Did you drop your bike today? I've heard from many seasoned riders that there are two kinds of riders, those who have dropped their bike and those who will.
I am one of those that has. I purchased my new 2004, FXDX in February, 2005. It was the middle of winter so I had the dealer deliver the bike to my home. I've been away from motorcycles for a few years so when Spring arrived I took my brand new bike to a school parking lot down the street from my house. I practiced starting, stopping, slow turning and U-turns in yellow lined parking spacing.
After about a week I felt comfortable enough to venture onto the side streets in my neighborhood. I did this for another week. Now I thought, ok lets hit the road and get into some major traffic.
While I was riding I looked at the gas gauge and saw I needed to fuel up soon. I remembered I needed some cash so I could buy gas. So I rode over to my bank and stopped at the ATM and got some cash. I pulled out of the ATM lane and proceeded to the parking lot and rode to the exit so I could get out onto the road. The traffic was kind of heavy so I stopped at the end of the exit and was waiting for the traffic to clear. There was a car stopped behind me. I think he got a little impatient and went around me. Now he stopped right next to me and was blocking my view so I started to creep up so I could see the traffic coming, so I could pull out if it was clear.
When I pulled out far enough to see the cars were still coming I had to stop. I put my feet down and when I did there was no pavement to plant my feet on. The bike was standing over the gutter between the parking lot and the street. The gutter was so deep my legs were not long enough to reach the street. I started to lean over to the right and I could not save the bike from falling over.
Now my bike was laying on the ground and traffic was stopped because I was blocking the right lane. The guy that drove around me was still there and saw everything and did not come out to help. A driver from one of the cars came out and helped me lift the bike up.
Today's bikes are much heavier than the past. Mine weights out at 650+ pounds. With out this mans help I could have never lifted the bike myself plus I have never dropped a bike before so I had no clue on how to lift it up my self.
The bike had some damage but not bad enough for me not to be able to ride it back home. I will write about the cost of replaceing parts on todays bikes in a future Post.
Now with my first drop under my belt. I thaught to myself that I have to learn how to lift this hog by myself if this ever happens again. So I checked around and found instructions on the net.
The Source of these instructions are from MotorCycle Safety.org. I well have a Link to their site in this post and my Links page.
| 1. Turn the handlebars to full-lock position with front of tire pointed downward. 2. Find the "balance point" of the two tires and the engine, engine guard, or footpeg. The motorcycle will be fairly easy to lift until it reaches this point because it's resting on its side. Once you start lifting from there, you are responsible for the most of the weight of the bike. 6. Lift with your legs by taking small steps backwards, pressing against the seat with your butt and keeping your back straight. On slippery or gravelly surfaces this technique probably won't work. On inclined surfaces this can be very dangerous. 7. Be careful not to lift the motorcycle up and then flip it onto its other side! If possible, put the sidestand down and the bike in gear. |
Source:MotorCycleSaftey.org
The Meaning Of The Day: BDC - Bottom dead canter of a piston. Opposite of TDC (Top dead center)
Now You Know, Biker Joe
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