Jesse H
0
"Those who have dropped a bike and those who will."
Or some variation of that saying; I've never cared for it. I didn't believe it to be true because I figured if one was trained, practiced, and alert one could go through their riding career without dumping a bike. I know people who haven't and figured I would be one of them. If a fellow rider would say "there are two types of riders" I'd just nod politely. After about 16 years of motorcycling I dropped my FJR a couple days ago.
We took a trip to Big Bend and it was our second day of riding. Although it was hot, I was alert, hydrated and enjoying myself. It was a group of 3 and the lead guy decided to pull over and stop at a scenic overlook. The 2nd guy in front of me pulled over and parked. I pull over behind the 2nd bike. I completely misjudged how steep things were. I'm 5'9" and can't completely flat foot the bike, but that's never been an issue. I usually stop with my right foot on the peg to hold the rear brake and left foot on the road. Left foot touches down and I realized dang I didn't need to extend my leg much. Right leg instinctively tries to touch down but it doesn't because it's so steep. If I didn't stop so close behind my buddy I probably could've eased off the clutch and ride away. Thus down she went. I gave it a futile attempt but by the time my right boot finally hit the ground the top heavy FJR was already past it's tipping point so I hopped off.
I felt sick to my stomach and thought we were in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone coverage and thinking about how we would have to get the bike home. It was so steep I wasn't able to pick the bike up myself. Fortunately the frame slider prevented any mechanical damage and we were able to ride the rest of the day. Just the saddlebag alone is about $500 so I'm leaning towards letting insurance handle it. The mirror is loose, which means the subframe it attaches to snapped and the effort to get to it is another reason I don't feel like tackling it. I don't even like looking at the damage, much less working on repairing it myself.
I didn't enjoy myself the rest of the day so the next morning I decided to just ride 9 hours home instead of spending the next 3 days out there as planned.
I'm just thankful I wasn't injured and that things could always be worse. It's just a bike and that's what insurance is for.
Or some variation of that saying; I've never cared for it. I didn't believe it to be true because I figured if one was trained, practiced, and alert one could go through their riding career without dumping a bike. I know people who haven't and figured I would be one of them. If a fellow rider would say "there are two types of riders" I'd just nod politely. After about 16 years of motorcycling I dropped my FJR a couple days ago.
We took a trip to Big Bend and it was our second day of riding. Although it was hot, I was alert, hydrated and enjoying myself. It was a group of 3 and the lead guy decided to pull over and stop at a scenic overlook. The 2nd guy in front of me pulled over and parked. I pull over behind the 2nd bike. I completely misjudged how steep things were. I'm 5'9" and can't completely flat foot the bike, but that's never been an issue. I usually stop with my right foot on the peg to hold the rear brake and left foot on the road. Left foot touches down and I realized dang I didn't need to extend my leg much. Right leg instinctively tries to touch down but it doesn't because it's so steep. If I didn't stop so close behind my buddy I probably could've eased off the clutch and ride away. Thus down she went. I gave it a futile attempt but by the time my right boot finally hit the ground the top heavy FJR was already past it's tipping point so I hopped off.
I felt sick to my stomach and thought we were in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone coverage and thinking about how we would have to get the bike home. It was so steep I wasn't able to pick the bike up myself. Fortunately the frame slider prevented any mechanical damage and we were able to ride the rest of the day. Just the saddlebag alone is about $500 so I'm leaning towards letting insurance handle it. The mirror is loose, which means the subframe it attaches to snapped and the effort to get to it is another reason I don't feel like tackling it. I don't even like looking at the damage, much less working on repairing it myself.
I didn't enjoy myself the rest of the day so the next morning I decided to just ride 9 hours home instead of spending the next 3 days out there as planned.
I'm just thankful I wasn't injured and that things could always be worse. It's just a bike and that's what insurance is for.