We all fall down

[woody]

I have been following the thread in the tech section about one gentleman who had a small falling.
It was duely sugested that this partcular theread should have been posted in the general board, subsequently I have decided to take him up on this and start a thread about stupid mistakes and falling over (not crashing as thats another story). If you are too embarresed to say you did it just say a mate did it, its still funny.
I have made mistakes and fallen (not crashed) several times, I think all of us have (if we admit it), but one of the funniest was when my next door neighbor fell over one morning (it really was my neighbor not me).

Every morning while laying in bed I would hear him trying to start his old V twin thumper kick start, after a few minutes of kicking and swearing he would push the bike up the hill and run along side it until a suitable speed was achieved, then jump on the bike and clutch start it.
One morning the usual pitter patter of running feet was not consumated with a resounding bang and thumpity thump of his motor, it was a crash ....scrape.....scrape...swear ....swear...groan.
I jumped out of bed only to see him, bark off all over, being helped up by a local morning walker (who was in his 70s).
He then asked this old bloke to give him a push, which he did and after several runs, the motor roared into life my neighbor happily waved him goodby and set off, leaving the old gentleman to puff and wheeze holding his chest until I thought he might have a heart attack (He was ok). But he never walked that way again, my neighbor eventually gave up on his bike and bought a car, but thats another story.........

[Evil One]

I was turning my katana around o a steep hill... went to put my foot down and it didnt touch the ground.
Tumbled right over. Not even a scrape on me, light scuffs on the plastic.
Same bike... I was lubing the chain during a lunch stop while on a trip.
Hot asphalt, center stand sunk down on one side. Flop... broken mirror.
I am sitting cross legged behind it holding the rear tire... that didnt work.


Jim

[BonS]

Please no flames - but - I'm amazed that self-canceling turn signals and kickstand interlocks aren't mandatory. (I never thought about the steering lock but I might consider adding it to the list.) I was recently reading where Harley lost one in court regarding the lack of a kickstand interlock; you'd think they'd learn.

I was lucky for years with the kickstand thing until one day out of 45+ years of riding that it happened. I just left home and needed to make a left sweeper. The kickstand dug into the road and I tried a couple of kicks to get it up as I slowed down. "It had always worked before", but not this time. As luck would have it a car was parked at the curve and my bike and I slid into a back tire. Ugh!

I also remember getting on a Triumph years ago with its reversed controls and upside-down shifting pattern. On my first ride I approached a light and the back end started to come around - yeah, I was pressing on the gear shift instead of the rear brake. Dumb!

Yea, I wouldn't mind it if manufacturers all had to have the same safety interlocks in place (and maybe the brake/gear shift on the same sides). Standards for an industry can both help to level the competitive playing field as well as help the consumer easily and safely switch from one brand to another and use the same "muscle memory" to operate machinery safely. There was a time when PRNDL wasn't a standard for automatic transmission shifters.   Government standards are "minimum" standards that leave plenty of room for innovation. As HD has shown some manufacturers will look for any place to save a buck like with a kickstand interlock and still sell their bikes for the highest dollar they can.

Okay, flame away. (I can take it, I think )

[woody]

Ducati older one.........say no more, gear instead of brakes, ouch.
Yamaha 750 special......left kick stand down, couple of ks left turn catapulted over the bars, ouch.
BMW K1200 hot day, asphalt, sidestand .......crunch....hip pocket ouch.
Its good to get them off my chest.
Maybe more if I get going.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Picked it up off the kick-stand and she just kept goin' ( I was barefoot    ) . Another time I was getting gas and my ridin' buddy was BSing with me while I was still on the bike. I got off without putting the kick-stand down     I lucked out both times no damage whatsoever to my bike...Those saddlebag rails are worth their weight in gold.In the photo the trunk missed the vise by a few inches ...That would have left a mark 

[Michael K (Az.)]

I know someone has the story behind this one!

[solo1]

I'll just mention one of many stories I can remember about flat foreheading.

In 1949, my buddy and I rode from Indiana to the Smoky Mountains.  Both of us had Matchlesses 500cc thumpers.  We were on our way through the Park, my buddy was leading, and I was looking up at Mt. Laconte.  I looked too long. I looked down and ran off the road and about 30 feet down a wet grassy slope.  My buddy kept on riding.  No harm done to me or the bike so I got on the uphill side of the bike and lifted it up.  Unfortunately I was so pissed that I lifted it up and pitched it the other way downhill.

I finally managed to bring it vertical, started it, and tried to ride up the hill, no luck, the grass was too slick, About this time my buddy showed up at the road and was furnishing the laughs since I was in no mood for it.  I tried walking it up in first gear , that didn't work either.  Finally after some @#$%^&^ on my part and a "get your arse down here"  blast, Vic came down and we got the thumper back to the road.   

I got even. Vic had lost part of his kickstand (vibrated off early in the trip) and, up to now, I would push him to start his Matchless, No more!  For two day, he had to run with it and push start his bike, I wouldn't touch it.  We did remain friends though.

[woody]

Ahhhhh, the old Matchless 500, what a beautiful bike.
Amazing how the old bikes could take such a beating and still be rideable, new bikes fall over and it costs an arm and a leg to fix.

Hows this for group dum.
I was riding with a group of about 12 bikes, we had ridden for about 4 hours straight after a very busy very cold day (not an excuse, just a comment).
We all came to the traffic lights at the end of the expressway and for the first time in 4 hours we had to stop, it was cold (possibly dulling what was left of our brains) and four of us forgot to put our feet down.
Yes the bikes fell over, taking a couple of others with them, three more fell over when the riders were laughing so hard they overbalanced.
You can imagine the scene 9 out of 12 bikes on their sides, riders all laughing like idiots, trying to right them. (have you ever tried to right a bike while laughing? its not possible) The tin lid drivers didnt know what to make of it, but the copper did, he did a breath test on us all. We all passed and he had a laugh when we explained how it happened. By the way all of us were members of a club called the Ulysses Club, which is a club for bikers over 50, nuf said.

[Kidd]

35  years ago , when I smoked pot , I forgot to put the KS down more then once .

2 Years ago  ,  the drive  up to a church  was  banked , had to stop for a car backing out  , put my foot down and nothing  there  ,   made a  uturn , not by choice , and laid  my ST 1300  down  .
Thought for sure hundreds of $  in damage  , only the engine guard and plastic cover  touched  ground  .
Amazing  what Honda does  for us   , protecting  the bike   when it's laid over

[DeathWishBikerDude]

Couple of friends went for a ride,and decided to trade rides for the evening.
After a few watering holes the trike rider decided to take his ride back for the ride home.
We got to the first intersection,and my buddy forgot he was no longer on the trike.
Never put his feet down,and proceeded to fall right on his arse.
 

[Dogg]

Here is one maybe you have heard before. Not my fault...

I stopped at a 7-11 for a coffee. pulled up to the front of the store, put ks down, climbed off, went in store for coffee.  As I am making my coffee, the girl running the register asked if it was my bike. well, as proud as I am, why, Yes it is my bike. About that time she said well, its laying on the ground. I ran out and sure enuff it was. Wind was blowing 40mph gusts and well, ks was on the receiving side of the wind. blew the bike right over.

 I knew the ks was a lil too long, since the bike was lowered and stretched, didnt think the wind would blow if over tho. proved me wrong....

[QOTFU]

Mine just falls over sometime for no apparent reason. Typically it's when I pull onto  gravel. I think the tires just aren't use to it.

[JimL]

This one makes me shiver as I recall this one.

Let me first say that as a youngster growing up in the mountains of Kentucky, I had seen plenty of snow and knew that the last thing anyone wants is to be on 2 wheels on a snow covered road.

In early March 2007 I was riding through western Wyoming on I-80 back to Nashville, TN.  The thing I didn't realize about Wyoming is that you can't always see the mountains in the distance when it is snowing.  What appears to be innocent clouds ahead, is really snow falling and the road gradually meets those "innocent clouds" and road turn white as a result.

I was just east of Rock Springs, WY when in an instant it seems the road became snow covered.  Nothing more terrifying to find oneself going 60+ MPH on a snow covered road!  I remember thinking to myself...no more throttle...let this slow down on its own with no braking...and hopefully no one will hit me from behind in the process.

I was very lucky that there just happened to be an exit 1/4 mile ahead...the bad part was that the exit had a sharp switchback.  I managed to get off I-80 and actually make it through the sharp switchback on the exit ramp....at this point I was thinking to myself....I can't believe I got out of that situation without going down!

I see a motel parking lot just off the exit ramp...and VERY slowly head for the parking lot.  At this point there is easily between 1" to 2" of snow on the ground...but fortunately it is a bit slushy.  Just as I turn into the motel parking lot (thinking that I have made it out of the situation intact), the front wheel went into a skid as it hit the curb separating the road from the motel parking lot.  The bike went sideways and there was no recovering it at that point, I just made sure that I was not going to be under the bike when it hit the ground!

One of my lasting memories of the good folks of Wyoming is that it was not 30 seconds until a friendly gentleman pulled off the road to assist me in getting my bike up off that slick, snow covered parking lot.

Only about $300 dollars worth of damage to the bike, and a lesson about Wyoming weather (lucky for me, since after I got back on the road....I ran into much worse weather on the plateau in Laramie)!