banking and computers. He even founded Central Florida’s first local internet service provider.

Giarrusso sold his company in 1998 and decided to take a year off. During that year, he built himself a custom chopper—and he loved it. So much so that, the following year, he opened Chopper Design, a full-service bike shop, in Longwood, FL.

Chopper Design proved successful and Giarrusso’s team’s builds won several awards. Then, in 2007, an aging motorcyclist asked Giarrusso whether he could come up with a solution to the rider’s issues with balancing his bike.

The result of this question was the very first LegUp Landingear unit, and Giarrusso began selling them in 2008. Today, the LegUp Landingear is in its second generation.

Although Chopper Design still maintains its regular bike shop operations, most of the company’s business comes from the LegUp Landingear. And it’s a good thing that it does—the system has helped many senior and disabled motorcyclists extend their riding beyond what their bodies alone could handle.