Funny dropping bike stories
- Thread starter JRod294
- Start date
lingo
social pariah
I rode down to a favorite restaurant to meet some friends that where in town. Pulled into the parking space right next to them as they were getting out. They were surprised to see me when the helmet came off. We go in and have lunch. When we go to leave I put my riding gear on as they are pulling out of their space. I throw a leg over and go to kick start it. I must have been in a hurry and forgot to look for the little green light in the gauges. It was in first gear and went straight to the ground. None of my friends saw it, so it didn't happen, right?
RainTree
New Member
After boasting my love for bikes to a group of non riders, whom I'd been living/completing a certification course with for the past month, someone showed up with a small 125 cc bike (this is in costa rica) and offered me a ride. I happily obliged and after riding for about 3 feet to do a small u-turn (on grass), I pulled the front brake, a little too much, and down she went, along with my pride. My humiliation was only increased with the roar of laughter and the pointing fingers...to my defence, it had been a few months and I was delirious from too much sun. No damage done but regardless, I haven't managed to live that one down, yet.
raf-1200
Active Member
Every Sunday my whole family gets their bikes out and we clean them and have a picnic. This day the grass was wet so my mum (she's getting on) asks me to ride her BMW 1200RS.
I'm making it look oh so cool and figure I'll just tap the back brake perhaps a little skid etc etc only to find both brakes come on (thanks BMW technology) and sure enough front slides out in front of all 6 bike rider family members, girlfriends etc. serves me right and yes I'm still hearing about it!
I'm making it look oh so cool and figure I'll just tap the back brake perhaps a little skid etc etc only to find both brakes come on (thanks BMW technology) and sure enough front slides out in front of all 6 bike rider family members, girlfriends etc. serves me right and yes I'm still hearing about it!
buckeyebike
Over 1,000 Posts
1st bike in a while (Thruxton), was cleaning it up, thought the sidestand was down, leaned it, no sidestand, realized it, did everything I could to keep it from hitting the ground; by the time all motion stopped, I was pinned between the bike and the garage wall and driveway, screaming like a little girl for my wife to come help me get it back up. Not a scratch . . . on the bike. 
spotty
Vmax...why,yes i think i will
many many years ago, when i rode scooters for my sins, i had a thing called a Rabbit Superflow 200, it was fully automatic and old enuf (1964) to have no safety lock when starting. i actually fell off 3 it times the first day i rode it (also my first day with a licence), but thats another story
anyway i eventually broke a throttle cable, fitted another one but didn't route it properly thru the bodywork and it pulled tight when turning. i was parked in an empty carpark trying to sort this and was sat on the ground beside it when i turned the ignition on and reached up and pressed the electric start, unfortunately i'd managed to pull the cable full on and the engine fired at full revs, shot off the centre stand (about a foot from my face) and took off across the car park, it managed about 30 yards before it decided to have a(nother) lie down
from memory i fell off that thing at least a dozen time in the 3 months or so i had it, eventually the ancient electrical system gave up and i happily pushed it into the shed and went out and bought a succession of vespas and lambrettas (fell off all of them too)
in the 3 years or so of scootering i hit the ground 27 times (sometimes in a highly spectacular fashion with many long lasting physical repercussions), in the nearly 30 years since of riding proper motorcycles i've only fallen off 3 times (none badly at all)
is there a moral there somewhere?
anyway i eventually broke a throttle cable, fitted another one but didn't route it properly thru the bodywork and it pulled tight when turning. i was parked in an empty carpark trying to sort this and was sat on the ground beside it when i turned the ignition on and reached up and pressed the electric start, unfortunately i'd managed to pull the cable full on and the engine fired at full revs, shot off the centre stand (about a foot from my face) and took off across the car park, it managed about 30 yards before it decided to have a(nother) lie down
from memory i fell off that thing at least a dozen time in the 3 months or so i had it, eventually the ancient electrical system gave up and i happily pushed it into the shed and went out and bought a succession of vespas and lambrettas (fell off all of them too)
in the 3 years or so of scootering i hit the ground 27 times (sometimes in a highly spectacular fashion with many long lasting physical repercussions), in the nearly 30 years since of riding proper motorcycles i've only fallen off 3 times (none badly at all)
is there a moral there somewhere?
Last year I was parking the rd at work put down the kick stand annnnddddd it went flying off the bike and under a car. if your a min late they send you home so now I got a problem the hand scanner time clock is 100 yards away in side the shop I'm holding a bike hoping a daylight guy (that shift was letting out) would hold the bike long enuff for me to scan in and grab a new bolt. I also dropped my buddy r1 in a parking lot drunk and broke off the rear set he was filming me tring to pick it up and laughing that fucker had it on youtube befor I got the bike backup
N
NortonGuy
Guest
I was trying to wheel a BSA single down into the basement by myself once when I was young and dropped it down the stairs. I covered the holes it made in the walls on it's way down with pretty pictures of motorcycles.
SeanGSUK
Strength is measured in tolerance, not mass
I work in the media and was invited to a test day at Bedford Autodrome in the UK to try out some new bikes a few years back. It was organised by the MCIA (motorcycle industry association).
Anyway, been riding GSXRs, R1s, R6, ZXRs, RC8s etc on this track for most of the day, you get 15 mins with each bike. I went to get the Ducati 1098 (it had just come out, before they upped the CC to 1198), I rode the bike to the edge of the slip road to join the track. Forgetting I was still in second and unused to a big cc twin, I stalled it as I was starting off between traffic. If fell on it side and slid about 10 feet.
No biggie, I thought, stand it up, start up and we'll be off. But no! This minor off broke the clip-on, foot peg, Gear lever, mirror, cracked the fairing and split the crank case. When the Ducati guys came to pick it they said It caused about £2000 worth of damage to it! It though I will never buy a Ducati!
I also have a disability affecting my lower body, so I often drop my bike when trying to push it about in and out of the garage etc, good job 70's bikes were so over engineered!
Most embarrassing was at a filling station when I thought I'd put the side stand down, leant over to get off the bike and dropped it on the the fuel pump, Handlebar cracked a hole on the fibreglass side of the pump! The garage was busy too and everyone was looking as I struggled to pull the bike upright again.
Anyway, been riding GSXRs, R1s, R6, ZXRs, RC8s etc on this track for most of the day, you get 15 mins with each bike. I went to get the Ducati 1098 (it had just come out, before they upped the CC to 1198), I rode the bike to the edge of the slip road to join the track. Forgetting I was still in second and unused to a big cc twin, I stalled it as I was starting off between traffic. If fell on it side and slid about 10 feet.
No biggie, I thought, stand it up, start up and we'll be off. But no! This minor off broke the clip-on, foot peg, Gear lever, mirror, cracked the fairing and split the crank case. When the Ducati guys came to pick it they said It caused about £2000 worth of damage to it! It though I will never buy a Ducati!
I also have a disability affecting my lower body, so I often drop my bike when trying to push it about in and out of the garage etc, good job 70's bikes were so over engineered!
Most embarrassing was at a filling station when I thought I'd put the side stand down, leant over to get off the bike and dropped it on the the fuel pump, Handlebar cracked a hole on the fibreglass side of the pump! The garage was busy too and everyone was looking as I struggled to pull the bike upright again.
spotty
Vmax...why,yes i think i will
then there was the day i went for a ride with a bunch of mates, i was out front as they all went down a slip road and into a petrol station (we use that instead of gas over here), no problem i thought, i'll just go a bit further up the road, into another side street, round the block and into the same street the petrol station was in and all would be sweet.
except i miscalculated and emerged one street up from the service station and had to go the wrong way down the slip road to get back to it. again, no problem, except for the car coming out of the service station towards me.....
he was looking over his shoulder back down the sliproad that i was riding down (the wrong way) and i thought 'he'll turn round and see me any second now' so i took little avoiding action (none actually) and then just before he hit me i had another thought 'why would he look this way, its a one way slip road and any traffic will be coming from behind him....oww shit, he just hit me'
the sound of the impact and my bike hitting the ground atrracted the attention of my friends in the service station, they looked across just in time to see me running down the road with huge bounding steps as i managed to not actually fall over.
the owner of the car was (quite rightly) not best pleased and upset about the damage i had done to his car. he calmed down a bit when he realised there were a dozen or so dirty bikers gathered round him and agreed to take $20 for a new indicator lens and beat a hasty retreat
luckily no damage to the Honda and off we went to the country to consume copious amounts of whatever made us happy in those days (how times have changed, i was out with most of the same guys last week and it was light beer and soft drinks for most of us)
except i miscalculated and emerged one street up from the service station and had to go the wrong way down the slip road to get back to it. again, no problem, except for the car coming out of the service station towards me.....
he was looking over his shoulder back down the sliproad that i was riding down (the wrong way) and i thought 'he'll turn round and see me any second now' so i took little avoiding action (none actually) and then just before he hit me i had another thought 'why would he look this way, its a one way slip road and any traffic will be coming from behind him....oww shit, he just hit me'
the sound of the impact and my bike hitting the ground atrracted the attention of my friends in the service station, they looked across just in time to see me running down the road with huge bounding steps as i managed to not actually fall over.
the owner of the car was (quite rightly) not best pleased and upset about the damage i had done to his car. he calmed down a bit when he realised there were a dozen or so dirty bikers gathered round him and agreed to take $20 for a new indicator lens and beat a hasty retreat
luckily no damage to the Honda and off we went to the country to consume copious amounts of whatever made us happy in those days (how times have changed, i was out with most of the same guys last week and it was light beer and soft drinks for most of us)
Hoosier Daddy
Earache my eye...
1983, West Palm Beach, FL. I was 19, the bike was my '69 BSA Thunderbolt. After closing Flannigans Pub I had obviously had too much to drink. :
Sitting at a stop light at 2:00AM on thankfully then deserted Okechobee Blvd (major street) I was tossing the bike between my legs (or swaying to stand straight) and over to the left she went. I had simply spread my legs and "rode" it down. So I straddled it and picked it back up. But due to poor judgement went too far over center and down onto the right side I went!
This time I'm pinned under it and laying in the street staring at the stop light with a still running bike, in gear, with the back wheel going around and around on top of me. I swear I watched it turn green then red more than one time before I got myself free and the bike upright. Amazingly not a sigle car, Johnny Law, or another Drunk for that matter came to the intersection the whole time I layed there. :
Sitting at a stop light at 2:00AM on thankfully then deserted Okechobee Blvd (major street) I was tossing the bike between my legs (or swaying to stand straight) and over to the left she went. I had simply spread my legs and "rode" it down. So I straddled it and picked it back up. But due to poor judgement went too far over center and down onto the right side I went!
This time I'm pinned under it and laying in the street staring at the stop light with a still running bike, in gear, with the back wheel going around and around on top of me. I swear I watched it turn green then red more than one time before I got myself free and the bike upright. Amazingly not a sigle car, Johnny Law, or another Drunk for that matter came to the intersection the whole time I layed there. :
spotty
Vmax...why,yes i think i will
then there was the night that my mate dave finally got his vespa back on the road.
he'd bought the vespa (a Rally 200) off me and stripped it down straight away for a custom paint job and beautiful it was too. green candy metalflake over black, furry seat cover and matching sissybar pad cover (stop sniggering at the back) and he'd finally got it finished one fine saturday so he decided to ride it to the nightclub that night.
all went well on the way there but he may have had one or two celebratory beers too many and was fairly rat-arsed by the time we left (and before anyone says why did we let him ride like that - we were all like that, in fact most of us got drunk and rode whenever we went out back then)
so anyway, kicking out time comes and we're all outside deciding where to go next when dave hops on his vespa and buggers off. we all gave chase and a merry game ensued round the back streets of inner melbourne. we eventually caught him up and headed for home. all went well until we had to stop at a red light, dave forgot he wasn't in a car and didn't remember to put his feet down.
that took care of the left side panel and leg shield.........
got him up and off we went again, again all went well until we got back to dave's place where he forgot how to ride over the gutter into his front yard
that took care of the right side panel and leg shield.........
he'd bought the vespa (a Rally 200) off me and stripped it down straight away for a custom paint job and beautiful it was too. green candy metalflake over black, furry seat cover and matching sissybar pad cover (stop sniggering at the back) and he'd finally got it finished one fine saturday so he decided to ride it to the nightclub that night.
all went well on the way there but he may have had one or two celebratory beers too many and was fairly rat-arsed by the time we left (and before anyone says why did we let him ride like that - we were all like that, in fact most of us got drunk and rode whenever we went out back then)
so anyway, kicking out time comes and we're all outside deciding where to go next when dave hops on his vespa and buggers off. we all gave chase and a merry game ensued round the back streets of inner melbourne. we eventually caught him up and headed for home. all went well until we had to stop at a red light, dave forgot he wasn't in a car and didn't remember to put his feet down.
that took care of the left side panel and leg shield.........
got him up and off we went again, again all went well until we got back to dave's place where he forgot how to ride over the gutter into his front yard
that took care of the right side panel and leg shield.........
Im laughing just remembering this story...
years ago. My two crazy cousins spent the evening drinking. Riding home on Harleys pulled up next to a car load of hotties at a stop light. Robert, smiling at the girls FORGOT TO PUT HIS FEET DOWN. Wedging himself tween the car door and his bike. Cousin Ron (also drunk) was laughing so hard he couldnt pick the bike up. The girls jumped out the car and ran around to help.
Robert screaming like a pack of girl scouts, afraid the bike was burning his leg.
Didnt leave a mark on him. Not even warm.
years ago. My two crazy cousins spent the evening drinking. Riding home on Harleys pulled up next to a car load of hotties at a stop light. Robert, smiling at the girls FORGOT TO PUT HIS FEET DOWN. Wedging himself tween the car door and his bike. Cousin Ron (also drunk) was laughing so hard he couldnt pick the bike up. The girls jumped out the car and ran around to help.
Robert screaming like a pack of girl scouts, afraid the bike was burning his leg.
Didnt leave a mark on him. Not even warm.
suddenlycalm
Been Around the Block
I work with an idiot. To close his garage door he would flip a leg over and hit the button in one swift motion. He dropped his 2004 Buell twice trying to accomplish this task. About three months later he topped the cake. While working on an old boat, he needed to check if the battery was charged, instead of getting up and looking he thought he'd just hit the power trim and listen for movement.....he heard movement, the prop knocked over the bike. It landed on its side broke the clutch lever and screwed up the engine case. That bike leaked from that day on. I still giggle every time i think about it.
spotty
Vmax...why,yes i think i will
another scooter one....
i'd finally finished building the vespa of my dreams, a P200E with a 212cc big bore and a stroker crank (yes really) to take it all the way out to a scorching 225cc with a 30mm dell-orto, trick clutch, unbaffled expansion chamber, candy gold metalflake over black paintwork, gold and chrome plating, engraved hubs, pike nuts all over the wheels and motor etc, gold metalflake seat and backrest, the list went on and on
i finished building it on the thursday afternoon and took it out friday to show it off before the big scooter run on the weekend. saturday comes around and we set off to a lovely little township in the mountains called Walhalla, all seemed to be going fine though the gearbox seemed a little clunky.
spend the night drinking and indulging in those things that seemed to come naturally back then and sunday dawns clear and bright so off home we heads. the 'clunkiness' seemed to be getting worse but i thought i'd worry about it when i got home.
the other thing about this scooter was it was seriously quick (compared to stock anyway) and had no trouble pulling 100mph and i was doing about 85mph when i hit the first bit of proper freeway. all of a sudden the back end got seriously wobbly and i thought i had a flat back tyre so slowly hit the brakes.
what had actually happened was the pike nut on the back (single sided) axle had come loose due to not having a split pin thru it.
when i hit the brakes it jolted the wheel all the way down the axle and knocked the nut off completely, this in turn allowed the wheel to come off the end of the axle and disappear up inside the body of the vespa. next thing i knew i was sliding along on the rear of the bodywork still doing about 80 mph ( i actually went past a car while i was doing this)
for a while i thought i might be able to ride it out then the whole lot toppled over on its left side (with me still sitting on it) and headed towards the side of the road. i still remember seeing the armco barrier approaching and letting go of the bars and kicking away from it. the next thought that went thru my mind (its amazing what you have time to think of in what must be an incredibly short space of time) was that i had 3 choices as to how i was going to interact with the armco
a) slide underneath it and i could see the freeway ran along the top of an embankment and there was obviously some dropoff on the other side of the barrier, turned out it was about 30 feet down.......maybe not
b) hit one of the supports with my legs spread...........maybe not
c) hit the support with just one leg (actually slide sole first into a 12x8" wooden post) which is the option i went for
i pushed the ball of my ankle up thru the base of my tibula and split it straight up the middle for about 6", wore thru all skin etc thru to the bone on the side of my ankle and various ligament/tendon nasties. you'd think a pair of trainers would offer more protection than that......
it was all downhill from there but i ended up getting my leg put in plaster 2 days later and kept it there for the next 2 months, finally got it taken off on xmas eve and celebrated by walking to the pub about half a mile from home, got drunk and walked home again...i did enuf damage that night that it was another 2 weeks before i could walk again and that ankle is still pretty much useless 28 years later
i'd finally finished building the vespa of my dreams, a P200E with a 212cc big bore and a stroker crank (yes really) to take it all the way out to a scorching 225cc with a 30mm dell-orto, trick clutch, unbaffled expansion chamber, candy gold metalflake over black paintwork, gold and chrome plating, engraved hubs, pike nuts all over the wheels and motor etc, gold metalflake seat and backrest, the list went on and on
i finished building it on the thursday afternoon and took it out friday to show it off before the big scooter run on the weekend. saturday comes around and we set off to a lovely little township in the mountains called Walhalla, all seemed to be going fine though the gearbox seemed a little clunky.
spend the night drinking and indulging in those things that seemed to come naturally back then and sunday dawns clear and bright so off home we heads. the 'clunkiness' seemed to be getting worse but i thought i'd worry about it when i got home.
the other thing about this scooter was it was seriously quick (compared to stock anyway) and had no trouble pulling 100mph and i was doing about 85mph when i hit the first bit of proper freeway. all of a sudden the back end got seriously wobbly and i thought i had a flat back tyre so slowly hit the brakes.
what had actually happened was the pike nut on the back (single sided) axle had come loose due to not having a split pin thru it.
when i hit the brakes it jolted the wheel all the way down the axle and knocked the nut off completely, this in turn allowed the wheel to come off the end of the axle and disappear up inside the body of the vespa. next thing i knew i was sliding along on the rear of the bodywork still doing about 80 mph ( i actually went past a car while i was doing this)
for a while i thought i might be able to ride it out then the whole lot toppled over on its left side (with me still sitting on it) and headed towards the side of the road. i still remember seeing the armco barrier approaching and letting go of the bars and kicking away from it. the next thought that went thru my mind (its amazing what you have time to think of in what must be an incredibly short space of time) was that i had 3 choices as to how i was going to interact with the armco
a) slide underneath it and i could see the freeway ran along the top of an embankment and there was obviously some dropoff on the other side of the barrier, turned out it was about 30 feet down.......maybe not
b) hit one of the supports with my legs spread...........maybe not
c) hit the support with just one leg (actually slide sole first into a 12x8" wooden post) which is the option i went for
i pushed the ball of my ankle up thru the base of my tibula and split it straight up the middle for about 6", wore thru all skin etc thru to the bone on the side of my ankle and various ligament/tendon nasties. you'd think a pair of trainers would offer more protection than that......
it was all downhill from there but i ended up getting my leg put in plaster 2 days later and kept it there for the next 2 months, finally got it taken off on xmas eve and celebrated by walking to the pub about half a mile from home, got drunk and walked home again...i did enuf damage that night that it was another 2 weeks before i could walk again and that ankle is still pretty much useless 28 years later
rufio
Been Around the Block
Couple things Spotty.
A. That story is scary as hell not funny.
B. I'm gonna say it because I know some are thinking it. A scooter going 100mph. Come on this must be some kind of imaginary machine. BUT I believe you man. Im a scooterboy at heart and have a couple P ranges. Largest kitted was 210, but that got to a cruising 85 easy. It's crazy at speed with 10 inch wheels.
C. Lastly sorry about your ankle man.
A. That story is scary as hell not funny.
B. I'm gonna say it because I know some are thinking it. A scooter going 100mph. Come on this must be some kind of imaginary machine. BUT I believe you man. Im a scooterboy at heart and have a couple P ranges.
Largest kitted was 210, but that got to a cruising 85 easy. It's crazy at speed with 10 inch wheels. C. Lastly sorry about your ankle man.
DetroitStyle
If it leaks, we can fill it
Cracked up my TL1000R 2 days after I got it (car backed out in front of me, I swerved and hit a parked truck @ 2mph)... so I took all of the plastic off and the front fender. Didn't realize that the front fender kept the brake line off of the tire. Started down the driveway and the tire grabbed the line, stopped the tire, I did a most unplanned stoppie... smashed my nuts into the tank, back tire came down and the bike fell over. I'm just glad it happened there instead of 1 minute later at 45mph....
Had another time... rode my GSX-R 1000 to the gym... did a 90 minute leg workout, 10 sets of squats, 10 sets of presses, etc. Walked out to the bike, hopped on, stopped at the first light and put my leg out and it folded over like spaghetti. Then it took EVERYTHING I had to get it back up again. LOL.
Had another time... rode my GSX-R 1000 to the gym... did a 90 minute leg workout, 10 sets of squats, 10 sets of presses, etc. Walked out to the bike, hopped on, stopped at the first light and put my leg out and it folded over like spaghetti. Then it took EVERYTHING I had to get it back up again. LOL.
regal7point5
Active Member
DetroitStyle said:
That is CLASSIC!! Probably one of those times it hurts so bad, but is so funny at the same time...lol
frankenbike
www.fb-stuff.com
This was a month after I got out of the hospital for a slipped disc.
Who frigging puts a kickstand down on the grass?!....me derrrr
spotty
Vmax...why,yes i think i will
rufio said:Couple things Spotty.
A. That story is scary as hell not funny.
B. I'm gonna say it because I know some are thinking it. A scooter going 100mph. Come on this must be some kind of imaginary machine. BUT I believe you man. Im a scooterboy at heart and have a couple P ranges.
C. Lastly sorry about your ankle man.
i wouldn't have believed anyone who said their vespa did 100mph but a mate on an RD350LC chased me and thats what his speedo said.............another friend went one further with his vespa, he got the pinasco twin carb conversion 212cc kit and his left me for dead.
the ankle is indeed a bastard but at least i know a couple of days ahead of time when its going to rain LOL, and its a good match for the other ankle that i tore all the tendons and shit out of a year before that accident in a walking down stairs related incident. and the knee that went the same way in a falling through a roof related etc.........
