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Dropped

9K views 26 replies 22 participants last post by  Zandar 
#1 ·
howdy,

Well I dropped the bike and thank god the floorboard on the clutch side saved the day. It folded up on its hinge and I was able to balance the bike until I was able to right the baby. It saved any damage only scratched the floorboard. If it was the stock peg, I would have been very, very unhappy.

How it happened...I pulled into a strip mall with hundreds of folks (NEWBIE) and pulled to the curb and turned the handlebars to the left, squeezed the brake and proceeded to get off the bike..........

INSERT IDIOT HERE.......

I FORGOT TO PUT THE KICKSTAND DOWN LOL
 
#2 ·
Good that your bike escaped that incident with minimal damage! One time I had the same stupid experience - forgot to put the side stand down. Learned that lesson! Then on a later occasion I had the stand down but apparently not quite all the way - the bike rolled off the stand and over. Another lesson learned! Felt really idiotic both times! Fortunately in both situations the drops were soft and the footboards saved the day. No damage even to them.
 
#4 ·
Dropped mine three times so far, all around the house:
1) I needed to roll it back out of the way a bit and put the kickstand up just to move it a few feet, then forgot to put it back down. (rookie error) No ground contact, my leg was under it (no damage to me).
B) First time I was putting it up on the rear stand and had the handlebars turned to the left and it just went right over to the right side. Landed on the right handlebar and ammo can bag (not hard as I caught it enough to soften the impact. Scuffed the handlebar a little. Another rookie error.
3) Just kinda started leaning over in soft dirt and I was holding something else so I couldn't really catch it and just blahhed over in the dirt. Got a little dirty. Started carrying a hockey puck after that.

Seems I'm learning several things the hard way. Good thing I built it with an eye towards wear and tear =)
 
#5 ·
As someone smarter than me once said, there are those that have dropped their bikes and those that will drop their bikes.


.............................

As for parking in sand and other soft places, hot asphalt, etc. I went to a local hardware store and bought a metal plate (the one that goes over a metal junction box). if I use it and forget to pick it up, I am only out $0.94 cents.........

Just anything to help spread the "footprint" and weight of the bike.
 
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#9 ·
As someone smarter than me once said, there are those that have dropped their bikes and those that will drop their bikes.



.............................

As for parking in sand and other soft places, hot asphalt, etc. I went to a local hardware store and bought a metal plate (the one that goes over a metal junction box). if I use it and forget to pick it up, I am only out $0.94 cents.........

Just anything to help spread the "footprint" and weight of the bike.
As for dropping a bike, I am the former and will no doubt be the latter (again). As for the metal junction box plate, definitely gonna steal THAT tip. Asphalt at 117 degrees and up can get awful moooooshy!

Victor
 
#6 ·
i learned that a number of times, that squeezing that front brake lever when the wheel is turned and not straight, the bike is going to kiss the ground
 
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#7 ·
I dropped my first bike when doing a tight u-turn on an uphill road. I dropped it the second time when I was in the process of a turn on my green light when there was police car. popping out of nowhere with sirens. So I got caught unprepared for that kind of stuff with my 50 miles of experience. I dropped my second bike as I forgot that I locked the front wheel with the lock. !@#$%. that was one and only time when I tried to use a wheel lock
 
#8 ·
I just dropped mine the exact same way last week. Didn't really do any damage but my adult daughter saw me and I was embarrassed as all hell. She came running out worried I might be hurt. I assured her I wasn't but then she wanted to know what happened. Dad you just pulled up shut it off and fell over. When I told her I forgot the kickstand, she laughed her ass off, though she did promise not to tell the wide or her siblings.?

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
 
#18 ·
Wait a minute! how do you get away with calling the wife the "wide". If I tried that, right after I came to, I'd have to find my teeth!

Cheers!

Mike
 
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#11 ·
If you think you had a bad day by not putting the kickstand down, very skilled and very experianced pilots have forgotten to put their landing gear down.......the end result is often very deadly.
 
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#12 ·
My wife dropped mine into the car I was building that happened to have a new paint job. She was trying to "walk" it out of the garage to get to the lawn mower. She has no idea how a motorcycle operates. I was working overtime and I was on the phone with her talking her through the process (the clutch is on your left, brake right, stand it up, etc.). In the middle of this she yelled "Sh**, I dropped it into your car! I have to go!" * click * I was left there holding my dead phone. Luckily I was storing some large corrugated plastic sheets between the two. Somehow there was no damage to either.
My nephew dropped his CBR300RR the day he got it at a gas pump. Be aware that there's sometimes an incline at the pump and you can set your kickstand down wrong.
 
#13 ·
Thanks to all for sharing their drops! All are a learning experience. Today was my 'bobble drop' day.

I went out and did my UTurn practicing, trying to tighten up those turns. plus some quick stops. Exited the lot, waved hello to the hidden policeman, and rode down around, toured a new neighborhood, and started back. At a stop, I noticed my right mirror was flopping about. I pulled into the next neighborhood quiet street, made another lovely UTurn, and stopped at the curb. Put my feet down (but not the stand), and didn't turn off the bike either, just started fiddling with the mirror. Next thing, bike is leaning left, left, left, beyond my ability to hold it up, so I let it down. It was not a hard drop, rather slow and controlled.

GRRRRrrrrrr, turn off the engine, and try to lift it, but I could not. I could never lift my 639 lb VStar, but I was able to lift my 352 lb Suzuki Savage. I was hoping this bike at 498 lbs would be liftable (just in case, you know?) Lucky me, a man in a pickup passed and stopped and helped me right the bike (OK, he did 98% of the lifting).

THANK YOU KIND STRANGER, you were a lifesaver!!

Anyway, the left edge of the windshield is a bit scraped, but not an issue. I gave the bike a good once-over again and rest seemed just fine, and the engine started up, controls all seemed OK. I tightened up the nut on the right mirror, and then finished my ride, past the hidden policeman spot (he was now gone).

When I got in the garage I did another good look. Everything is fine, except the rubber on the left mirror is a bit scuffed, also the tip of the shifter. And the round edge of the clutch lever is a bit scuffed. I examined this more closely, and it is a bit curvier than the brake lever. Except, it did not feel out of whack when I rode home, and it functioned fine.

So, I looked at parts. The clutch lever is found in HANDLEBAR diagram, if anyone wants to know. The brake lever is found in the FRONT MASTER CYLINDER diagram. (I hope the links work for everyone, I'm logged into my owner's center.)

Here's a picture of the levers grabbed from the diagrams. I would think the shape/contour of the two levers would be identical, though opposite, like left and right shoes. But, is it possible that they are shaped a bit differently?

So, my question is: Are your clutch and brake levers identical in shape, or is there a minor curvy difference in the clutch?

Gerry
 

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#15 ·
@Zandar, I found some real pictures, and it is like you say! So, nothing bent, just a few scratches at the end. :)

Thanks!

Gerry
 
#16 ·
I guess I'll tell my tale of shame.

A few years ago an acquaintance at work bought a new 636 and insisted that I take it for a spin. I really don't like riding other peoples bikes but I was interested in a 636 myself and he was insistent so I broke my rule. Anyway, he rode it over to where my bike was parked in the parking lot but rather than set it on the stand to let me get on it, he just got off and held it upright by one grip, sort of "handing" it to me. Well, I grabbed the grip and started to throw a leg over it and of course, I got all crossed up and off balance and over it and me went. OMG...the feeling. I was horrified as I lay there on the ground with it on top of me. It broke the right side peg completely off and put a scratch on the engine case. It wasn't even a week old and here I just broke it. He was very understanding and STILL insisted that I take it for a ride. I did but I was past the point of being able to enjoy it. I forced him to let me pay for the peg over his protestations. Good guy this dude. Not even a buddy... just a guy that works in the same building as me. I'm always amazed at people that can walk a bike around without dropping it. I watch the guys in the dealerships moving these huge bike around on the floor, in between all of the other brand new shiny iron sitting there like it's no big deal. I would never try to get off my bike without the sidestand being down like the guy at work did that day. I'm 100 percent sure I'd drop it.
 
#17 ·
I haven't dropped my Vaquero yet...almost. I was turning it around in my garage and my foot slipped on some cat litter and luckily I caught it in time. That bike is HEAVY. It went over about 30 degrees, a few more and it would have been on the ground.
I did drop my Yamaha Seca 400 way back in the 80's, bent the crash bar if I remember correctly. That was a long, long time ago :)
 
#25 ·
Well I dropped the bike and thank god the floorboard on the clutch side saved the day. It folded up on its hinge and I was able to balance the bike until I was able to right the baby. It saved any damage only scratched the floorboard. If it was the stock peg, I would have been very, very unhappy.
Actually, I dropped mine IN MY GARAGE a few months after I got the bike last May, and after installing crash bars. I was still straddling it but forgot to put the kickstand down, so I was able to slow down the fall for a second, but it did land on the stock peg, and the peg really help up fine and kept the rest of the bike safe (the left crash bar didn't even hit the floor). So it's quite possible you would've been fine even if you hadn't switched out the pegs for boards.

Stupid gravity... :wink2:
 
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