Last Thursday I renewed my membership into the dropped bike club. I don’t know if it is the lesser of two evils, but thankfully I dropped the Ninja and not the Triumph. I hopped on the bike after work to go home, started it up, put it in gear and raised my right leg to the peg. Ouch, what the…my keys in my right pant pocket were stabbing me in the leg. It was quite uncomfortable to say the least, so I put the bike back into neutral and tried to adjust my keys with gloved hand through my riding gear. I stood up and tried again with out any luck. Damn, I’m just going to have to get off the bike, unzip my riding gear and go after the offending key. Anybody who has ridden motorcycles knows what happened next.
With my left foot close to the bike and me leaning, leaning…uh oh…past the point of where the kickstand “should” have been, I couldn’t save it and she went down as I stepped out of the way. Crap, well at least the tank was near empty, saving me from lifting close to an extra 40 pounds as I hefted it back upright. Next thing I heard was a rap from the office window as two co-workers motioned to ask if I was alright. I gave them the “thumbs up” and scurried home with bruised pride and a little embarrassment. I didn’t even look at the damage, I had to make a left turn out of the parking lot and the signal flasher was working fine so I knew the signal lights were spared. I take the back road home so I stopped at a rural stop sign and leaned over to look at the damage. Meh, not bad, some cosmetic scratches, Trobairitz has no emotional attachment to the bike, nor do I, so it is my winter commuter and it's going to get scratched. I'll blame "the previous owner" but it's going to knock a hundred bucks off the selling price.
It isn’t the first time I’ve dumped a bike and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I dropped my first street bike, a '75 CB750Four in the carport at home. I just came back from a ride and forgot to use the kickstand. I think I strained every muscle in my body trying to pick that old bike up. Several years later I dropped my '84 Honda Magna V45 in a strip mall parking lot. I was in a hurry to drop off a roll of film to be developed and stopped the bike in gear, dropped the kickstand, hit the kill switch and let go of the clutch all in one fluid motion. Evidently I was a little bit faster than the motor and the bike lurched forward off the kickstand and down she went. Another drop came with my '76 KZ900LTD. I just pulled into work, pulled up to a parking spot and I got my boot lace caught in the shifter, seemed like the slowest tip over ever and sat me on my ass. I don’t think any of the previous drops resulted in any serious damage so the scratches in the fairing of the Ninja will be the most expensive repair to date.
It happens to all of us sooner or later and to many of us in the group I ride with. We call it napping; sometimes our bikes just like to take a nap. I just wish they'd let us grab a pillow first.
Bradley:
ReplyDeleteNow I don't feel so bad. Maybe we could get some patches made for our fraternity. No matter how hard you try, it is bound to happen, that's Murphy's Law. Glad it was minor and can be repaired easily, or as you say "blame the previous owner"
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
I almost did the same thing the other day stopping to get gas. Forgot the kick stand. Stepped off and over it went. I managed to catch it before it got too far over but struggled a bit to get it back upright.
ReplyDeleteJudging by the pictures it looks like you have a couple of options. If you get the scratches wet and they disappear then you can carefully wet sand (in the same direction of the scratch with2500GRIT) and polish the minor ones out. (note that the plastic will heat up and peel the paint off if you polish too fast.) If the stubborn ones don't come out (you'll know they won't come out if you can hook your fingernail on them.)you can drop in some clearcoat from the tip of a paperclip or pushpin. Don't try to use touch up paint, it is metallic paint and the metallic flakes will only settle in the scratch and make them stand out like a sore thumb. Another option is to take the fairing off and ship it to me along with your VIN or paint code, or just bring it with you when you come to see Terri Clark playing at the Kelowna Community Theatre on November 18th. Ha.
ReplyDeleteYou know, on the one hand I'm gratified, after writing about dropping Elvira, to see how many others have done the same thing. On the other hand, ouch! And in front of co-workers!
ReplyDeleteThe one thing you did better than me was to drop someone else's bike.
I have the same bike and color. I've had a little "off-road" experience.
ReplyDeleteA set of frame sliders helps prevent cowling damage form a no- or low-speed tipover.
They don't help much at higher speeds.
See a picture at: http://buckysride.blogspot.com/2009/01/first-rides.html
You can also read all about kick stand forgetfulness there.
Bradley:
ReplyDeleteI like your header photo. I also decided to rotate mine periodically too with scenes of our area.
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
I usually drop my bike(s) off the stand the day before they're going in to the dealer to be part-exchanged for a new one, thus adding financial woes to embarassment!
ReplyDeleteI went to the link you sent me about the photo tag thing. Where do I find the current tag photo?
ReplyDeleteThanks!