Front and rear stands = $175. Worth the convenience, security, size, weight, eez of use, etc. Its up to you, but I am not balancing my bike on 2x4s and hydraulic jacks. Not worth the risk and inconvenience in my book.

 

Can you take remove your forks with that convenient front stand?

 

Valid point. I also want to remove the front forks at some point, but more importantly I don't really want a pair of stands taking up space in my garage that would be better taken up by another bike down the road.
i have two bikes now, and I can see a real problem if I have to buy a new type of stand for each bike I aquire.

 

You're right, I wouldn't buy stands if I were you. I only bought mine because I have a couple bikes, and it makes it real easy to lift em up for brake pads, wheel/tire removal. While removing the lower tripple may be difficult, I am sure I would be able to remove the fork tubes for working in there. Space is certainly a concern, but they are light enough to hang on the wall, and they nest together fairly well. I can't imagine they take up more space than a motorcycle jack.

 

I wouldn't call it a fork stand, but a front stand. It lifts the bike by the head tube, so I can't see any reason why I wouldn't be able to remove the forks.