Embarassed to Admit I dropped my Bike!

[BlueSky]

I've developed this nasty habit of easing through stop signs when riding my 500lb Kawasaki. Well yesterday I was about to do that but a car was close and I decided at the last minute to stop (without straightening the front wheel) and I fell over! Dang it! The embarassment! No damage to the old fart. The bike suffered a slightly bent brake handle that I straightened, some scratches on the windshield, and the right rear signal light lens broke. I had a lense I replaced it with from a replaced light that had a broken rubber stalk. So, it doesn't appear it cost me anything but embarassment. It was a good lesson to stop running stop signs!!!

[Marcarl]

Oh the joy of it all !!!

[jeromeb]

Welcome to the club. Not just the embarrassment of dropping, but the agony of picking it up afterwards.

[CaseyJ955]

I've developed this nasty habit of easing through stop signs when riding my 500lb Kawasaki. Well yesterday I was about to do that but a car was close and I decided at the last minute to stop (without straightening the front wheel) and I fell over! Dang it! The embarassment! No damage to the old fart. The bike suffered a slightly bent brake handle that I straightened, some scratches on the windshield, and the right rear signal light lens broke. I had a lense I replaced it with from a replaced light that had a broken rubber stalk. So, it doesn't appear it cost me anything but embarassment. It was a good lesson to stop running stop signs!!!

 

A couple thoughts.

 

1. Glad your alright and the bike is still intact is another bonus, you got your gravity storm out of the way with minimal damage/injury! That is a huge win!

 

2. Bro, you gotta run stop signs faster!

 

Glad you got it picked up okay, I can barely get the damn thing on the ctr stand.

 

Glad your okay!

[Jthomas]

When I first got mine, I found she gets very heavy very fast when you suddenly loose that gyroscopic effect from the rapid drop in both the wheels and engine/transmission. Emergency stops- my old Shadow, no problem; my RSV, be prepared to use them legs.

I dropped mine shortly after getting it, I think it was the day my temp tags were about to expire. The gas station I was leaving had a curb that wasn't really marked and dropped straight down onto the street. I saw that it's not an exit and suddenly stopped right before I was about to drop a good foot. And I dropped her.

Thankfully, no damage, except my ego. I'm glad the passenger hand grips are really good and sturdy, those make lifting the hot bike very easy.

[etcswjoe]

Glad you did not receive any damage. What is really embarrassing is dropping your RSV at the stop sign at the end of your street and your 5'5" 120 pound neighbor comes over and puts the bike back up like it was nothing.

[BlueSky]

Welcome to the club. Not just the embarrassment of dropping, but the agony of picking it up afterwards.

 

I can pick up the 500lb Kawasaki fortunately. If I had been riding one of the 800lb bikes, I would have needed help for sure. A man about half my age stopped behind me and offered to help. But, I only needed him to put the kickstand down since I failed to do that before picking it up from the right side. Anyhow, it was a very good lesson that didn't do much harm. Maybe other members can benefit from my mistake.

[MonsterBiker]

I have not dropped my RSV.....yet. I did drop my Vulcan 2000 once. I had just backed out of my parking space at work and my fingers slipped off the clutch with the front wheel turned downhill. Bike fell over on the downhill side. I was unable to lift it by myself, luckily a passerby stopped to help.

[Flyinfool]

Glad you did not receive any damage. What is really embarrassing is dropping your RSV at the stop sign at the end of your street and your 5'5" 120 pound neighbor comes over and puts the bike back up like it was nothing.

 

Picking up a bike is more technique than strength. Just like getting it on the center stand.

[tz89]

Picking up a bike is more technique than strength. Just like getting it on the center stand.

 

I would say if you are using strength you are not using technique and are doing it wrong. A back injury lasts a long time - don't start down that road.

[etcswjoe]

Picking up a bike is more technique than strength. Just like getting it on the center stand.

 

That was when I learned the proper technique for picking up a bike, I still have not figured out the easy way to get a bike on the center stand.

[BlueSky]

That was when I learned the proper technique for picking up a bike, I still have not figured out the easy way to get a bike on the center stand.

 

Roll it backwards and it will come right up.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[vzuden]

I watched a young woman, maybe 100lbs, pick up a Venture at a bike show several years ago. As has been said, it is more technique than strength

[Flyinfool]

Of course 2nd gens are a lot easier to pick up than the 1st gen. Often a 2nd gen will only go half way down and rest on the crash bars. A 1st gen alwaus goes all the way down flat on the ground when it decides to take a nap. Don't know what a 3rd gen is like to pick up, Have not heard of one taking a nap yet.

[saddlebum]

I've developed this nasty habit of easing through stop signs when riding my 500lb Kawasaki. Well yesterday I was about to do that but a car was close and I decided at the last minute to stop (without straightening the front wheel) and I fell over! Dang it! The embarassment! No damage to the old fart. The bike suffered a slightly bent brake handle that I straightened, some scratches on the windshield, and the right rear signal light lens broke. I had a lense I replaced it with from a replaced light that had a broken rubber stalk. So, it doesn't appear it cost me anything but embarassment. It was a good lesson to stop running stop signs!!!

Also Guilty, have developed a bad habit at times of stopping and balancing the bike rather than putting my feet down. Last ride as I started to pull out and had to suddenly stop again, I almost did the same thing, pretty sure if there was loose gravel under the front wheel I would have dropped it. A nice feeling to know that you can balance the bike, at a dead stop, for a few seconds but ultimately much safer to do a proper stop, plant your feet and check traffic properly. Specially in back country roads, with dips and blind bends, were cars almost always go well over the speed limits, which is were I was at the time. Edited August 11, 2020 by saddlebum

[uncledj]

Just had quite a rash of bike droppings.....

Rode up to the cabin with 5 friends. Had a great, long weekend with lots of riding in North / Central Pennsylvania...visited the Zippo lighter factory and the Straub brewery. Decided to beat the rain and head home Saturday.

One of the guys injured his leg just before the trip but went anyway....Right by the cabin, as he was turning a not too tight circle with his Cavalcade, he went down.....I was just getting my bike started and situated to roll when I heard him yell for me....ran over and got the bike back up...checked him out and no new injuries to him or the bike...just damaged pride.

Ok ...so lets try again to get going.....Began up the 1/4 mile long, bumpy dirt road from the cabin to the paved road.....Saw one of the other campers there, outside his cabin and stopped to say "hey" and ask if he was going to attend the annual campers meeting. Heard yelling again and looked back, and my cousin had dropped his 87 Goldwing...softly,...but was just lifting it back upright.....Geeze......OK....let's try again.....Got to the blacktop, which required a not too tight circle to head up the mountain...with an incline as turning the circle. We've all done this several times before....I did it and was starting to roll and heard some fuss and stopped and turned around to see my buddy with his Harley on it's side....barely...it was a soft fall...I saw no damage.

This was 3 bikes dropped within the first 300 yards. We decided that it may be best to just hit the interstate and make a bee line for home. Everyone got home safe. 200 mile ride for them...350 for me.

Been riding with these guys for 35 years and I can't remember any of them ever dropping a bike before,,,,now 3 within 10 minutes. Weird.

Just glad nobody got hurt, and the bikes seem ok too.

[luvmy40]

I've dropped a street bike 3 times since 1985.

 

I was riding my first Big Twin, an '84 FSXT that had a 10" over stock front end and factory rake, off the Yamaha (I went to buy a Seca and got a Harley, go figure.) dealership lot in Colorado Springs and stopped short when a car changed lanes right in front of the entrance. I was already leaning into the turn and down she went! The long front fork made it very difficult to get her back upright.

 

The next time was about 35 years later or so. I had The Beast('83 Venture) up on the center stand and for some reason I cannot remember I thought it would be a good idea to take her down from the left side instead of from the saddle. Stupid! fortunately I was fairly close to my POS ford ranger and The Beast wound up leaning against the bed. Busted the right side mirror, but no other damage.

 

The last time was just a few weeks ago. Kris and I were returning from a weekend trip on the fairly new to us '06 RSV. it was our fist time hauling a trailer on any bike. The trip had been uneventful with the exception of having to navigate a very narrow and rough dirt logging trail for about 8 miles to get to our destination. The RSV with trailer in tow was surprisingly easy to control "off road". Any way, when we got home I foolishly attempted to ride into the front yard, past a driveway full of cars with a shallow storm ditch to the left. We were moving very slowly and turning onto the grass when I saw the trailer in the right mirror looked like it was going hit the rear bumper of Kris' car so I hit the brakes and down she went. It was a slow gentle drop onto grass but we were both semi trapped between the bike and the car. We both managed to get turned around, Kris grabbed the passenger grab bar and I had the engine guard. We got her back upright fairly easily and Kris went around to put the side stand down so I could let her down. No damage to the bike or the car.

[BlueSky]

I would say if you are using strength you are not using technique and are doing it wrong. A back injury lasts a long time - don't start down that road.

 

One issue with us old coots is that the legs are not what they used to be. I do squats to keep some semblance of strength in my legs but it's a losing effort that I'm not ready to give up on.

[saddlebum]

One issue with us old coots is that the legs are not what they used to be. I do squats to keep some semblance of strength in my legs but it's a losing effort that I'm not ready to give up on.

Boy have you got that right and not just the strength that goes bye bye. About two weeks ago I did a four day canoe trip. Portaging with a 50lb pack was not bad, once you got your legs to go straight from being cramped up in a canoe for 2-3 hours. Got to the point were I thought maybe I could convince my son to portage the canoe with me in it so I could avoid the painful agony of slowly unfolding my legs as I got out.

[MonsterBiker]

First time I dropped a bike was in high school.....in the high school parking lot.....right as school was letting out. Hit some loose gravel on the blacktop. One second I was riding, next second the bike was on its side between my legs and I was standing there going "What just happened?" Only thing hurt was my pride.

[Jthomas]

I almost lost it the other day w my wife on the back. Was pulling out and started my turn before getting her moving fast enough. We almost went down on eachother, it was hard but thankfully got it back up.

[BratmanXj]

Installed new EBC HH pads last week. 1st ride to bed them in and I pulled out of the garage onto the uneven and rutted alley, looked wrong at the front brake lever and slowly went over....

[cowpuc]

First time I dropped a bike was in 1964 on my 1959 Sears/Allstate moped.. It happened on the sidewalk out front of the High School that we lived across the street from.. I was practicing my bikes inability of breaking the rear wheel loose in first gear (we called this "burning rubber" back then) when the throttle stuck wide open creating an extremely irratating high revving scream from my bikes little two stroke motor as I pulled the clutch in, moved the shifter to neutral and panicked to shut her down.

Her key switch long since having disappeared,, the only way I could immediately think of to end the screaming disaster was to remove the plug cap from the plug.. As I bent over the bikes backbone and placed my hand on the little metal plug cap atop the little 49cc shroud covered head, the little screamers magneto ignition system instantly reminded me that magneto systems actually produce higher voltages as they increase in rpms,, a lesson I have never forgetten..

As the voltage ran thru my body, my legs and feet went instantly from a vertical position in contact with the pavement below them to a horizontal position perpendictular to the frame of the bike.. I am not sure but it seemed like my bike had developed an uncanny ability to self balance itself as it seems like my body stayed in this position of a shaking human body balancing across the backbone of a totally upright, non moving motorcycle for at least an hour..

When the two of us,, man and his motorcycle, finally did topple over I got to experience my very first motorcycle crash. I have since had many encounters of such likeness including but not limited to, hard landing a 200 foot jump and doing endless in air acrobats in the process and/or snagging my pant leg on my Honda/Santee Chopper as I stood up and slow rode the 11 foot long long bike in front of throngs of people during a rally only to attempt to stop and place my foot down when the bikes in front of me did all to discover that my foot could not go down cause my pant leg was draped over the kickstarter.. This allowed me to show off my face planting, motorcycle skills to hundreds of people!! I gotta say though,,, NONE of the encounters of such that I have experienced even came close to that 1st time spill...

The End

Edited August 18, 2020 by cowpuc

[BlueSky]

When I owned the 2004 Kawasaki Concours, I joined two message boards just for those bikes. One of them had a section for dropping the bike. The Concours C10 is notoriously top heavy and very easy to drop. Looks like we may need a special place to discuss ours too. After all, we can learn from hearing about others dropping their bikes. We can learn to be more careful if nothing else. My bike drop was due to carelessness! Plan to stop and look, at all stop signs in the future unless I'm in the desert and can see for miles in every direction!

[Condor]

Glad you did not receive any damage. What is really embarrassing is dropping your RSV at the stop sign at the end of your street and your 5'5" 120 pound neighbor comes over and puts the bike back up like it was nothing.

 

Yep, there's a technique to picking one back up... They usually show a 105# woman picking up an 800# bike like it was nothing by using her legs and butt under the saddle. And it really works.... for some one short enough to get their butt that low, but for some of us that are horizontally challenged getting our butts that low and the legs only partially bent is a problem.... and pisses me off....