I found that getting the bike up on the center stand is much easier if when the bike is in neutral, and you make sure that the bike is really vertical ... stand the bike straight, and step on the center stand until it touches the ground. Here's the trick - make sure that the bike is really standing on BOTH sides of the stand (I have found that the bike is usually leanding towards me, even when I'm sure that it's straight). Once the bike is straight, you can just pull the bike up and backwards and it should go on the stand without too much effort.
If the bike is leaning toward you (even a few degrees), it's much harder to get it up on the stand.
HTH!
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