Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Dagnabit!! Dropped my freakin' speedy!!

Putting it away in the garage last night after a pleasant ride in cool springlike weather here in Little Rock. I squeezed it behind my M-roadster and let it lean over to the left. TOO LATE to do anything about it other than yell, Oh, S**T!" I realized I'd left the sidestand up, and over she went - while still running. Anyone who's done this will appreciate that there is point of no return as the bike goes down and over. After a few more expletives while I shut down and righted my sweety, I examined her for bumps and bruises. Luckily, I had my saddle bags on, and they served to provide a boundary cushion for the bike to land on. I am VERY pleased to report that the ONLY damage was a little scraped up end on the ball of the clutch lever which I will easily sand and polish out and a bent shifter which I will either bend back or replace - if I'm feeling anal. Oh, and my ego remains bruised for doing something stoopid.

Sounds like you were lucky. No broken peg or lever, and best of all, no tank or pipe dent.

Hmmmmm.

Ya know John, this story o' yours here kind'a reminds me of another little story I once heard about where some fella named Newton who once was sittin' under an apple tree one day and then somehow came up with some sort'a theory which he named "Gravity" or somethin'!

(but then again, maybe there REALLY isn't any similarities here afterall, huh?!)

Glad you got away with it matey. takes a few days to get rid of that stoopid feeling tho . It did with me when i left the stand up and got off to find out what the missus was on about behind me.she was not getting on and moaning couldn't hear with lid on . It was bird s..t on seat .Once its on its way down it anit coming back clutch and gear lever only bent

Ya know John, upon further reflection here, I DON'T think your story reminds me of that Newton dude AFTERALL!!!

Nope! I think it probably reminds me MORE of this other dude, some ITALIAN fella I ALSO once heard about who evidiently to prove some kind'a OTHER theory HE had, drug both a heavy ol' Harley-Davidson motorcycle AND a lighter, more manueverable Triumph Motorcycle up some kind'a leanin' tower located in Italy, and THEN he shoved 'em both OFF the top o' that big ol' tower at the same time!!!

Word was they both hit the ground at the same time TOO, but reportedly the assembled masses who gathered to watch this whole thing take place below ONLY mourned the fate of the Harley.

(...that is, EXCEPT for this ONE bright young man among that crowd who was the ONLY one there who DIDN'T still believe that the earth was flat or the center of the universe, and HE walked over to that poor ol' Triumph and CRIED LIKE A BABY!!!)

Did either of those guys leave their side stands up?

Phew, lucky JC!!

How big a scratch in your li'l bastid would it have to be for YOU to get upset a bit about it?

Oh, I'd say ANY ol' scratch, John...'cause that's the PAINT I was talkin' about there, ya see?! Yep, that might cause me a little "consternation", alright!!!

But you said in this thing here that the only little bits that didn't come away unscathed in your little mishap here were that little ball on the end of your clutch lever and a slightly bent shifter, and those things are downright EASY to fix or replace so nobody'll ever know!

And so consequently THAT also makes it real easy for other folks to make fun of ya a bit THEN TOO, if, say, WORD of what you DID(or FAILED to do, for instance like maybe droppin' your kickstand down before you leaned your bike over) EVER GOT OUT!!!


(and it's not, of course, as if I've never done somethin' like this, and then later started laughin' at myself about what a dummy I was to DO IT, ya know!...or again maybe, NOT DO IT, as in THIS CASE once again!!!)

That was your freebie drop, John. The next time will do some damage and cost money, so try to avoid it.

Doh! I hate it when that happens!

man i don't know what to say except i have never in my life err well yeah! welcome to club brother.

Hey dont feel bad, years ago I did something close with my Kawasaki, I had got home late from work, parked the bike, got off and started walking to the house, when I hear, crash, I had forgot to put the stand down, and how it stayed up as long as it did I will never know. But thank god it was late at night and no one seen me trying to stand it back up on my own. And KZ900 full dress is not a easy bike to pick up. I guess you live and learn, I always cheak myself now.
Glad it was only minor damage.

Reminds me of a story....

A buddy of mine who I hadn't seen for a decade or so was out in his driveway when I was out for a little ride on my then "new" America. I rode in to say hello and show him my new bike. He was impressed with the bike and with seeing me after these years and we talked quite a bit. I couldn't help but notice he had a brutally fugly scar on the inside of his right leg. He explained that he had been out riding on his HD last summer, wearing shorts, and when he came home he pulled into the garage to park the bike. Some how, he lost his footing, lost his balance, and the bike, still running, fell over to the right, pinning his leg under the exhaust pipes. He hit the kill switch and shut it off, but there was no way he could lift the thing off his leg. He screamed for his wife, all 100 lbs. of her, and she couldn't help him lift it either. She ran to a neighbor's house and finally got some help and they got the bike off his leg. There was little damage to the bike, but the leg was fried up like a hamburger...

So don't beat yourself up too much John. It can always be worse....

Don't feel too bad JB, we have all done silly things. Mine was parking my old 500 suzi in the garage next to my old america closed the gargare door pushed the suzuki forward off the side stand and it laid down putting a nice crease in my pipes of the america.

Replaced the pipes, but something I always remember now, make sure the bikes are well in and the garage door will not touch the bikes

well nearly done the usual one the other day and i think most of us have done it,was filling up with fuel as you do sitting on the bike then went to get off to pay realising the stand was still up,nearly went over but struggled to get it back up as my back isnt in the best shape at mo,but when it happens always seems to be when the forcourt is full of other people filling up makes you feel like a rite numpty,good job i still had me helmet on atleast then they cant see your beetroot coloured face
steve

A couple of years ago I rode from Beech Mountain, NC back home (about 650 miles). When I departed it was maybe 62 degrees out. By the time I got out of the mountains it was just over 100 degrees out. When I stopped for lunch in Waynesboro, GA it was probably closer to 110 degrees.

I pulled into a little cafe in the center of town, and positioned the bike next to the building out of the sun. I went to put the kickstand down and missed. I guess I was so tired that I also forgot to put my foot back down, and the weight of the bike shifted to the left. It all seemed to happen in slow motion as the bike slowly went over with me on it.

A gentleman from the store next door saw me pull up and he came out to look at the bike, and he showed up just as I layed the bike down. Luckily he was there, because I am not sure I would have gotten it back up right away. I went into the cafe and had 4 Ice Teas, lunch with a couple more and then came back out and readjusted everything that needed it.

The question isn't if you will lay your bike down, but when you will do it. Consider yourself lucky that it happened when you weren't moving.

Tom

I'm glad the damage wasn't too serious, John. I did that when mine was brand new. There was a small dog in traffic. I stopped to help get it out of the road and forgot to put the stand down. Broke the left mirror. Man did I feel dumb. The dog was fine, but my ego and mirror were wounded.

Having recently experienced a nearly .....coulda, shoulda been by all rights crash that the Almighty saved my old Irish ****** from.....

I would tend to categorize garage drops, driveway drops, and any other non moving due to negligence of the bike operator as a totally sepaarate class and not to be included within the old often spoken axiom that tells us that we will all drop our bikes ....just a matter of when.

When I had a gsx600 I was at a tricky road junction and was stopped and trying to see around a parked car for oncoming cars.

Well as I went to pull out some a$$ of a youth jumped out in front of me on purpose, waved his arms around like a moron and as a result I dropped the bike.

Well when I got up and got hold of the git and finished hitting him some old guy came over, patted my back and said "good one son I hate that little b***** he broke my car ariel last week".

No real damage just a scaped fairing and a sense that I performed a service to the old folks of Malmesbury.

Timing is everything when dropping a bike.
I much prefer either an audience of at least 30,
or at the minimum, one yack happy wag to repeat the
lurid details of said event at every possible future opportunity...

...OVER

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Over

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over

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o v e r

3 years of ownership, 33.000 miles, never been dropped (knock on wood)....