Have you ever dropped your bike?

[83GS1100E_Tornado]

Nothing to be ashamed of, I've dropped lots of bikes, mostly while inebriated, none at speed, and none recently..........:-D

[Busafied]

Every last one of them for one reason or another/
some down easy, some not.8-[ :shock:

[johnnay]

Well... I first started riding motorcycles in the Netherlands (little 50cc ones), and dropped those many times - woke up in a ditch 20ft away from my bike once after a night of liquid entertainment, caught a tree with the brake lever on a path, and rode the bike like a skateboard for 15 feet when a car jammed on their brakes on wet cobblestones...yikes. Thankfully I escaped unscathed in all cases.

I also have to admit that I dropped the 1100e just last week - was looking for a parking spot at a mall, and saw a nice little spot that would just hold a motorcycle just as I was going past it. I turned to swing into it, and discovered that the gixxer front end doesn't have the range of motion that the stocker does. The bike didn't come around as quickly as I thought it would, and in reaction I put the front brake on.... bump!

As I was directly in front of the mall entrance, you can imagine the alacrity with which I pulled the bike up - to be honest, I'm not really sure what technique I used, but it worked on the second try, with no lingering vertebral issues, thank goodness! I was happy to see nothing more than a couple of small marks on the ignition cover. I guess it's so frikkin heavy because it's so solid..!

[Billyboy]

I guess I never thought a whole lot about it, but if my bike goes down, I'm ****ed at myself for the drop, but then I just pick it up.

How much are we actually lifting? Two hundred? There's gotta be a formula for this.

550lb bike laying on its side.
Factors are:
Location of ceter of gravity
Height of bike (lever length)
proportional weight shift onto tires as bike rises, so there's let-off
movement becomes more horizontal, right?

I figure it's no more than 200, and more of a push than a lift.

[emjay]

Back when I had a Yammie 400 Enduro I used to "drop" it a lot when I first started riding it and gave it too much throttle off the line. It went flying out ahead of me doing a back flip and I landed on my arse. Took awhile but I finally got used to how torky that thing was.

But what a lot of fun that bike was! Before it I had a Rupp mini-bike, so it was a big move as a young teen. Hours of fun in the 20 acres woods out back of our house. I think my horse got jealous though!

[t3rmin]

Heh, I've had my bike for a few months now and have never dropped it (yet). Came somewhat close a few times, and I'm still nursing a strained wrist from muscling it up from a tilt the first week I got it (not even running at that point). It's amazing how much more nimble the bike feels when I handle it these days; when I first got it, the thing felt like a precariously teetering 500lb brick on wheels to my untrained hands.

BUT in that time I have dropped two other people's bikes! One was a dual sport thumper which a co-worker urged me to take for a test ride. The clutch was basically either ON or OFF and engaged really far out, in contrast to my easygoing, longer-throw clutch. I lurched it forward from a stop when trying to jump out into traffic and it tipped below the "point of no return", but I laid it down nice and gentle. Of course this was on one of the main thoroughfares and it took me a couple of tries and a few big grunts to get it back up, while passing motorists no doubt had a good snicker at my expense. Luckily there wasn't a scratch on it and my co-worker is extremely easy going (I did actually tell him! ;-)).

The second time was when a friend just purchased his first bike (an '84 Honda Shadow VT700) and rode over to my house to show me. Me, being the "seasoned" rider of 1.5 months, decided to educate this new squid on the proper technique for putting it up on the center stand, and promptly dropped it. ;-) Again, not a scratch since I set it down gently and the top half came to rest on grass.

[salty_monk]

Darci,

Found this site that might help....from a womans perspective:

http://www.pinkribbonrides.com/dropped.html

When I did the safety course in California the instructor showed us how to do that, he used a fully loaded Goldwing as the demo bike... guy wasn't much bigger than me (5'8" 160lbs) & he lifted it on his own (the easy way so the side stand caught it, would have been more difficult the other way but he insisted he could do it...)

Dan

[dpep]

Darci,

Found this site that might help....from a womans perspective:

http://www.pinkribbonrides.com/dropped.html

Years ago I saw this method demonstrated at Daytona using a Goldwing and a small person. It is absolutely USELESS for most motorcycles including our GSs. It only works for Gold Wings and Boxer Beemers because they don't actually fall all the way over. They come to rest on their horizontally opposed cylinder heads. It is a fairly simple matter to get your butt on the seat and use your legs to lift it the rest of the way up.

I actually tried to demo this method for Bridget once using her Nighthawk. That's when the problem became obvious. Duh!

Our bikes fall all the way over and come to rest on their side. The seat is either resting on the ground or only few inches above the ground. No way you are going to get your butt on it.

I would like to see some techniques that begin with a bike flat on its side. It would be nice to have more than one to choose from depending upon the motorcycle and the situation.

[MissFabulous]

Yesterday the GK was still in the driveway (packed millings over dirt) and a high wind advisory was issued and it had started to rain. Had a tarp over it, but I knew it was time to get it into the barn.

Put air in the flat back tire, tried like hell to get it into neutral but the battery is dead so no indicator and it's a comfort shifter which I've never used, so I'm playing with it trying to get it in gear. I also have a terrible cold (my head is a phlegm factory) and on vicodin from having my molar out... basically weak as a kitten on wet ground trying to move a bike with no seat on it to plant myself down.

It went down so fast I didn't even have time to panic or be startled. I thought "Ok, I've studied that method" but in my fuddled mind I couldn't remember which side of the bars I was supposed to grip and um... there is no seat on it, the ground is wet... tried a couple times and realized I was wasting my time and what little strength I had. I put the tarp on and emailed a friend (my bike says "I've fallen and I can't get up") who said she could come over later with her BF and then Tuna called me and offered to come over.

Well, it was a good thing he did and probably a good thing I dropped it in my driveway before I tried to move it through the grass down to the barn - it was really muddy and even Tuna needed my help pushing it and my boots were sliding and digging into the muddy grass. Now that would have been a lousy place to put it down!

No damage done at all - yay crashbars.

Later that night I sat on it for a while with the seat on it and rocked it back and forth, feeling it out. I realized the tipping point on this bike comes very suddenly and sharply, not like the few other heavy bikes I've been on. I'm hoping when the fairing comes off that will improve. I also realized I'm not removing the fairing without a buddy around. It doesn't weigh that much but it's big and awkward and I don't need the bike to come down in the process. Fortunately, I have a friend who just passed his MSF and doens't have a bike yet, so he's dying to come out and help me tinker and plenty of other friends who like doing this kind of thing too, so I have no excuse to try and jump into anything where I'll be in over my head.

I felt kind of discouraged after I laid it down, but after thinking about all of the factors, and now reading this thread, it's no surprise. I was trying to do too much too fast while physically and mentally not in any condition to carry out the task at hand.

Big thanks to everyone who shared here - all of the honesty is really encouraging.

[Denny]

Droped 2 differnt bikes and a scooter.

It happens to all of us.
Lets see when livving in Colorado, I was ridding a fifty cc scooter on a gravel driveway and went down and had to laugh (though I was not happy that i scratched the plastic) about six months latter I tradded the scotter in for a 94 Virago 535 (1994) witch to my embarresment I droped at whoping 3mph while pulling out of the parking lot where I worked the wheels went right out from under me while my boss who raced bikes looked on and laughed at me luckly tracfic was light that day i cracked a mirror scratched my leather and demolished my ego.

I have have had my 850 for about two months now, after three years with out a bike, and this is by far the largest and heviest bike I have ridden (GOD I LOVE IT) and I have put her down twice on the grass in my backyard once taking it off the center stand and once trying to walk it off the grass where I had it parked so I would not have to move any cars so the worst thing that happened to the bike was a touch of mud on the pegs and ticked off owner. I am happy that this happened at home in privacy of my back yard. I must say that it was entertaining trying to get it back up with the full tank fairing and bags but I now know that I can. I just do not want to do that again.

[dpep]

I have have had my 850 for about two months now, after three years with out a bike, and this is by far the largest and heviest bike I have ridden (GOD I LOVE IT) and I have put her down twice on the grass in my backyard once taking it off the center stand and once trying to walk it off the grass where I had it parked so I would not have to move any cars so the worst thing that happened to the bike was a touch of mud on the pegs and ticked off owner. I am happy that this happened at home in privacy of my back yard. I must say that it was entertaining trying to get it back up with the full tank fairing and bags but I now know that I can. I just do not want to do that again.

I hear you. The 850 is a very top-heavy bike. Once up to speed it handles great, but at low speed you have to be real careful. And it is a load to get back up. My oldest 850 has a Winjammer fairing and fairly heavy tour box. If it goes over with a full tank of gas you either call a friend or make an appointment with your chiropractor.

[SteveN]

Fell over last week when I stopped and turned on a wet stop line (newbie mistake).Luckily having a small bike paid off. The friend I was riding with told me bikes are eaasier to pick up if you lift at the seat and tank, and ignore the bars. True?

[max]

I still haven't recovered completely from a horrible spill just a few weeks ago...

I was about to take my bike out for a noonday spin when my neighbor came out on her porch to talk to me about my bike. She recently moved in and is seriously stunning. So I notice her waving, kick back down the kickstand, and with a rose-tinted world lean the bike over to set it down. The bike leaned over...too far! Crashed right ontop of me. Apparently I had angled the kickstand right into a hole in the driveway the dog had made, oops. She laughed and won't stop ribbing me about it. Got gas all over my new pants and my pride is forever scarred. Oh well

[Billyboy]

I still haven't recovered completely from a horrible spill just a few weeks ago...

I was about to take my bike out for a noonday spin when my neighbor came out on her porch to talk to me about my bike. She recently moved in and is seriously stunning. So I notice her waving, kick back down the kickstand, and with a rose-tinted world lean the bike over to set it down. The bike leaned over...too far! Crashed right ontop of me. Apparently I had angled the kickstand right into a hole in the driveway the dog had made, oops. She laughed and won't stop ribbing me about it. Got gas all over my new pants and my pride is forever scarred. Oh well

ouch! 8-[
..............

[denydog]

Dropped mine two days ago in my garage, trying to put it on the center stand. Fell over on the right side. Got it back up on the third try. I guess I'm not as strong as I used to be, cause I had to get my position just right. It's been many years since it's been down. So I have a new right front turn signal on order now.

When it fell, I looked quickly to see if the dog saw it. It's embarrassing at first, then I get mad at myself. :x