Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge A beautiful day

The weather was great for a ride this morning so I geared up and fueled up and headed for the mountains. I had a great low traffic ride up Blood mountain and accross Wolf pen gap and back into town on hwy 60. I was feeling all good about myself and figured I would go ahead and srop by Harbor Freight to get myself a cheap die grinder since I broke mine a while back. So I swung into the parking lot and went for one of the outside parking places out of the way. My plan was to swing in and point the bike out but apparently I was not in neutral as I assumed and while I was trying to figure out why the bike was dying as I slowed it choked down and for some reason I didn't have my feet off the pegs as usual so I just fell over right there in the parking lot. I tried to catch it but I just couldn't hold her up and down she went on the left side. It didn't go down hard but some of the shiny stuff was definately touching the asphalt as I struggled to pick it up to no avail. I couldn't believe I let that happen and no choice but to let her lay there as I took of my helmet and jacket trying to figure out what to do. Luckily there was a guy and his wife loading something in the back of a truck about 50 yards away and I asked if he could help me and he came over and we got it upright again. He asked if I was hurt and I told him just my feelings. He added that at least it was a Triumph not a Harley like everybody else rides. I thought that was pretty funny actually and shook his hand telling him thanks for the help.
Broken left front peg, bent shifter lever and asphalt rash on the end of the clutch lever, handle bar end and mirror. Not too bad all in all I guess so I got.out my tool kit and moved one of the rear pegs to the front and bent the shifter back into place, swallowed my pride and went in to buy a 15 dollar tool. It was flooded but finally fired up and I took the long way home to soothe my nerves.
I have had similar things happen on several occasions but managed to keep it from going down, even with Di on the back. I have lost something like 50 pounds over the last year or so and my knees are 3 steps away from being replaced with titanium models so maybe that has something to do with it...or maybe I'm just getting old.

Ya know, it really sucks but the most important thing is that you were not hurt.

And I rode it home...

Glad you weren't hurt (other than your feelings)...

Similar thing happened to me in my own damn garage. The good news was nothing got hurt but my pride.

pride is less of a concern if there are no witnesses!

Some Thoughts:

Well dangit.
You rode it home.
We are getting old.
Maggie Valley ride I wasn't on way back...

Hope you are feeling good today.

Summoning grrr

GRRR

Summoning newt

ENJOY

You are correct.
You are an old man.
Embrace it buddy. :-)

Pat! Dang good to hear from you man!
Old man..reckon so. Still 35 in my head though..too bad my body just can't keep up.

Glad you weren't hurt Chy... sounds like something I would do... survive Blood mountain and Wolf Pen Gap and then fall over in a parking lot... how many times have people fallen over just trying to leave your driveway..LOL.. but what is with the 50 pound weight loss?

Chy, glad you're okay bud. The ole bike is fixable and I'm sure you'll have her looking sweet quite soon.

It happens to everyone.
Last time I laid one over was at an Indian demo ride. I had been there most of the day and ridden a lot of their machines.
They had one top of the line Chief, It was called the Icon I think. Priced around 40K.
I took her for a spin with the rest of the group, We we got back and lined them all up, of course I wasn't satisfied with my parking so I pulled up a bit, turned the bars a bit and started to back it up.
Boom down goes the 950lb big ole custom painted Icon Chief. Of course there were only 40 people standing there watching this happen.
I just let her go, standing over her like Mike Tyson just KO'ed Trevor Berbick.

I thought the event coordinator was going to have a baby. He runs over with eyes like saucers, a few guys lift this massive hulk back up on her kick stand. No damage as the bike had bars on the rider and passenger areas for guys like me to lay her down.
I just melted away into the crowd, got on my trusty Triumph and away I went.

Sounds like something that would happen to me.. The guy I asked to help me said his wife saw me fall over, luckily there weren't too many cars in the parking lot at the tiime.

Aww you know, old guy stuff..high blood sugar got me off sweet stuff, had to start watching what I eat. 4 months of covid stomach issues didn't help either I suppose. I needed to lose some weight anyway. Arthritis has taken out my knees too so it is probably all for the best.

I dropped mine several weeks ago. Inside the garage - no witnesses. I returned about 9 pm from a short clear-the-cobwebs ride, pulled inside my very crowded garage and my foot slipped off the sidestand. Down I went, pinned between a stack of drywall and the bike. It took more than a couple of minutes to extricate myself. I tried lifting from the front and the back but there was just no way to get between the bike and the drywall to apply the leverage necessary to right the bike. And since I'd just filled the tank, fuel was coming out of the filler.

I had to go limping in search of a neighbor and it seemed ONLY WIVES WERE HOME! One neighbor had just returned home that morning from having his appendix removed, wanted to help, but that was out. His wife offered to help, but I just couldn't. I finally found someone and it was short work. No damage, except the windscreen plastic was bent - a day out in the sun straightened that out, (shoutout to Clearview), some holes in the drywall and a couple of days to air the gasoline vapors out of the garage where the LP fired water heater lives. But embarrassing? YES! And a week + of ankle pain to serve as a daily reminder.

A few years ago, I was pulling up to a 7-11 to run in and grab a water....as I rolled into the parking spot, this very attractive woman was just walking by where I pulled in....she looked back (clearly at the bike, not me..at least I'm honest with myself). Since I wanted to be as cool as I felt, I hopped off the bike - didn't even ATTEMPT to put down the kickstand. She (the bike) toppled over with a BAM. The cute woman was still looking, laughed, and walked into the store. I got the bike righted, and went in, seeing her at the coffee bar. I walked up and said "that's at least worth a phone number" - she agreed. We went out once - it amounted to nothing really - but it turned into a fun story.

Quick thinking!

I may troll convenience store parking lots on a beater.

We can stop now...I'm declaring you the clear and obvious winner!

perhaps you can make a Utube video on your approach I'm sure it will go viral.

Great story... You even have me convinced it's true... I don't think I'd ever drop my ride just to pick up a girl though...

chy, glad you didn't get hurt and thanks for sharing.