Dropping your bike
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 3,751
Likes: 459
From: Here and now
Well, sarcasm doesn't translate on the internet.
In the interest of full disclosure, I rode dirt bikes from '72 to '78. I got my motorcycle license in '81 and haven't been without a bike since. I've ridden over 300,000 miles, and I still don't know if I'm a "biker" or a "wannabe", and to be fair, I couldn't care less.
Dropped bikes? Well, I can't remember how many times I might have dropped the dirt bikes. That's dirt, and it goes with the territory if you're really trying.
Dropped my first street bike, a 250 Yamaha, when I was about to pull out of a driveway. I spotted a car from the left, grabbed the front brake and went over (I WAS a newb at that point).
Dropped my second bike (Yamaha XJ550R Seca) along the Adirondack Northway. I had pulled off the road to take off my rainsuit and parked on a sloped shoulder. I put the rainsuit on the luggage rack, hooked a bungee cord on the left side of the rack, pulled the cord taught, and tipped the bike over on top of me.
I dropped my Sportster once on a club charity ride. The ride ended at the local TV studio, on top of a mountain. We were going up a dirt road with a high center and deep ruts. The dresser in front of me stopped short. I put my foot down, but the ground wasn't where it should have been, and by the time I got footing, the bike was over too far to hold it up. My foot got caught and cracked the oil tank.
My current bike has been dropped 4 times in 24 years and 211,000 miles. First time I was pushing it into the garage, and my foot slipped on a patch of oil left by a car (not my car). Second was when I attempted to ride away with a brake rotor lock attached. The third time, I lost my balance and fell over after being hit from behind by a car at a red light. Fourth, I went into a blind, decreasing radius corner too fast, slid, and ran out of road before I could correct it. I guess the last was technically a "crash", not a drop.
Yeah, I'm not a biker, just a wannabe poser for the last 35 years!
In the interest of full disclosure, I rode dirt bikes from '72 to '78. I got my motorcycle license in '81 and haven't been without a bike since. I've ridden over 300,000 miles, and I still don't know if I'm a "biker" or a "wannabe", and to be fair, I couldn't care less.
Dropped bikes? Well, I can't remember how many times I might have dropped the dirt bikes. That's dirt, and it goes with the territory if you're really trying.
Dropped my first street bike, a 250 Yamaha, when I was about to pull out of a driveway. I spotted a car from the left, grabbed the front brake and went over (I WAS a newb at that point).
Dropped my second bike (Yamaha XJ550R Seca) along the Adirondack Northway. I had pulled off the road to take off my rainsuit and parked on a sloped shoulder. I put the rainsuit on the luggage rack, hooked a bungee cord on the left side of the rack, pulled the cord taught, and tipped the bike over on top of me.
I dropped my Sportster once on a club charity ride. The ride ended at the local TV studio, on top of a mountain. We were going up a dirt road with a high center and deep ruts. The dresser in front of me stopped short. I put my foot down, but the ground wasn't where it should have been, and by the time I got footing, the bike was over too far to hold it up. My foot got caught and cracked the oil tank.
My current bike has been dropped 4 times in 24 years and 211,000 miles. First time I was pushing it into the garage, and my foot slipped on a patch of oil left by a car (not my car). Second was when I attempted to ride away with a brake rotor lock attached. The third time, I lost my balance and fell over after being hit from behind by a car at a red light. Fourth, I went into a blind, decreasing radius corner too fast, slid, and ran out of road before I could correct it. I guess the last was technically a "crash", not a drop.
Yeah, I'm not a biker, just a wannabe poser for the last 35 years!
Thanks for the autobiography. It added a lot to the discussion.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 715
Likes: 114
From: Texas Hill Country
joe
Road Master
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 864
Likes: 1,319
From: So Cal
An older thread with some good stories.
I'm thinking I've dropped every bike I've owned. Wrecked a few as well. Wait, haven't dropped my newest bike but I've only had that one since November.
Couple stories. Pulled into a gas station one day (in a hurry) to gas up, was headed out of town on a run. Was riding an ultra classic. The pumps had giant metal bars that went the length of the pump in front of them to keep people from hitting them with their vehicles.
When I stopped, I ran my foot across the kickstand without looking and then leaned over towards the pump to get off the bike only to find out that the kickstand didn't go down. No worries, the bike didn't hit anything BUT, my ribs took the impact. I was pinned between my bike and the metal post and couldn't get out. A guy saw what was happening and helped me get the bike back up. Broke a couple ribs that day. It was painful to breathe but not so bad that I couldn't ride the 190 miles to the bike run I was going to that weekend. Must say that I ALWAYS look to see if my kickstand is down now.
One more,
My wife and I rode to the Midwest to visit a friend in Missouri on an 80s heritage softail. He lives deep in the sticks. Anyway he had left a sign up for us to go down this road. It had just rained on that road a few hours before. The road was a red clay dirt road. Now, being a California boy, I've NEVER seen red clay before. My bike went into that and it didn't come back out. Had to drag it out with a four wheeler. Then, I had to pull the rear tire. Now, they had little water in them hills so we had to get buckets of water from the river to try and get the mud out that was crammed all into the belt drive. Biggest mess I've ever experienced. That clay stuck to everything. And it was like glue. So yeah, I dropped it.
A quick tip. Enter slow races. Practicing for that really helps with balancing your bike.
Almost forgot something,
Yep, I call it a "kickstand"
I'm thinking I've dropped every bike I've owned. Wrecked a few as well. Wait, haven't dropped my newest bike but I've only had that one since November.
Couple stories. Pulled into a gas station one day (in a hurry) to gas up, was headed out of town on a run. Was riding an ultra classic. The pumps had giant metal bars that went the length of the pump in front of them to keep people from hitting them with their vehicles.
When I stopped, I ran my foot across the kickstand without looking and then leaned over towards the pump to get off the bike only to find out that the kickstand didn't go down. No worries, the bike didn't hit anything BUT, my ribs took the impact. I was pinned between my bike and the metal post and couldn't get out. A guy saw what was happening and helped me get the bike back up. Broke a couple ribs that day. It was painful to breathe but not so bad that I couldn't ride the 190 miles to the bike run I was going to that weekend. Must say that I ALWAYS look to see if my kickstand is down now.
One more,
My wife and I rode to the Midwest to visit a friend in Missouri on an 80s heritage softail. He lives deep in the sticks. Anyway he had left a sign up for us to go down this road. It had just rained on that road a few hours before. The road was a red clay dirt road. Now, being a California boy, I've NEVER seen red clay before. My bike went into that and it didn't come back out. Had to drag it out with a four wheeler. Then, I had to pull the rear tire. Now, they had little water in them hills so we had to get buckets of water from the river to try and get the mud out that was crammed all into the belt drive. Biggest mess I've ever experienced. That clay stuck to everything. And it was like glue. So yeah, I dropped it.
A quick tip. Enter slow races. Practicing for that really helps with balancing your bike.
Almost forgot something,
Yep, I call it a "kickstand"
Last edited by Bartender; Sep 22, 2017 at 07:11 PM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 10,366
Likes: 406
From: Connecticut
I've never dropped any of my Harleys in a slow speed maneuver, however, I've dropped plenty of my previous bikes doing stupid ****.
Last edited by Honey-Badger; Sep 22, 2017 at 07:07 PM.
Tourer
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 312
Likes: 26
From: US
Came close the other day. I've been in plenty of gravel before, but hit some really soft/fine stuff coming out of a driveway. Front washed out and frame under floorboards stopped it from going over any further.
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