Lesson learned - almost a drop.
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Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 148
Likes: 7
From: Central Pennsylvania, USA
Lesson learned - almost a drop.
Finally got the wife on the back of my bike for a ride, and almost dropped it 15 minutes later.
2002 Road King - we were driving around nice and slow on some local roads that had a few turns testing the handling with her on the back...very conservative, nice riding, she was doing well. We pulled up to a stop sign, and put my left foot down...into air!
The road we were pulled up to was on a slight hill, and had been repaved a number of times, leaving a dip between the 2 roads that I bridged "just right" with the 2 tires. It was a narrow road, and I had stopped near the right edge where the blacktop sloped away pretty hard.
When it started to tip, it got to about 45 degrees before my foot hit pavement - I yelled jump off, which she did quickly(putting even more pressure on my right leg in the process of getting off)...then stood there watching with me doing all I could to keep it upright...until I could take a breath and yell PUSH!!! At this point she gave me the enough of a boost to get the bike swung over to my right foot, and then I let off the front brake and let it coast back to flatter pavement where I could put both feet on solid pavement. Whew.
Lessons learned...do what my instructor said - when stopping, give the left grip a push just before stopping to make sure your bike leans left, not right, ...stay closer to the center of the lane when pulling up to a stop sign where its flatter,...and analyze where you're stopping to avoid this situation. Luckily I had clean dry pavement where my foot dropped...if it would have been loose gravel, it would have been over quickly.
She got back on and we did another 30 miles...and had fun...I don't think she realized how shaken I was.
2002 Road King - we were driving around nice and slow on some local roads that had a few turns testing the handling with her on the back...very conservative, nice riding, she was doing well. We pulled up to a stop sign, and put my left foot down...into air!
The road we were pulled up to was on a slight hill, and had been repaved a number of times, leaving a dip between the 2 roads that I bridged "just right" with the 2 tires. It was a narrow road, and I had stopped near the right edge where the blacktop sloped away pretty hard.
When it started to tip, it got to about 45 degrees before my foot hit pavement - I yelled jump off, which she did quickly(putting even more pressure on my right leg in the process of getting off)...then stood there watching with me doing all I could to keep it upright...until I could take a breath and yell PUSH!!! At this point she gave me the enough of a boost to get the bike swung over to my right foot, and then I let off the front brake and let it coast back to flatter pavement where I could put both feet on solid pavement. Whew.
Lessons learned...do what my instructor said - when stopping, give the left grip a push just before stopping to make sure your bike leans left, not right, ...stay closer to the center of the lane when pulling up to a stop sign where its flatter,...and analyze where you're stopping to avoid this situation. Luckily I had clean dry pavement where my foot dropped...if it would have been loose gravel, it would have been over quickly.
She got back on and we did another 30 miles...and had fun...I don't think she realized how shaken I was.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,178
Likes: 600
From: SoCal.....I'm only here for the weather
I hope you told her that she "passed the test perfectly" after the quick exit upon the "jump off" command.
Glad everyone was okay. Small events like this are good experience without the long term pain and suffering.
Glad everyone was okay. Small events like this are good experience without the long term pain and suffering.
Club Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 145,895
Likes: 821
From: 40 miles Northeast of Indy..
I am old but that just one of the many reasons I like the Heritage's 1 1/2 lower Seat height Vs the RK... and being almost 70, that Makes a Major diff when it comes to righting a bike when it starts to Tip over...
I ain't as strong As I used to be 20 yrs ago for sure...
I ain't as strong As I used to be 20 yrs ago for sure...
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 13,456
Likes: 10,452
From: Sunshine State
Your other half has a good response time, that's a plus. I'm guilty of letting my boots go treadless and neglect replacing them. You know I have to be aware when stoppin, a lot of oil patches from leaky cars at lights and stop signs especially in the summer heat.
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