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My Vintage went down today

5K views 24 replies 16 participants last post by  Randall 
#1 · (Edited)
Started pulling out of a parking spot and didn't give it enough gas and my Vintage went down. Thank god for the engine guard, it has a minor scratch on it. I didn't notice any other damage. But it did take 2 of us to get it back upright. You don't realize how heavy the bike is until you attempt to lift it back up by yourself.

Good to have a friend to ride with. I don't know what I would have done if I was riding alone and this took place.
 
#2 ·
Sorry to hear that happened, hope it never happens when you're alone.... check out the different lifting techniques,once you learn how, you can lift your bike with no problems...
It's always embarrassing to drop your bike... but when you can get it back up by yourself..... that removes the embarrassment,and turns it into cool factor..... lol....
 
#7 ·
Fred;

Thanks for the advice, are the lifting techniques on the forum or on the web?

I just watched it on the web, Thanks
Hopefully I will not have to use it soon.
Check out Jerry Pallidino's Ride Like A Pro video (www.RideLikeAPro.com), he offers 3 different ways to pick up a really big bike, plus a complete program on how not to drop your bike. Well worth the $$...
 
#9 ·
Lots of sympathy on this! It's a real ego buster. I dropped a R1150RT at a stop sign early one morning. Nobody around to help, I managed to get the bike up and the whole time cursing at myself for it happening. Awful feeling. It's easy to start being frantic about it at the time it happens but most people are more worried about you not being hurt. Minor scratch can be dealt with, hurt body is tougher. Glad you are okay!
 
#10 ·
You're not alone, Sgtrock007...I've done it (as many on this forum probably has) and it always seems to be on a big, heavy cruiser or touring bike. I learned how to pick up a bike from a motor-officer and the technique worked well. Practice is always good...on somebody else's bike! I've seen demonstrations at the International Motorcycle Shows where audience members are asked to give it a try...another chance to practice. It's a good skill to have...I remember going to HD's 90th Anniversary meet and our group stayed at a Chicago suburban motel...woke up one morning to find all the bikes had been tipped over in the "secure" parking lot. We got a chance to get a lot of practice picking up bikes that day (and no wrenched backs!).
 
#11 ·
Howdy Folks,
Yeah, I've been there. Fortunately you can set the Chieftain over on the crash guard and it will sit there without falling completely over or crushing the bags. I found that I could back up to the bike and walk it back up-right, although I have no problem asking for help if its available.

I was once riding outside of Del Rio and saw a KZ1000 decked out with a Windjammer fairing and hard bags sitting on the shoulder leaned over to the right at an odd angle. I pulled over and walked up to the bike. The rider was crouched under the bike holding it up. I asked him if he needed a hand and helped him get it up on the side-stand. He said that he'd run out of gas and was rocking the Kaw from side to side trying to slosh enough gas into the lines to make it to the gas station just up the road. It over-balanced and fell over on him (tall bike/short rider). He wasn't willing to drop it because he'd just laid out big bucks on a custom paint job. He'd been there about an hour.
--- Randall
 
#12 ·
I appreciate all the stories, and the advice. I have watched several videos and certainly will try it if I have the chance at a bike show. First thing I did when it happened was check the bike for damage and then look around to see who may have seen it with embarrassment.
 
#13 ·
The first time I dropped my 800# Chieftain was in front of Doc's HD dealership, yikes what an ego deflator ! Girlfriend was on the back, I don't have to much trouble keeping it upright by myself riding. I did manage to pick it up myself, maybe it was the adrenaline kicking it then. I am very careful moving it around knowing the potential to fall over if you lean it to far either way, funny it's been left all 3 times. Maybe my crashbars keep it more upright that I am able to pick it up easier.
 
#14 ·
Sorry to hear about the bike, sarge.

I remember dropping the very first bike I ever rode. A Yamaha XS650 Special that belonged to an acquaintance. He used to be a bully in school when I first met him some 5 years
prior. I actually dropped that bike twice. The first time was when he let me take it for a spin around the big block (about a mile). No instruction, just go.
Came up to the 2nd intersection and hit the brake a bit wrong and down it went. Having trouble picking it up in front of everybody, the driver behind me gave me a
hand picking it back up. It didn't have crash bars.
Later that night the gang and I drove up steep hill to the top a local spot that overlooks the city. There, we got drunk and I just sat on the bike
lifting off the stand and continuing to the right, down went me the bike went. We were all just teenage hooligans doin' stupid things, back then.

For some, stuff like that can deflate the ego when that ego balloon gets to be a bit overinflated.
The mysterious armed forces in the wind say: "See that ego over there? Let's pop it!"

Nothing more embarrassing for a grown man to see a small woman pick up a full dress HD highway patrol bike. Of course it did have crash bars and that certainly
would have helped in leveraging the bike, but when you see a woman do that for the first time..... ouch, man, that's gotta hurt.

I think, when these things happen, it's to keep us on our toes and remind to keep our egos and confidence in check, lest something really bad, happens.
Learning to fall teaches you how to get up.

Training is always good and refreshers even better.
 
#17 · (Edited)
There used to be a guy who worked for Honda, and at the Hoot, he would demo how to raise a fallen Goldwing. Sit on the seat on whichever side is down , turn the bars to bring them close to you , and back into the seat. this uses your legs , not your back to lift the bike. Make sure you put the side stand down.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Well, dang it, fell off my bike,

Got up yesterday morning and it had been raining all night here in the Chihuahuan Desert. About 6 AM I put on my Swiss army surplus raincoat and pulled out onto the caliche road in front of my house to ride two blocks to the paved highway for the 20-mile ride into Presidio. The county had run a scraper over the road the day before to fill in ruts that had eroded due to all the rain we've been having; they'd filled the ruts with loose clay but had not watered or compacted it so with the rain the hidden ruts were great shallow sloughs full of greasy-slick mud. I hit one and the front end went right while the rear end came around to the left and next thing I know I'm slammed down hard on my back and my head bounced off the ground hard enough to ring my bell, despite my helmet.

The Chieftain had slid to a stop canted over on the right crashbar and muffler and was still running. I scrambled to my feet and hit the power button to shut it down. It was dark, raining, and no one was around. I shook my head to clear it, extended the kick-stand by hand, and walked around to the right side of the canted bike. I squatted, set my backside against the seat, grabbed the under-side of the gas tank and the edge of the seat-base, and started pushing with my legs. The bike slid in the mud a bit before catching and beginning to stand up. I walked the heavy son of a gun up, slipping in the mud, until I was able to push it over onto the side-stand.

I look the bike over in the rainy dimness and, although mud-smeared, everything seemed to be where it should be. I mounted back up and the motor cranked right up. I noticed as I rode through the rain towards the valley that the check engine icon had lit and a trouble code was displayed, but when I killed the ignition and restarted it cleared.

The good thing was that the rain washed most of the mud off me and the bike by the time I got to town.
--- Randall
 
#19 ·
Well, dang it, fell off my bike,



I look the bike over in the rainy dimness and, although mud-smeared, everything seemed to be where it should be. I mounted back up and the motor cranked right up. I noticed as I rode through the rain towards the valley that the check engine icon had lit and a trouble code was displayed, but when I killed the ignition and restarted it cleared.

The good thing was that the rain washed most of the mud off me and the bike by the time I got to town.
--- Randall
Glad to hear you are both ok.
 
#20 ·
Well, dang it, fell off my bike,

The Chieftain had slid to a stop canted over on the right crashbar and muffler and was still running. I scrambled to my feet and hit the power button to shut it down. It was dark, raining, and no one was around. I shook my head to clear it, extended the kick-stand by hand, and walked around to the right side of the canted bike. I squatted, set my backside against the seat, grabbed the under-side of the gas tank and the edge of the seat-base, and started pushing with my legs. The bike slid in the mud a bit before catching and beginning to stand up. I walked the heavy son of a gun up, slipping in the mud, until I was able to push it over onto the side-stand.

The good thing was that the rain washed most of the mud off me and the bike by the time I got to town.
--- Randall
Glad you and the bike got back up, and hope you two are OK. Gravel and mud are nasty on street bikes and not too nice with off-road bikes either.

It might have been worse on a trike...Before my country road got tar-and-chipped this Summer, the county put down about 4" of crush-and-run as a new base. A Gold Wing trike tried to make it down the road and got the front wheel caught in the loose gravel and ended up sliding the trike around so the rear was partially in the ditch and the front was on the graveled berm. Had to get a tractor to pull him out...I think I saw a tear run down the guy's face when he saw all the damage that gravel caused to his paint!
 
#21 ·
Glad to hear you got your bike back up and you weren't injured Randall.

I worked on my bike this weekend (see gallery) and dropped my bike in the garage. I was on the bike moving it (not running) and I know I put the kick stand down but when I leaned it over it went OVER. Thank God I had a chair close to the bike because it actually fell on the chair, didn't hit the concrete. Even 3/4 of the way over it took a might "heave" to get it up. I guess I didn't have the kick stand fully forward???
 
#23 ·
Well, dang it, fell off my bike,

Got up yesterday morning and it had been raining all night here in the Chihuahuan Desert. About 6 AM I put on my Swiss army surplus raincoat and pulled out onto the caliche road in front of my house to ride two blocks to the paved highway for the 20-mile ride into Presidio. The county had run a scraper over the road the day before to fill in ruts that had eroded due to all the rain we've been having; they'd filled the ruts with loose clay but had not watered or compacted it so with the rain the hidden ruts were great shallow sloughs full of greasy-slick mud. I hit one and the front end went right while the rear end came around to the left and next thing I know I'm slammed down hard on my back and my head bounced off the ground hard enough to ring my bell, despite my helmet.

The Chieftain had slid to a stop canted over on the right crashbar and muffler and was still running. I scrambled to my feet and hit the power button to shut it down. It was dark, raining, and no one was around. I shook my head to clear it, extended the kick-stand by hand, and walked around to the right side of the canted bike. I squatted, set my backside against the seat, grabbed the under-side of the gas tank and the edge of the seat-base, and started pushing with my legs. The bike slid in the mud a bit before catching and beginning to stand up. I walked the heavy son of a gun up, slipping in the mud, until I was able to push it over onto the side-stand.

I look the bike over in the rainy dimness and, although mud-smeared, everything seemed to be where it should be. I mounted back up and the motor cranked right up. I noticed as I rode through the rain towards the valley that the check engine icon had lit and a trouble code was displayed, but when I killed the ignition and restarted it cleared.

The good thing was that the rain washed most of the mud off me and the bike by the time I got to town.
--- Randall
Wow Randall how big a guy are you? I'm 71, 150 Lbs., 5-8 with small feet for the mud. Think ill just lay there and call the wrecker. Wait I don't even have a cell phone. CRAP
 
#24 ·
Fred;

Thanks for the advice, are the lifting techniques on the forum or on the web?

I just watched it on the web, Thanks
Hopefully I will not have to use it soon.
How about this one: Know a fellow who practices low speed maneuvers with members of the Meridian, MS motorcycle officers division (a championship team in competition) and he tells me about one motor officer who "rides" his bike up off of a drop. He apparently rocks the bike up enough to get a little traction on the rear wheel, then uses throttle and clutch to ride it on up. I told them about Jerry Pallidino doing a u-turn on my Classic in two parking spaces, 18 ft. They tell me this rider-guy can turn one around in ONE parking space, 9 ft. Says he "sorta SLIDES it around." Be interesting to see it all for myself... Nice to know though that it can be done, whether I do it or not.
 
#25 ·
Wow Randall how big a guy are you? I'm 71, 150 Lbs., 5-8 with small feet for the mud. Think ill just lay there and call the wrecker. Wait I don't even have a cell phone. CRAP
I'm 6' 250 lbs of fight'n Texan and was highly motivated to boot. There were 38 Driver Ed. students who'd be showing up for the early class in about half an hour and I needed to be there, considering how much hell I give them for showing up late. The tin left hip didn't help much though, had to lift mostly with my right leg. Besides, I couldn't stand to see my baby laying there in the mud.
--- Randall
 
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