My Embarrassing Drop

[MichaelJohn]

The other day I was backing the NC into the garage preparing to lube the chain. I had laid out some newspaper on the garage floor to go under the bike but as I began to back the bike over it (I was on the bike) I decided to avoid it because I knew it might go out from under me. My garage floor without newspaper is already slippery and I have to be very careful because my riding boots tend to lose traction. Well, I got by the newspaper OK and went to rest the bike on the kickstand, which I was CERTAIN was down. It wasn't. Down I went with the bike on top of me narrowly missing my car. The next thing I know I'm totally pinned under the bike and I can't move my left leg. Now I'm good and stuck - my wife and kids are not home and I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Once I realized that I wasn't hurt at all, only stuck, I got the giggles. I must have looked like an idiot. I eventually liberated myself by ever so gradually wiggling and pulling on my left leg and after about five minutes of struggling I was free. I went to lift the bike but as I mentioned before, my garage floor is very slippery so I swallowed my pride and went to my neighbor to ask for help. He rides a nice Ducati so he understood completely. Once I got the bike up the only damage was a scratched bar-end and a slightly bent peg on the kickstand which I straightened. I have always been very careful about putting the kickstands down on my bikes so I'm not exactly sure how this happened. I was probably concentrating so hard I'm not slipping on the newspaper that I forgot about the kickstand. In any case now when I put the kickstand down just to be safe I give it a good kick to make sure it's set - then I kick it again!

 

[DanH]

Nothing takes the sting out of our own personal stupid than diluting it with everyone else's. Thanks for sharing. Low speed/stopped drops on the NC are so common. No one can reach the ground sitting on the damn thing so when it starts to go, its gone. But we have all learned to shake our heads, pick it up and move on. Glad you didn't get hurt.

 

[Heavy-H]

I think we've all been there..... lol

 

[potter0o]

Glad you and the bike are ok. Pride heals quickly

 

[what next]

I think we've all been there..... lol

YUP several times

 

[bduffey]

Although it's always good to double-check the stand, one trick I had an old-timer tell me years ago was once you put the stand down and put a foot down, keep a backwards 'pull' or strain on the bars as you swing the other leg off. This helps keep the back drawing back on the extended direction of the stand. Anyway...........

 

[ViperDriver]

Forgetting the kickstand is easy. It's much harder to forget to raise the garage door when backing your Jeep out. Yep, done that! Hope that makes you feel better.

 

[ColoradoRod]

I managed to pinch my foot between my centerstand and the frame of my VStrom not long before I sold it. I had the bike on the centerstand on top of one of those roll around motorcycle dollies that allows you to easily tuck the bike in the corner of the garage. Well... The height of the dolly changes the geometry of the centerstand just enough to make it difficult to raise and lower the bike off the stand.

I was sitting on the bike rocking it forward trying to get the centerstand retracted and the dolly kept scooting as the bike tipped forward. I stuck my left foot down in front of the dolly wheels hoping to hold it in place. The centerstand retracted on my next attempt and nabbed my foot right at the ankle. The thickness of my ankle didn't let the stand fully retract and my ankle was pinched with the weight of the bike plus my [not insubstantial] weight sitting on the seat.

I live alone and was trapped in my garage. My foot hurt like heck and so I started to just knock the bike over to free myself, but the pain was even worse and it felt like it was going to pinch my foot off at the ankle. Remembering that I had my cell phone in my pocket, I called my brother. About 6 minutes later he came screeching into my driveway. Quickly realizing there was no chance of him lifting the 650+ pound bike plus my weight, we decided to tip it over. He was able to take a little weight off as it tipped by basically bear-hugging the rear of the bike and lifting it as much as possible.

End result: not a single scratch on the bike. I went to a foot doctor where they took X-rays and said that nothing was broken. I've got some significant nerve trauma, but the doc thinks the foot will eventually recover. I'm not so sure. It's been about 9 weeks now and I've still got a pins and needles / numb feeling in the foot and it feels swollen all the time. I've kinda re-learned how to walk without being able to feel my foot. I mis-shift a little more than I used to because I can't really feel the gear shift lever.

So in the grand scheme of things, to the original poster, I think I've got you beat in the "dumbest things I've done" realm! Too bad, really, because that's one contest I'd just as soon lose.

 

[MZ5]

The only real scuff on my NCX is on the headlight, which scuff came when it tipped over, engine off, with me leaning over the seat trying to hold the bike straight up and also check the oil. It slowly tipped away from me, and the steel post that holds up the parking shade 'caught' it and scuffed the headlight. Talk about stupid. I eve have a center stand, but wanted to compare oil level on the stand vs off. <rolleyes>

 

[skeedaddle]

Don't feel bad. It happened to me just last week. In a crowded gravel parking lot. Going very slow looking for a place to park. Front tire slid out in some loose gravel. Next thing I know I'm down under the bike. Got out from under it. Pissed off I picked the bike up. Only damage was some minor scratches on a side case. The Barkbuster hand guards payed for themselves.

 

[Old Can Ride]

If I don't drop my bike every now and then, I must have done something wrong. Dropping the bike in a parking is standard procedure.

 

[itlives]

My embarrassing drop was at a rail road crossing. I didn't want to wait so started a slow turn in the road. Down I went. Still working on
'handle bars locked" slow turns.

 

[scotseam]

It happens to all of us, somewhere sometime. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Beemerphile]

(by the way, instead of newspaper, try a flattened cardboard box. In addition to a mess on the floor, cleaning and lubing the chain can also mess up the tire, wheel, and swingarm. Take a flat piece of cardboard and crease it so that it starts behind the chain and extends to the floor where it is creased to cover the floor under the chain. You can spray happily on the chain without getting goop on the bike or the floor. If it is positioned properly (and on a centerstand) you can roll wheel to advance the chain without disturbing your cardboard barrier.)

 

[670cc]

In the late '90s, I gently set down my ST1100 on its side after I realized the stand that I thought was down actually wasn't there. It happens when you get out of your routine. In my case I was repositioning the bike in a parking space to avoid a slope or oil spot. After repositioning, I leaned the bike back over, not realizing that I had put the stand up.

So out of that came new habits. First, whenever I lean on to the side stand, I look down at it while doing so. Leaning the bike on the sidestand "blind" is not allowed. Second, whenever repositioning a bike that is on the stand, I kick the stand forward before leaning over again. Too often when you roll forward a tad, the stand drags and partly folds, leading to total fold up when you put weight on it.

Since adopting these two rules/habits, I haven't dropped a bike since the late '90s, (other than falling off dirt bikes in challenging terrain).

 

[Russell733]

The one time I dropped my NC was the opposite problem. Rolling out of the storage which has about a 6 inch concrete lip, and I forgot to put the kickstand up, so when back tire dropped it hit the floor and pushed the bike over to the right side. I didnt actually drop it all the way but did strain some muscles stopping it. Originally I had built a plywood ramp to get it in and out but then learned it had enough clearance and its easier to drive it up over the lip and stopped using the ramp but I always remember to double check the kickstand now.

 

[L.B.S.]

My NC has been the source of a few firsts in my motorcycle career, lol

-spun out on the death slippery new rear tire leaving the dealership lot right in front of God and everybody, and got dumped on my butt

-split breather line from fuel cell caused gasoline to start leaking, and in too much of a hurry to push the bike out from under my landlord's deck, I forgot to remove the U-lock in the front tire...

And here I thought all my flops and spills were going to be off road with this bike, the only times binning it so far, were on the street! :/

 

[wildeone]

No one can reach the ground sitting on the damn thing so when it starts to go, its gone.

what do you mean? nc is relatively low. The culprit is heaviness - I dropped in garage as well only because is twice as heavy as I and outbalanced me on slippery floor when I walked it.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I have laid the NC down a couple times but I have never laid a bike down in this manner. That is, forgetting to put down the stand. In my case it is all based off routine. I put the bike on the side stand long enough to get off and immediately put the bike on the center stand. I rarely change that routine unless it is a real quick stop. I think I unconsciously touch the side stand with my foot to ensure it is in place after it has been swung over. I'm going to pay attention to what I do next time. I'll probably end up dropping it because I'm thinking about it. LOL

 

[SergeantChuck]

No one can reach the ground sitting on the damn thing so when it starts to go, its gone.

I'm in that group. Always on the ball of my feet and I probably look like a drunk sometimes when coming to a stop. I have the short leg syndrome.