Top 13 Dropped Bike Horror Stories

1. bigdaddy33: “I parked the Road Glide in an underground, dimly lit parking lot and after turning the bike off and putting the stand down, I thought it would be a little safer if I moved it forward another foot or so. In doing so, I dragged the stand and it was no longer set properly and folded the rest of the way back with the weight of the bike.

I realized too late and eased the bike down. No damage at all. As I’ve always been a gym rat I figured I’d just hoist it up, and in doing so, totally ruptured my distal biceps tendon. I hear the pop, but complete the lift. Then I look at my arm and realize that my bicep has rolled up toward my shoulder. Surgery and reattached tendon and now 100%.

Moral of the story: don’t let the adrenaline do your thinking. Lift it properly. Especially with the touring bikes, as they’re a lot heavier, and what you can get away with on the lighter bikes might not hold true with the baggers.”

2. WVHogRider: “About a three weeks ago a ‘buddy’ of mine knocked my motorcycle over with his truck pulling out of my house. He almost died and he knows it. Broken clutch handle, broken clutch handle housing, bent mirror, crimped throttle cables, and dented speedo housing.”

3. hogcowboy: “I’m 65, and I dropped mine at my gate this summer. It’s uphill to the gate and downhill to the left and gravel. I could not move that sucker. I called the wife and both of us could not move it. Took a rope and a car to get that thing righted. I don’t know if it was the strange angle or the gravel keeping us from getting good footing, but I sure don’t want to do it again. I started considering a trike conversion as a result. I’m still recovering from an accident in January of 2012 … a bone graft this May didn’t help, either. I really think a trike is in my future. That accident (totaled motorcycle) has really taken a lot out of me. At least I’m still riding, but having to pick up this brute isn’t something I want to have to try again. I used to be able to manhandle the thing back up. Well, at that time it was an ’85 Electra Glide, so it was a little lighter, but would it be so much that I couldn’t now? I still think a trike conversion is just around the corner.”

4. hvacgaspiping: “I lost my footing while trailering my Dyna Super Glide in my driveway. I didn’t even try to lift it with my 71-year-old body, but set up a gantry and hoist instead. It was still work setting up that stuff, but at least I didn’t rupture something.”

5. Scrmnvtwins: “Summer 1985: me and the boys were coolin’ off one stop at a time after work. We pulled into this topless bar, and me wantin’ to be really cool, I backed my ’81 Low Rider in right beside the front door. I got up and off without putting the kickstand down, and it fell over to the left. I almost strained one picking it up as the gasoline was running everywhere. I just saddled on up and headed home after that.”

6. jdub099: “I’ve never had to get anything all the way up off the ground.

Once I knocked my Honda CB500 into my Honda CB650 and both were going to fall into my restored 1965 Mustang. Somehow I was able to reach over, grab the 650, and pull them both upright. No damage to anything. Very lucky. The way they were going to fall would have wiped out the front fender and the door.

I also partially dropped my 2010 Road King. Standing next to it, I rolled it forward a tiny bit because I didn’t pull up far enough. I didn’t notice the kickstand had gone back up part way, I guess because I still had my helmet on, and so I let go of the bike. Luckily the engine guard hit a pallet I had in my garage, so it didn’t go down all the way, but my right leg was partially pinned. I managed to muscle it upright, but given the position I was in, it was as close to impossible as it could be without being impossible. Not even a scuff on the engine guard. Afterward, I just about hyperventilated trying to get my f***ing helmet off … adrenaline made my fingers not want to work, I guess.”