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[sadunbar]

January 1st of 2002, I all but destroyed my right knee in a skiing adventure (another long story of self inflicted injury).  In April of 2002, after 16 weeks of no weight bearing on my right leg and about 2 weeks of walking again, I went for a ride on my 2001 SERG.  Had been out riding all day and was on the way home.  I stopped at a stop sign in the rural country, (riding by my myself) put my feet down, and my right foot hit sand/gravel, knee buckled and over I went.  I also landed on the crash bars, so no damage was done.  But I was out in the country by myself with a knee rapidly swelling...  It was a struggle, but I got it up - it almost went right over to the other side - but I held on.  I made it home fine, but had to go visit my ortho doctor the next day.  Even though the doctor was a good friend of mine, I got the lecture from him...

[rganz]

Last fall when returning from Milwaukee I was caught in a monsoon rain near Yorkton Saskatchewan. I pulled over to wipe my glasses off so I could see and when I hopped off the bike and turned my back to it to shelter myself from the rain, I felt  it hit me on the back of the legs on the way down. The shoulders of the road were gravel and the kickstand sunk out of sight. Of course I was loaded to the max and fairly top heavy so when I went to lift the fatboy back up, it went over center and over she went into the ditch on the opposite side. Insert cursing here   Must have looked like a clown show.
In the downpour I had to strip it down, T Bags, packs  and all to lift her back up because she was laying downhill. Not one person stopped.

I had a bike go over in northern California along a highway when it was 115degrees in the shade also back in the 80's. The stand went right through the pavement. A couple guys helped me right the bagger that time.
No damage except to my pride

Evidently I am a slow learner.

[porthole]

Easy enough to do. Did it twice, both times with my wife on the back (the ole' center of gravity thing).

Once while cruising through some back roads of eastern PA we came to the end of a paved road. Been on gravel - dirt before (and with my wife as a passenger) so we kept going - downhill.

It got to a point we all decide (4 of us in the group) that at the next level spot were letting the girls off and continue without them (only an 1/8 mile or so)


Soon as I slowed to stop I hit the soft stuff. So slow you just step off the bike. Had 3 helpers to pick it up that day. Hard enough on pavement let alone gravel.

2nd time I was in Gatlinburg, at the hotel at the top of the hill in town. The road has a screwy hairpin turn, worse then anything on the dragon.

Anyway, we leave the hotel, the bike is really loaded up, as my wife flew down and I picked her up at Nashville airport.

All my junk, her travel bag (I'm sure it was well over the luggage rack recommendation), a new heavy Foxcreek leather jacket I bought for on the way down (sitting under her gearbag) and I was sitting on an air hawk cushion (another inch or so in height.


SO we go down the hill with no problem as we had been doing for 3 days.

Once at the bottom my wife says "do you have my cushion" (for her lower back).
Nope - so we turn around and head back up the hill still no problem.

Half way  - on the turn - I see pickup coming with the guy holing the cushion out the window - cool - so instead of just continuing and grabbing the brass ring I decide to stop, up hill, on a turn, with a camber - duh there was no way to stop - another slow motion "there she goes.

We step off - I bitch and moan - the guy in the truck stops to apologize  and he helps me pick it back up. Stupid move on my part. The rest of the trip was uneventful  - until I hit that thunderstorm on Grandfather mountain - but that is another story.

[GregKhougaz]

Ed, sorry to hear of this but, as I'm sure you know, there are two kinds of riders:

     1.  Those who have been down;

     2.  Those who will go down. 

I managed to turn in front of a bus once and nearly lost my foot so I'm never one to even smile at these things.  Happily your "down" was minor and all that was really damaged was your ego.  That's probably a blessing in disguise.  It may make you just a little bit more careful the next time and that may save you some day.  Curious as to how you tried to lift the bike.  Did you try the back to the bike and use your legs method?  Ride safe. 

GK

[MUFFMAN]

Been there too.  Just a degree or two from vertical is enough to quickly get to the point of no return.  I seemed to have had my difficulty early on when backing and turning at the same time (like in a parking lot with people around)

Screamin', manufacturer says to replace the helmet after dropping it.  How many are you up to now?

If I  replaced my brain bucket every time I dropped it I'd be  broke replacing them all. 

[TazmanTyphoon]

Interesting topic and good thread, since I will be getting my first bagger, how about a top 10 important things to know and do to avoid this issue altogether to save the embarrassment, thanks.

[greglyon]

Been riding since 1979, and never dropped a bike until I buy one more expensive than my first house.  My second day on the road with my new CVO, and pulling into a parking spot.  I guess the dynamics of slow turning are different enough from my Heritage that I momentarily lost balance, and down it went.  Very surreal - like slow motion.  Once it started, couldn't recover, and she just kept going.  OK, embarrassing enough, but then I couldn't lift it back up.   I've seen all of these demonstrations of small girls lifting a bike back onto its wheels, and I'm thinking that "Hey!  I can do that!"  No freakin' way.  I got the behemoth about 6" off the ground, and that was about it.  But all that said, I still consider myself lucky. First, no one saw me, which saved me from the humiliation of looking like a boob.  Second, a passing biker (in a pickup truck) saw me struggling to lift the bike, and he turned around to help me.  Two heads are definitely better than one!  And finally, I now truly appreciate the value of the crash bars.  The bike was resting on the bottom edges of the fore & aft guards, and the bike sustained literally no damage whatsoever (other than a small scuff at the bottom of the lower fairing, which is not even visible).  I had been toying with the idea of removing the saddlebag guard because it was pushing into my wife's leg.  No more, brother! 

So, now that it's out of my system, I don't expect a recurrence for another 30 years.

Ed

glad to hear you dodged a bullett.  harley makes these saddle bag guards that slant away from your leg .  I have used them on my FLHRSEI@ for 5 years with no complaints from the back seat rider.

[sportygordy]

I've been there and done that too..  Almost same situation as yours, but two teenagers witnessed my mishap. I just simply lost balance of the bike in a restrant parking lot in Truckee and dropped her. The two teenagers were there in seconds and the bike was righted as fast as it went done..  Gave a big thanks and smile and was on my way  

[RickC]

If I  replaced my brain bucket every time I dropped it I'd be  broke replacing them all. 

By design, a motorcycle helmet is designed to protect your head in an impact... once... and only once...

Once a helmet is dropped from a height of 3 feet or more, it has taken that one impact and may not protect your head afterwards.

This is the way motorcycle helmets are designed. This is true for both DOT and Snell-approved helmets.

I'm not getting on ya, here, MUFFMAN. I know how you feel. Just thought I'd share this so that everyone make an informed decision.

[aushog]

Everybody does it sooner or later.  Dropped my new SEUC at about 10 days old. 

THe SEUC is much more top heavy than my softail was, and I when it was stock, I couldn't quite put my feet flat on the ground because it is taller than the softail.  Got a reach seat now, sits about 2 inches lower, and it feels much better.

Only problem now is, the windshield is about and inch too tall!  Everytime I spend money on the bike, I have to spend more money!

[Berk]

Ed I know the feeling, the wife and I were in Flagstaff AZ  on a rental. We pulled in to a Harley dealership and while parking the bike with the wife still on the back I proceded to back it up. The back of my legs were hitting the rear passenger floor boards and I lost balance and layed it down. No damage to the bike or us just the ego thing. As we were trying to upright the bike to no avail a guy pulled in and came over and helped me get it up. We've all been there one time or another. Glad you or your bike were not hurt. Laying down a bike in a dealership made me want to bury my head in the dirt.

[woode]

....Curious as to how you tried to lift the bike.  Did you try the back to the bike and use your legs method?  Ride safe. 

GK

Yeah, just like they teach you.  I had wrist surgery a couple of months ago, so I've been slacking on the exercise.  Doesn't take long for the 56 y/o body to lose strength!  Anyway, after using the back-in/lift method for about 10 minutes, I was totally exhausted and about to give up when my good samaritan appeared.

I can see by the responses to this thread that I'm in excellent company!  I think that I was being too confident and cocky with my new bike and not respecting the differences from the Heritage.  You ride something long enough and it becomes part of you, so I need to be more cognizant of the learning curve of the new one.  Lesson definitely learned.

Ed

[rganz]

Yep--Seems like it happens once in a while to keep us humble

[1abastarsmda]

Dropped mine 3 times, and not yet with the motor running.  Once in the garage, once in the driveway, and once on the sidewalk at the end of the driveway.  Not even a scuff mark.  I had to leave my bike overnight on it's side when it fell in the garage and get someone to come help me in the morning.  I was too close to the wall to even bend down between the bike and the wall.  I did get thrown head first into the concrete block wall, and after realizing I was still alive, I stayed awake all night...fearing that if I went to sleep, I might not wake back up.

I bought a full face helmet this year and my first ride with it was to the dealer.  I wanted them to check out the clock that I couldn't get to set.  The service manager got on my bike to ride it inside and didn't see my brand new helmet hanging from the highway peg.  It bounced the entire way across their parking lot.  It turned out to be a fairly good deal for me since I got the helmet real cheap and they replaced it for me with a new Harley helmet.

[TN]

this is why i changed the name for my 08tr to ....drunk bike

small scuff as you said but thats all.

if thats as bad as it gets were doing okay :2vrolijk_21.....i practice my slow speed maneuvers often.



TN


edit: i promise it happens to more than you think. or admit it.