The Idiot's Guide To Dropping A Bike

[Flesher]

Hopefully some of you will contribute your own "I did a dumb thing and dropped my bike" story. Here's mine;

I bought a paddock stand so that I could make the job of lubing the chain on my Nighthawk easier. I would put a block of wood under the side stand so the bike stood almost upright, then use the paddock stand to lift the rear of the bike up. It was always tricky putting it back down and having it land on its side-stand just right, but I got pretty good at it, until, that is, the one time when I lifted the side-stand to check a wire connection, then proceeded to lube the chain, lower the paddock and... I miss that bike

[jstark47]

Here's my classic idiot story: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18526&p=158341#p158341

Updates since 2006: The Trophy belongs to me now. Nobody's dropped it in the last couple of years, thank goodness. And the burn scar on my elbow never faded!

[sapaul]

Ahhh man, we all do it at some time.

Washed cleaned and polished the VFR. Lubed the chain while on the centre stand in neutral. Pushed the bike off the stand and promptly dropped it onto it's right hand side while at the same time being flipped over the seat and landing on my head. Knocked a lot of sense into me that one.

Now I am very careful and even if I get a wet "O Ring", I sit on the bike to get it off the centre stand.

[flynrider]

Hey Flesher,

Your profile doesn't say, but if you have a late model Nighthawk ('91-'03) you can still get a centerstand for it. It's the best accessory money you'll ever spend. Let me know if you need the part #.

Fortunately, I haven't scratched a bike in nearly 20 yrs. It's not for lack of trying though. Last month I rode to my brother's house and parked in his garage. When we came out of the house, my bro asked, "Is your kickstand supposed to be like that?". I was shocked when I noticed that I somehow only managed to get the stand about 3/4 of the way down. Amazingly, the bike was still standing there, resting on a sidestand that was not even extended past the pivot point. If I'd blown on the bike, it probably would have gone over.

Another bullet dodged! Boy, I'm going to be really pissed when I finally drop that bike.

[Flesher]

Here's my classic idiot story: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18526&p=158341#p158341

Updates since 2006: The Trophy belongs to me now. Nobody's dropped it in the last couple of years, thank goodness. And the burn scar on my elbow never faded!

Great story, except I could feel both the burn on the elbow, and the one from the wife

[Flesher]

Ahhh man, we all do it at some time.

Washed cleaned and polished the VFR. Lubed the chain while on the centre stand in neutral. Pushed the bike off the stand and promptly dropped it onto it's right hand side while at the same time being flipped over the seat and landing on my head. Knocked a lot of sense into me that one.

Now I am very careful and even if I get a wet "O Ring", I sit on the bike to get it off the centre stand.

On your head? Ouch! I always find it amazing how we're conditioned to hang on to things when falling, whereas letting them go would be so much less likely to hurt us.

[Flesher]

Hey Flesher,

Your profile doesn't say, but if you have a late model Nighthawk ('91-'03) you can still get a centerstand for it. It's the best accessory money you'll ever spend. Let me know if you need the part #.

Fortunately, I haven't scratched a bike in nearly 20 yrs. It's not for lack of trying though. Last month I rode to my brother's house and parked in his garage. When we came out of the house, my bro asked, "Is your kickstand supposed to be like that?". I was shocked when I noticed that I somehow only managed to get the stand about 3/4 of the way down. Amazingly, the bike was still standing there, resting on a sidestand that was not even extended past the pivot point. If I'd blown on the bike, it probably would have gone over.

Another bullet dodged! Boy, I'm going to be really pissed when I finally drop that bike.

A bullet dodged indeed! That was a close one, a warm day on asphalt and you would have found it on the ground for sure. The Nighthawk was a '92, I sold it a couple of years ago, I really miss it.

[storysunfolding]

My bike was blown over this past weekend while at a Total Control class. 60 mph gusts while we were in the classroom. Thank you kindly engine guards for taking the blow.

[jstark47]

Thank you kindly engine guards for taking the blow.

SW Motech guards?

[storysunfolding]

Nope. I went hepco and becker