There’s nothing more embarrassing than pulling into a parking lot and dumping your bike in front of a bunch of people, even worse a bunch of other riders. Embarrassment and damage to your pride aside, if you do drop it in front of other riders your bike will most likely be back up before you have time to process what happened as fellow riders will jump to your aid.
Most of us have dropped a motorcycle while learning to ride, even experienced riders do it once in a while. I’ve dropped my bike on a few occasions.. when parking and being indecisive on which spot I want and making a last minute misjudgment or mistake, manoeuvring on gravel, or coming to a stop unexpectedly on a hill/turn.
Pick your bike up
If you are unfortunate enough to drop it in front of others, the bright side is that you can ask someone for help, and don’t be afraid too. If you’re alone you will need to know how to pick it up by yourself. The type of bike you ride will depend on how difficult this will be.
Here is a video demonstration on how to do so.
Important Notes:
- Make sure you open the kick stand
- Put the bike in gear so it doesn't role
- You are only using your legs to push the bike back up
Check for damage
You want to make sure your bike is still safe to ride. Broken or bent mirrors and Clutch or Brake levers are the most noticeable damage. Make sure nothing is bent or broken to the point its not safe to ride.
There could be a fluid leak. Coolant could be spilled or knocked from the reservoir, there could be a leak from the brake line or air could be entering the lid over the brake fluid reservoir. If air gets into the brake reservoir it will not be safe to ride.
Check your foot controls and make sure the the shifter isn't stuck and the rear brake pedal moves freely. Depending on your bike there could be potential for the brake petal to contact the engine case, Inspect the engine case for damage. If the engine case is cracked or pushed in you will need to get the bike towed as there could be oil loss or engine damage.
Make sure the bike still rolls and runs correctly. Touch all the pieces that are scratched or damaged to insure nothing is loose. Check your lighting.
Protection
The best way to protect your motorcycle from damage arising from falling over while parked and low speed crashes is by investing in crash bars.
Crash Bars and sliders will take any tip-over damage and protect the bike.
Hand Guards will protect your levers as well as your hands.
Prevention
It’s important to know why your bike goes down, slow manoeuvring on a heavy motorcycle can be difficult. If you are positioned in a straight line stopping is easy using both brakes. When your bars are turned on either angle and you grab the front brake, this will pull the bike down. If you’re on flat ground you might be able to correct yourself or stop it, but if your on any kind of hill while your bars are turned and you grab that front brake you will go down. It’s important to remember to use your back brake when in these circumstances, which requires your right foot so balance is also a key factor. Planning in your head exactly where you want to park before hand will help you know what you need to do, it’s usually those last minute decisions that fuck me up.
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