I laid my bike down today...

payjay314

payjay314

"If we can't find a way, we will make one!"
I just wanted to get it out there...but today, as I was pulling up to my work in the parking lot, I was forced to lay my bike down. I don't remember if it was an oil slick I stepped on or just lost my balance at a completely slow speed...Either way, I laid that 500 lbs bike on the ground. If anything I am alright as well as my bike (the engine bars actually took all of the damage), but my pride has been metaphorically "bruised"... :( ...I'm glad that it happened in a safe environment (empty parking lot) and I guess I can chalk it up to experience. I also felt that I was getting real cocky with riding, but I guess this experience has humbled me to the point of being just plain cautious while riding...Anyways thats enough from me...
 
That's the best possible way you can lay your bike down, sir.

I did the same years ago. Pulled into a spot, put my foot down into a nice fresh puddle of oil, and down I went. Fortunately my bike landed on something nice and soft. Unfortunately, that something was my foot, ha. So I layed my bike down at a standstill and somehow broke my foot.
 
Say what you will about the bars, they do their job, that's why I find a set for every bike I own. I've lived on dirt roads all my life and have laid many of my toys over in soft dirt or sand or MUD. Same thing for going around corners. Nothing like knowing the soft shit is coming, slowing DOWN for it and still burying the front tire and coming to a dead stop. The bars almost always keep the bike pretty much OK.

Me on the other hand, I went over the handle bars ONCE and tore up a knee on something on the way over (15 stitches) that put me out of walking for 2 weeks and I had a pretty bad limp for 2 months. Never rode down that trail again. ;D
 
Same thing happened to a good friend on his then brand new Speed Triple. He met us out one evening and pulled into a spot where a guy had parked his old hot rod. Well apparently the old Flathead motor had a bit of an oil leak. My buddy threw the kickstand down and went to lean the bike over and it never stopped. He went down with it. Busted turnsignal and a bruised ego was the extent of the damage luckily. All the HD guys hot a real chuckle out of it though...
 
payjay314 said:
I also felt that I was getting real cocky with riding, but I guess this experience has humbled me to the point of being just plain cautious while riding...Anyways thats enough from me...
Click to expand...

That's always an important lesson to keep in your mind. I remember the last time I got to overconfident on a bike...that lesson involved the back of an F-150 and yes, those trucks are every bit as hard as they look. :eek:
 
Its reassuring to hear that everyone has some sort of experience dropping their bike at one point or another...Again, I think the bruised "ego" hurts the most at this point, but the bike is ok...I'll get a picture of it soon, but all of the damage was on bars (some minor scratches and a little dent), but hey, thats why they are there...
 
I remember, years ago, I was on my CB900F. I was leaving a friends house and idling down the driveway. When I got to the street and started to go down the curb, I saw a car approaching. I smoothly came to a stop, with the front wheel in the street, the back wheel still on the driveway, and me centered over the void at the curb... frantically trying to reach the the ground with my foot.
My friend said I stretched out twice with my foot, but hit nothing. Then me and the bike teetered over and hit the ground. Over with in two seconds. He said I made a noise that sounded like a hiccup.
However, in my head it was all in slow motion. I had more of a "Wile E. Coyote after he's run off a cliff and realizes the ground is missing" kind of experience. I remember "toe'ing" for the ground several times and thinking WTF?! And then the reality started to sink in and I remember saying "AW Fuuuuuuuuck" all the way to the ground.

We still laugh about that :D

Don't sweat it too much dude, it happens to the best of us ;)
 
Haha, like that avatar too Redbird and thanks for the words of encouragement... :)
 
Wow this reminds me of my own embarrassing moment. I was 19, out on my first ride on a 87ninja 750 id just finished fixing. Id never ridden a sportbike before, just my brother's cb400t around the farm. So this was a different animal. I coasted into a gas station just as a car pulled into the only open pump, so I figured id just swing a circle and wait me turn. I was in neutral and turned rather sharply and was moving maybe 5 mph. I realized I was in trouble when the bike started leaning into the turn and I was on top. I slipped a foot off to try to counter what I knew was happening, and then for whatever reason I decided not to use the brakes, nor move my grounded foot to compensate. Picture a coin rolling slowly in a circle and then toppling awkwardly over. Im pretty sure the people in the parking lot had a good laugh, and my left leg didn't enjoy being under the heap. Took what seemed an eternity to right everything and straighten up. No bike damage, just pride spilled all over the pavement. Haha, seems funny now 10 years later.
 
Hmmm...Sounds very familiar to my own experience yesterday,lol...Yeah, I'm a rookie rider making rookie mistakes I guess...I agree that spilling my pride on the pavement hurts the most, but hey it will be funny later...
 
It's important to learn something from the little things in life.

Aside from the time Justin watched me drop a bike (stupid in it's own way so I wont describe it here), I dropped my 175 in the garage. I had just got done with a little trial run around the block and had some tennis shoes on. The laces were really long and I didn't have them tucked in or anything. I pull in the garage, stopped, and went to put my feet down. Laces on my left shoe were snagged up but my weight was already on my left side. Sure enough. I fell over. The peg landed on the ground and there was a moving blanket or something that broke my fall.
 
I dropped one of mine getting it out of a truck a few weeks ago... I was loosening the tie downs, and i asked my buddy "Are you holding it?" and he said yes... Undid the tie down, all force gone on the right side, boom. Bike falls over in the bed of the truck... I just kind of stared at him like "Really? What the fuck man". No damage, got lucky cus it fell on the footpeg on one of the wheel humps.


I also dumped one of the bikes during the licencing safety course. All weekend people were telling me how confident i was on the bike (I had ridden bikes for like 18 years before taking the course, and no one else in the course had ever even been on a bike). Riding along through the course they had set up and all of a sudden some dude shoots right infront of me. Locked the front brake, bike tips in, i jump off and land on me feet in one of those awkward "Uhhhh, i really meant to do that?" kind of ways... Embarassing as hell, and I had to fill out insurance forms for like an hour, that sucked.


Ive also had some embarassing close calls, like one time i was staring at some hot girls on the corner and didnt notice a bus turn infront of me... locked the brakes and did an amazing powerslide through the intersection... Those girls were cracking up 8)


Dont worry man, happens to everyone.
 
I drop my bike at least once a season but thats becuase I am an idiot and cant help but lose focus of what I am doing.
The worst part is it always happens when I am walking the bike into the spot... Starts to tip and I am just not strong enough to hold it up once it goes past a certain angle.

Actually funny enough, the first time I rode the honda after the rebuild, I was hanging out with Rusty and it was parked... sure enough, it started to tip, and it went down... RustyOlive looked at me like "fuckkkk dude, we just finished putting it back together and now you drop it!!!!" haha, thankfully there was no damage... Just hit the peg rubber nice and slow.
 
I used to fall off my bicycle once every spring when I forgot I was using clipless pedals. I'd come to a stop, can't get feet off the pedals, and just fall over right there. Did it at the end of a cute girl's driveway once, never did score a date with her.... I ride rollers in the winter now so I don't fall out of practice anymore.

My worst (dumbest and most embarrasing) m/c dump was test-driving a Kawi Concourse at a dealer. Their parking lot was sort of wonky with a dip for a drain. I stalled the bike taking off and wouldn't ya know it, I was right over that dip and just couldn't hold it up. I still feel super bad about it because I scratched the hard bag.
 
Last summer I had lunch with some buddies and was too buy thinking about how cool looked taking off in front of them and some birds to think about taking the chain I had wrapped around the back tire off. Needless to say, I looked like a total tool.....
 
IDK how MANY times I've done that! Glad Ur ok! I have many bikes I remember riding my Suzuki DL1000 VStrom (borderline big offroad bike) on a oil well drive, when I went to get back on pavement making a left turn I went 2 slow, not too bad yet... but I was looking thru the turn "like Ur supposed 2" and did not realize I was straddleing a big rut and there was nothing to put my foot on for about another 8 more inches than my brain thought there should have been! Suprize!! Thank goodness for the crash bars! :)
 
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