Joining the dropped the bike club now

[Rick Lee]

Today is my second day of ownership and I too dropped the bike. Anyone who knows that 160 deg., almost U-turn from Clara Barton Pkwy onto MacArthur Blvd would understand. It's an ascending curve with a yield sign in the middle of it. I had to stop to wait for a few cars and I stalled when I started off. Since it was in a turn the bike just leaned over to the left. I was able to let her down slowly and pick her up without a scratch. But gawd, was it embarrassing and frustrating.

[DJ Downunder]

Glad no damage was done...times like that you need a dark helmet visor..

DJ

[CycleRob]

LonestaRR,

The bike can be fixed. It's a good thing you didn't injure any joints, muscle or skin. I bet you were so MAD you were able to pick it up all by yourself.

It's a heavy bike and a bit of a handful in tight turns on slopes, even for experienced riders. That Tele-Lever front suspension in that situation doesn't behave spongey like the zillion bikes you've ridden before.

[LA]

Sorry to hear about your drop LonestaRR.
It seems to happen to all of us...although I know that is small consolation.
If you have a product available called Plasti-Dip (in black), you will find it perfect for touching up any black rubber coated parts on your bike. I used it when I dropped mine to repair both the bar end and the brake lever end... you cannot see any damage at all.
As soon as I dropped my bike I fitted the Hepco and Becker engine bars....and guess what: no more drops. I suppose its a mental thing but the fact that you feel more secure because of the bars you dont seem to think about it any more.
I really should not have said that, should I !

Also I think I would probably win most embarrassing drop.
I was picking up my bike from the dealer after its service and admiring the great job they did in detailing it.
It was on the centre stand and as I rolled the bike forward my sunnies moved on the seat ...good idea going for the cheapo sunglasses and letting the Rockster fall.
As luck would have it most of the service staff were all nearby...to ensure embarrassment was maximised.

LA

[ranmar850]

I very nearly joined the club last week, in one of the silliest ways possible. left home on the Friday morning for the 600km ride to Perth, new Z6 booked for fitting when I arrived. Looked at it at Badgingarra, 200 km from destination, still looking OK. Good quick trip down, pulled up outside the shop and backed in, and the manager said "got your money's worth out of that one" -I looked back and there was steel showing! Anyway, had the new one fitted, and as usual, fitter said watch out slippery when new, yeah, I know that (I do) So what did I do? A fast feet up U-turn and away she went in a full blooded slide-full opposite lock, big lean angle, got it back and overcorrected , other opposite lock, got it under control and quietly pulled over and took a deep breath. Looking back, there was an impressive strip of rubber in near a full semi-circle on the road. Which is where I should have been. An inspection of the RH sidewall showed it heavily scuffed full circumference to within 1/2 " of the shoulder-damn near took the elephants off in the first ten seconds! I think, on reflection the only reason I didn't do a massive hi-side into oncoming traffic was that it took me so completely by surprise I didn't have time to chop the throttle before I got it back upright and sliding the other way! That, maybe and the dirt track racing I used to do a long time ago Or was it BMW's legendary forgiving handling? I'm a believer in that

[Beemer1150]

Haven't quite dropped the beast (yet...) but did drop my previous bike due to a 'I-could-have-sworn-I-put-the-sidestand-down' scenario.

Virtually no damage to my bike, but as I went down my backpack just touched the almost-new GSXR Thou next door - £1500's worth of insurance claim as that toppled off its sidestand.

The only saving grace was that the Gixer missed the Aprilia RSV next to it by a hairsbreadth... and prevented a domino game the length of the company bike shed.

And yes, of course there were witnesses. Worse still the Gixer belonged to one of my students and the Aprillia to one of my colleagues. Doh!

That grabby servo front on the Beemer is going to catch me out one day, I just know it.

[joejeweler]

"Heavy Bikes",......mine feels like just a thoroughbred lightweight compared to my other bike!

Get a 1982 shaft drive Suzuki GS850GL under you with full Windjammer SS fairing, Luggage rack and trunk.,.......and i believe i'm about 625 pounds wet.

.....saving grace is the seat is super low,.......so not to bad as long as you're moving.

Kristi...what a shame...were there many people watching...that's the main thing...................... ...................just kidding..

It can happen so easy...these are heavy bikes....you're doing a great job riding one.

The worst drops are those where you think the side stand is down and lean it over...at the point where you realize it's not down it's too late.

Glad you didn't hurt yourself.

DJ

[silverkitty]

Ok - I get the award for the most drops in the least amount of time!
Since getting my license only 18 months ago.
1. My first trip on my husbands Honda shadow, broke the mirror off.
2. 2nd ride on my new 1150R at a stop sign, lost my balance on a street new my home. a very nice lady walking her dog helped
3. 1st weekend ride in the parking lot of the gas station, the next thing I know 4 very nice men come over to help me pick it up. I appreciated the help but was very embarrassed. cracked the cylinder guards and scratched the mirror
4. 6 months later, coming into a parking lot tired and lost my balance. The pipes were hot and melted the bottom of my pants but the boot saved me from a burn.
5. In my drive way, I thought I had put down the side stand.
6. 2 months later on the blue ride at a tight turn - I should have come to a complete stop before looking left with the bike turned right. another embarrasing moment because it was a crowded day.

This year I have not dropped the bike once! I guess that means I am improving. I do fine on the road it's when I try to roll slowly that I have a problem. I just need to get out there and practice.

[TheVelcroMind]

I am new. I thought I'd revive this thread as my first post. My first dropped bike was in 2005. I was in Northern Michigan and I made a wide u turn on two lane hard ball road. The should of the road was all fine sand and one second I'm turning just fine. Next second I'm off the asphalt and my bikes front tire is pretending to be a bulldozer and pushing up a wall of sand. Well, the center of gravity went someplace.. don't know where... but the bike went down half in the sand and half on the asphalt. Sprained my ankle and jacked up the low fuel light. All at 3 MPH.

But I live to tell the story and a lesson well learned.

Scott