This is a blog I wrote maybe 15 years ago for a friend who dropped a very expensive motorcycle while putting it on the sidestand. He was really upset with himself and I thought he might enjoy hearing about the times I dropped my bikes. I stopped writing after the fifth or sixth memory because I was laughing so hard I thought I might hurt myself. This particular blog has made the rounds…it’s been on my original photosite (motofoto.cc, which went by the wayside a long time ago), and the CSC Motorcycles blog, and now this one.
So, here goes….
Drop Number 1 – Impromptu Stargazing
My friend Louie and I were wrapping up a hard 500-mile day through Arizona back in the 1990s. I know what you are thinking….500 miles is not that much for a solid day’s riding, but it was brutally hot in the way that only Arizona can be in the summertime. I was on my vintage Honda CBX and Lou was on his Gold Wing. We stopped for gas and Louis filled up first. While I was filling up the CBX, Lou rode over to the air hose to top off his tires. I filled my tank, fired up the CBX, and rode over to Lou, paralleling the sidewalk. I put my kickstand down and started to lean the CBX over.
The next thing I knew I was staring at the stars. I had no idea what happened for a few seconds, and then I realized: I had fallen off my motorcycle, and I was laying on my back looking up at the evening sky!
The first thought that went through my mind was: “Did anyone see me do this?”
I hadn’t even been drinking! How could that have happened?
Well, what happened was this: When I extended the sidestand, the sidestand hit the curb before it fully extended and it didn’t go all the way forward. And then, when I leaned the CBX over, it just kept on going.
Total damage? One turn signal lens cover, one scratched fairing, and lots of lost pride.
Drop Number 2 – Lock-to-Lock Has Meaning
This time, I was easing into my own driveway on my 2-week-old Suzuki TL1000S. Gorgeous bike. Bright red. A real rocketship. As I made the sharp turn into the driveway, I turned the forks to keep my balance. Lock-to-lock turning (you know, how far you can push the bars from one side to the other) on the Suzuki is waaaay less than any motorcycle I had ever ridden. And as it turns out (pardon the pun), that really makes a difference when you’re trying to balance a bike at low speeds.
The bottom line? I couldn’t turn the bars far enough to keep my balance at low speed.
The results? BAM! Suddenly, the TL and I were both on our sides in my own driveway!
The first thought that went through my mind was “Did anyone see me do this?”
Total damage? One scratched fairing and lots of lost pride. Lots and lots of lost pride.
Drop Number 3 – Them Darn Sidestands Again
A couple of weeks after Drop Number 2, I was letting my now 4-week-old, slightly-scratched TL1000S warm up in the driveway. The bike was on its sidestand, facing south. Just past my garage door, the driveway slopes down ever so slightly. Really slightly. I mean, hardly any slope at all. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw the Suzuki move forward a bit. Nah, I thought, it’s gotta be an optical illusion.
Two seconds later: BAM! The Suzuki was on its side!
Wow, I thought, this thing sure likes laying down in my driveway.
My next thought: “Did anyone see me do this?”
The results? I couldn’t tell. The fairing was scratched, but maybe it was the same scratch from 2 weeks ago. No lost pride this time, but lots of cussing about Suzuki engineering and lousy sidestands.
Drop Number 4 – Dismounting As An Olympic Event
This time I was winding out my 4-month old TL1000S on the road from my brother-in-law’s place. Wowee, I thought, this thing is fast. I must have hit 80 miles an hour when I realized I gotta slow down. That Suzuki slipper clutch works great, I thought…. just keep downshifting and it’s almost like an ABS system on the rear wheel. Hmmh, that curve is coming up awful fast. Maybe I’ll just give it a touch of front brake.
Uh oh, I thought as I unloaded the rear wheel when I got on the front brake. That corner is really coming up fast now, and the back end is fishtailing all over the place. I almost had that sucker stopped when the front wheel just touched the curb. Down we both went, again. I executed a precision somersault as I departed controlled flight and rolled up into a sitting position.
The first thought that went through my mind was “Did anyone see me?”
This time, the answer was yes. There was a lady in a station wagon, who stopped and asked “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, lady, I did that on purpose.” I didn’t know what else to say.
The results? I couldn’t tell. Maybe it was just the same scratched fairing. Again, lots and lots of lost pride. No injuries, though. My lucky day.
Drop Number 5 – The Prize Winner
This time I was changing the front tire on the CBX in my garage. I put the bike on the center stand and removed the front wheel. Bikes with center stands are great, I thought. Once I had the front wheel off I started thinking about the replacement tire. I used Bridgestone Spitfires on that bike and they were great. I decided I would get the raised white letter Spitfire tires this time. That would really look cool.
Well, I thought, if I do that I have to get the back tire to match. So, I thought, I might as well take the back wheel off, too. I’ll just get them both changed at the same time.
This is the point at which things took a decided turn for the worse. And, I’ll admit to having already had a few beers. What could I have possibly been thinking?
Well, I guess I was still thinking about how cool raised white letter tires would look on my pearl white CBX, and I started to remove the rear wheel. The rear axle bolt was on really tight. I decided I needed to get a bigger wrench, you know, more leverage, that sort of thing. I thought I might as well get another beer while I was up, too. I grabbed another beer, got the longer wrench, found the leverage I was looking for…and…..and…
Uh, oh, the CBX started to roll forward off the center stand, and, whoa, there was no front wheel there….funny how everything seemed to be happening in slow motion at that point.
The moral of this one? If you’re gonna screw up, screw up big time. Why just drop a bike when can find a way to drop it so that it falls over into your wife’s brand new car? Yep, that’s what it did. Creased it nicely. “That won’t polish out,” I remember thinking.
The bottom line? One dinged-up sports sedan, one thoroughly upset wife, one busted and cracked CBX oil pan (an item no longer made by Honda), oil all over the garage floor, and the certain knowledge that while center stands are good, they are not that good….
So, if you’ve ever dropped your bike, don’t feel too bad. It happens to all of us. Sometimes more than once.
If you’ve got a story about dropping your bike, please add it to the comments section. We’d love to hear from you!
We purchased a used Ultra Classic from a friend in Tennessee and decided to ride it back to Colorado. I dropped it twice on the first day. Fortunately there were plenty of witnesses both times and I was not too proud to ask for help re-righting the behemoth. I figure between the bike, both of us and all of our stuff in the bags and trunk and strapped to the top of the trunk we were pushing a half ton of rolling weight. Once it starts to go, it’s going to go.
Weirdly, I never dropped either of the two Harleys I owned (a ’79 Electra-Glide, and a ’92 Heritage Softail). The Harley sales guy showed me that righting a dropped Big Twin with crash bars was easy. You just pull it down further on the crash bars when the bike is laying down, and then when it rolls back up you give it a little help and oila, it’s upright.
Joe there’s two types of riders the one that has gone down !! and the one that will go down???
Indeed.
My “favorite” bike drop story. My “re-entry” bike was a KLR 650. Scenario: Stop at the sign, going to make a right turn. Bars turned to the right. Go. Fall over to the right. Why? Not enough gas. Results: at least two broken brake levers. Installed Barkbusters.
Thanks, Dan. The KLR was a great bike. Wish I still had mine. It sure was a tall bike, though. Oddly, I never dropped mine. Maybe it was because it was so tall I always worried about dropping it. Who knows.
Ok and adder to you tales of lost pride…I purchased a Kaw GPz 750 In San Jose California 1984 I think. Silver with Red trim…beautiful and the Hottest bike on the street. the motor was built and the 900’s were dog meat even in a straight line to his puppy. I was KING of all I surveyed! After a morning of out riding and out dragging, and out handling all my erstwhile friends. We all stopped for gas at a one pump station in the boonies. I carefully put my foot down and wham! I see stars and my knee is killing me, and I am trapped under the bike. I seems that a oil truck or maybe a tanker had carefully poured ALL of its load on the driveway of this poor station. I am trapped under the bike and all my buddies are laughing their asses off watch me struggle to get the bike off of me with my now wrenched knee. They did not help or lift a finger to help, they were laughing too hard. The main comment that stuck with me was…” We figured that you out ran us all day like superman, so a zero MPH step off shouldn’t bother superman…” Lesson learned, and pride adjusted, I always help and I don’t ride like a jerk with anybody , anytime. Now when I ride with guys who want to be Superman, I wait and hope for that one pump gas station…everybody needs gas sooner or later.
Great story, Terry. Thanks for sharing.
I always advise folks to be careful at the toll booths in Mexico. There are always oil slicks there.
Had a leak in the rear tire of my Suzuki Katana, so I decided to roll it forward a little to find the cause. Should have been standing beside it and not behind it when I did that. It fell over into my Honda PC 800, which then fell into my Yamaha TT230. No major physical damage, just hurt pride.
When I got my PC 800 I rode it to my dad’s house to show it off. I forgot the side stand when I got off and it just eased over. No major damage, just really hurt pride.
I pulled into my office parking lot on my Kawasaki Concours early one morning to open up. I did a beautiful slow speed u-turn to park next to the door. My foot slipped and down we went. One female employee was parked there waiting for me to unlock the door. No major damage, just really, really hurt pride.
Pulled into a gas station on my Honda ST 1100. Downhill parking lot with some gravel. My foot slipped, and the bike slid down in front of the crowd in the attached Subway restaurant. I picked it back up using the adrenaline and the incorrect technique of just jerking it back up. I didn’t even go in for lunch. Just fired it up, and headed back up the road. No damage, just more hurt pride, and really lucky no hurt back.
The Concours and the ST 1100 are notorious for being top heavy and prone to dropping. I can vouch for both. They were great long-distance bikes, you just couldn’t stop anywhere without being really careful with your footing.
Your adventures sound a lot like mine, Alvin. Thanks for posting.
1. It’s 1978 and I’m 18 years old and in the Army. I howl into the gravel Regimental car park on my new-to-me 1974 Honda CB350 (air-brushed gas tank!) and grab a big handful of front brake. You all know what comes next – I’m on my butt in front of what seemed like the whole Regiment. Luckily I also had 1969 327 Monaro so I was still a little bit cool afterwards. In case you are wondering, the picture on the tank was a really cool desert island with palm trees and everything!
2. It’s about 1988 and now I’m a Police officer. My boss (the Inspector) invites me to go sailing with him. I ride my 1984 Ducati 900S2 to his house and drop it on his steep down hill drive way. Of course his whole family saw it. He invites me to park my bike safely in his garage and we go sailing for the day. Unfortunately the float has stuck in one of the Dellortos and it leaks a whole tank of gas onto the floor of the garage. It stank out their whole house and my boss’s wife nearly had to call the fire brigade. When we returned I got a fairly frosty reception and I never got invited sailing again.
Ouch.