auknight
August 2nd, 2011, 01:52 AM
Well, with the exception of my intro post, this will be my first official post. And what better way to say hi than tell of my story of dropping my bike...three times...all on the left side.
The first time was within a month of buying my bike. I was practicing slow speed maneuvers with a buddy on the roof of a parking structure. I attempted a slow tight turn around a cone, when I focused on the nearby wall mid turn. I psyched myself out, pulled the clutch in a bit, and lost power. The bike dropped into the left, and as hard as I tried to hold her up, I fell with it. It was a gentle drop. There were some scratches on the tip of the left turn indicator, and the clutch lever. And of course, the shift lever bent in. But other than that, you wouldn't know I dropped it.
This was a pivotal moment for me, cause up till this point, I was fully confident, and eager to learn. This drop, although minor, shattered my confidence with leaning the bike, and slow speed maneuvering. And so I've had to work past that fear since then. I still have problems with U-turns, and end up going wide a lot. But I'll eventually get it.
The second drop was on the side of a highway on my way to work. I witnessed a bad accident involving four young girls in a Jeep Wrangler. I first noticed it flipping along the side of the highway coming around a curve. I stopped to render aid, but stopped fast, and on a left camber, so my left foot was not touching anything as I tried to dismount. I basically helped the bike lean over to the left, and it started to fall over. My mind put priority on helping the girls, so I let the bike drop. I didn't even kill the engine.
This one caused more damage. The left turn signal housing got cracked, shift lever bent in again, and I have a good scratch running along the lower fairing. Later, I found out that the turn indicator arm actually punched through the fairing, making a circular crack that recessed about a quarter inch.
Last but not least, my third drop was pretty recent. After 2 months of zero incidents, zero rookie mistakes. I was stopped at a red light. It was about 108 degrees out. I was trying out my new bohm airtex armor, thinking it would be cooler to wear that under a tshirt vs wearing my mesh jacket. It was actually much hotter, as my skin was in more direct contact with the heat. I traveled only 3 miles down the road, and started overheating as the armor pieces accumulated all the heat against me body. I got a little lightheaded, and my mind stared to wander as I sat there at the light. My right hand came off the bar, then the left hand...while in gear. So the bike lurched forward, died, i lost balance, and fell over...on the left side again. Bent my shift lever again. This time, the tip of my clutch lever broke off. I did this with cars all around me. I wouldn't be surprised if I find myself on youtube.
So those are my dropping stories. Not too bad in the grand scheme, but I learned a bunch from each incident, much more than when everything is going perfect.
The first time was within a month of buying my bike. I was practicing slow speed maneuvers with a buddy on the roof of a parking structure. I attempted a slow tight turn around a cone, when I focused on the nearby wall mid turn. I psyched myself out, pulled the clutch in a bit, and lost power. The bike dropped into the left, and as hard as I tried to hold her up, I fell with it. It was a gentle drop. There were some scratches on the tip of the left turn indicator, and the clutch lever. And of course, the shift lever bent in. But other than that, you wouldn't know I dropped it.
This was a pivotal moment for me, cause up till this point, I was fully confident, and eager to learn. This drop, although minor, shattered my confidence with leaning the bike, and slow speed maneuvering. And so I've had to work past that fear since then. I still have problems with U-turns, and end up going wide a lot. But I'll eventually get it.
The second drop was on the side of a highway on my way to work. I witnessed a bad accident involving four young girls in a Jeep Wrangler. I first noticed it flipping along the side of the highway coming around a curve. I stopped to render aid, but stopped fast, and on a left camber, so my left foot was not touching anything as I tried to dismount. I basically helped the bike lean over to the left, and it started to fall over. My mind put priority on helping the girls, so I let the bike drop. I didn't even kill the engine.
This one caused more damage. The left turn signal housing got cracked, shift lever bent in again, and I have a good scratch running along the lower fairing. Later, I found out that the turn indicator arm actually punched through the fairing, making a circular crack that recessed about a quarter inch.
Last but not least, my third drop was pretty recent. After 2 months of zero incidents, zero rookie mistakes. I was stopped at a red light. It was about 108 degrees out. I was trying out my new bohm airtex armor, thinking it would be cooler to wear that under a tshirt vs wearing my mesh jacket. It was actually much hotter, as my skin was in more direct contact with the heat. I traveled only 3 miles down the road, and started overheating as the armor pieces accumulated all the heat against me body. I got a little lightheaded, and my mind stared to wander as I sat there at the light. My right hand came off the bar, then the left hand...while in gear. So the bike lurched forward, died, i lost balance, and fell over...on the left side again. Bent my shift lever again. This time, the tip of my clutch lever broke off. I did this with cars all around me. I wouldn't be surprised if I find myself on youtube.
So those are my dropping stories. Not too bad in the grand scheme, but I learned a bunch from each incident, much more than when everything is going perfect.