There is another thread that addressed crashing/laying our bikes down. My question is... what is the most embarrassing time you've laid your bike down?


Mine..............

Had just gotten new 06 Superglide (approx 500 miles on her). Met the manager of the parts dept of one of the local HD dealerships for a lunch date-first date too. Had a great lunch and went to ride out. Made a big swing to go around the back of a truck and where I thought I could get out. OPPSssssssss couldn't get out!
Going all of mayyyyyyybe 5mph, with paper tags on bike, in the parking lot of the HD dealership, after a date with one of the managers I laid her down, ever so gently, on the right side!
In my embarassment I got off, bent over and lifted her upright. Realizing as I set her down that there were several people running to my 'rescue' telling me not to pick her up on my own. To late!

I wanted to crawl under a rock!! Got back on, started her up and rode out of there. Got about 2 blocks and stopped at a gas station, called up my date and told him what I did. He wanted to know if I was ok first. Told him physically I was fine, my pride was hurt. He chuckled and told me that would be just fine! I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when he told me he didn't see it!

Very little damage - actually found it a week later on the bottom of my chrome peg.

 

When I was much younger, I was going to an army school and lived in an old world war II barracks. It was a weekend and the guys in the next barracks over got in trouble, so they were having a GI party. Cleaning the barracks, while the rest of us were barbecuing and drinking beer. We, in our young mischievous minds set up an elaborate plan to ride all of our bikes in one door of their barracks, and out the other end. You know, just to **** em off and have a little fun. There were about six of us with bikes. One guy threw down a 2x12 on the steps, so we could ride up it. I was in the lead and gunned it up the steps. A drunk 18 year old + a sportster+ friends coming right on your heels+ a freshly waxed floor = One Major Disaster. The second I hit the waxed floor, I went down, to be followed by everyone behind me. The guys cleaning the barracks didn't find it funny, so a brawl ensued. The staff duty NCO heard the commotion and came into the barracks to find a half dozen harleys on the floor and a fight going on. He broke it up. Needless to say, the punishment was severe. We ended up spending every weekend for the next month cleaning the barracks for these guys, while they drank beer and partied. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

 

That was a great story!

I havent dropped a street bike. As a young man, however, I was riding through the woods on my Honda CT 70 and coming the other way was this guy that I thought was so cool. He was two years older than I was and was heavily into motocross and I wanted so bad to be "cool" enough to be his friend. We were headed in opposite directions, and up in the mountains you rarely ran into someone so of course we stopped to say "Hi". When it was time to pull out (keep in mind I was trying to act my coolest) I began to move and there was a large branch on the ground laying paralell with the bike. The pointy end of the branch slipped perfectly under several laces on my converse all stars and began to pull my leg back. I had already begun accelerating and the further my leg was pulled the more it pulled me off of the back of the bike and ,in trying to hold on, the more pressure was place on the throttle and finally the bike shot out from under me and it and the tail light clipped my ***** as it took off from between my legs. the bike went quickly ahead and tipped over onto the throttle which was opened up fully (the spring never did snap back on that bike) and the bike layed on its side with the engine running full out and the rear wheel spinning wildly. It was so loud that I was sure the engine was going to blow, but I couldn't get up because I was just wacked in the nuts. This cool (eventually pro) motocross guy gets off his bike and comes to help me. I of course was only concerned about my engine which was going to to blow any second. I was yelling "kill it, kill it" and he ran over to the bike trying to find the "kill switch" which my dorky bike didn't have. He kept pressing the horn that bareley worked, thinking it was a kill switch, and it was making this sick sound over and over, aaaaahhhh, aaaahhhh, aaahhhh, aaaahhhh. I finally got over there and shut it down and saved the engine.

Afterward he told me that as I was yelling "Kill it" over and over that he was about to pick up a stick and "beat it to death". Humiliating, to say the least!

 

Funny stuff.

 

One dark winter afternoon in 1976 I came out of nightclub in Southern Indiana drunk on my ***. As I got on my 6 month old sportster I realized it had been raining, so I brushed the water off the seat and blasted down the street. I also noticed it had gotten quite cold, it was a Sunday afternoon and there was no traffic on the streets.

As I approached an intersection at about 30 MPH where I had to make a left turn, my mind started working and I wondered if it was cold enough to freeze the water on the street. I gently tapped the rear brake and the bike went out from under me so fast I don't remember leaving the seat.

I was sliding down the wet, icy street feet first on my left side and I looked over and there was a fire station with 4 or 5 firemen standing in front of it. They were all staring at me with their eyes wide open and for some stupid reason, I smiled and waved at them as I slid by them. I eventually stopped sliding and stood up relatively unhurt. They ran over to me and after making sure I was not hurt, they could not stop laughing and telling me how funny I looked as I waved to them.

It was a fairly smooth asphalt street, but the left side of my leather jacket was gone, the left side of my boot was gone and my jeans rubbed through and I got some road rash on my left hip. My bike slid on its left side and after bending the shifter back a little, I was able to ride it home. I was finding rash on it for the next month in all kinds of weird places. Thats the only time I laid any bike down and it was all MY fault.

Happy riding,

Rick

 

I was on my Yamaha 650 Maxim and someone had told me that the dirt road at the end of the street had been completed and now we could ride across it as a shortcut to school. I started riding down the dirt road when all of a sudden I saw a wire strung across the road. I didn't see it until I was right at it and then it was too late. I hit it and it jerked me off the bike. I jumped up and lifted up the bike when I noticed some people outside having a bbq and they were laughing at me. I was so embarrassed that I hopped on the bike and took off.
Later when I got home I looked in the mirror and the wire caught me right across the throat and left a mark like someone had tried to hang me.

 

A visit with a shotgun would have been appropriate, if they were the ones who hung the wire. We had a kid killed in our neighborhood when he hit the guywire to a telephone pole.

 

They should have choked on their BBQ! Thank God you werent killed. What kind of people would laugh and not run and help?

 

those are some funny story's.....thanks for the laugh's!

 

Most embarassing for me was when I was working as a motorcyle messenger in Los Angeles. I was run over by an Audi a8 in centruy city,and I could barely walk. I was embarassed when all my co workers and friends came from around the corner to see me. I was laying on my back on the sidewalk with my helmet still on, and my bike was out inthe middle of the intersection just obliterated. It wasn't my fault, but I was still embarassed. I was lucky to not have been hurt too bad, and I saw much worse with other friends after that.