OK......I Fianlly Dropped It.......

[Redbrick]

Riding Tioga Pass (Yosemite)with best friend last Saturday...Both on '05 1200RT's...Stopped at a turn out on the way up the grade from Lee Vining and took pictures...He rides off up the road...I drop it in 1st, put foot on brake as it was up hill, let out the clutch, it stalls, or almost, bars turn to the right and it starts down......S****t.........Point of no return reached I set it down as gently as my old body would allow...What a tragic sight......A beautiful red race horse on its side...Pathetic......I look up the road at my buddies helmet dissapearing and felt like a puppy watching his master drive away without him.......WTF do I do now?...Remembered; "Back up to bike, bend knees, grab handgrip with left hand, right hand on rail at the back, work butt and feet backwards lifting, using knees and upright it"...First foot or so off the ground is toughest of course...About that time I remember....PUT THE KICK STAND DOWN DUMMY or it'll just go down on the other side!...So I set it gently back down, walk around the downed beauty and pull the kick stand down (actually sideways)....Do exercise again and get it up with back to bike, balancing it, standing there hoping slow movement would save me.....Very gently turn around, grab left handgrip and set it on side stand....Luckly it was still in 1st as I forgot that part of the routine...Nobody around, I thought...I turn and walk around back of bike and there is a car with folks sitting there watching me..I think their mouths were open, at least I thought so....Where is a hole to crawl into?

In gear, start up the road and feel definite complaint from my back......Thought of Laney's recent problem and figured the ride was over for me......But the old body let me go, pain went away and ride was fine from there....Minimal scratch on side case and BMW engine guard did it's job taking some scratching....

At the next stop in beautiful Tuoumne Meadows I immediately 'fessed up to buddy.....Confession cleanses......

 

There......I feel better......

 

Phil.........Redbrick

 

 

So, I've joined the club....

I know.....Take it out and throw it down on the left side and get it over with.....

[ESokoloff]

I joined the club about 5 months ago

 

Sorry to read of your new membership

[Francois_Dumas]

One club I don't want to be a member of.. sorry to hear you joined ! But good that there is not more damage !

 

The main reason I don't want to be member is my bad back. I don't think it'll allow me to get the bike back on its wheels

[Steve1962]

Did those guys in the car not offer to help ??

 

Glad to see you are ok , a few battle scars add to the character of the bike [ I should know - The Panzer had an altercation with some pheasants last year , and came off worse }

 

Steve

[John Moylan]

Did those guys in the car not offer to help ??

 

...my thoughts exactly !!

[Hermes]

Welcome to the club, it is am eclactic group.

 

Btw, had you dropped it on the left hand side, how would one (by oneself) prevent it from continuing going over to the right?...or is it part of the routine to raise and drop it from left to right, then kickstand, then finally raise from right to left.

Just asking, not that anything like that would ever happen to one of us, wouldn't it?!

 

Jurgen, The Sensitive One.

 

p.s. isn't it surprising though, how the handlebar end (speak throttlemeister), the cylinder guard and the far corner of the side case absorb the impact with neglible damage.

[Redbrick]

QUOTE

"Did those guys in the car not offer to help ??"

QUOTE

 

I don't know how long that car had been there..Maybe were driving up as I lifted it....Probably just in awe of my superior bike handling skill....

 

Phil.......Redbrick

[Carnadero]

I drop it in 1st, put foot on brake as it was up hill, let out the clutch, it stalls, or almost, bars turn to the right and it starts down.....

Question: does 1st on your 'cycle seem rather tall? Sure feels that way on my K, and that's really the only beef I have (aside from unavailability of diagnostic software for private owners ).

 

It's enough that trips to San Francisco on the Beemer are pretty much out of the question for me.

[quaintance]

wow I'm a member of a club and didn't even know it, woo!

 

the day I dropped my R12RT was truly sad as I'd just recieved my touratech cyl head guards but hadn't put them on yet.

 

its kind of funny really.. the day I bought the bike the sales guy laughed and said you're probably gonna drop this thing once and it'll be in your garage, I wasn't really sure why he said that but I just nodded and said yeah probably.

 

two weeks later I pull into my garage, drop the kickstand and start to dismount, suddenly I realize the bike is going down as I get off, what the hell? the kickstand kicked itself back up and I hadn't realized it.. too late now, she went down albeit very slowly.

 

my wife was standing in the front yard and heard me drop a few f-bombs only to turn and see me re-raise the bike just by grabbing pillion rails and a handlebar, I wasn't even thinking.. I just did it out of sheer anger and managed to get her back up straight.. small indentation on the left cylinder head now covered by the freaken headguards.

[ESokoloff]

Question: does 1st on your 'cycle seem rather tall? Sure feels that way on my K, and that's really the only beef I have

 

1st feels tall on both my 1150RT & 12(0LD)GT but the K has more power.

[AZJerry]

I was returning from an AZBEEMERS event, cleaning up the ditches and dropped my bike as I stopped at a traffic signal. As I was struggling to pick it up someone came up and gave me a hand. A young hispanic (illegal?) had got out of the pickup behind me and helped without me asking and returned as I was saying thanks. He did not say a word.

The same thing happened when my Jeep stalled in downtown Phoenix. A young hispanic got up off the bench at the bus stop and helped get it off the street. again this was hepl with being ask.

In downtown Memphis my father's car ran out of gas and a black man came by and ask what the problem was and then brought me gas. He would not come out of the alley to give me the gas. He explained that after Martin Luther King had been killed there were restrictions about gas in containers. This was right after Martin Luther King was killed.

I guess what I saying is maybe you were not lucky enough to have a minority or less affuent person come by.

I have never had a mercedes or other expensive car stop when I had a problem.

[RTP Rider]

I'm with you brother.. joined the club on Monday!

 

I just did one of my longest rides solo - Glacier Park MT to Seattle in one day via back roads.

 

I kept to my route even as I got closer to home, and despite the lure of a quicker ride via interstate 90, I went up Stevens Pass on Route 2 in WA. At the summit, I decided to take the RT-P off road to scout out a hiking spot I had discovered months before on a car journey up there.

 

So I wind the RT-P down this mostly gravel path (thinking I suppose like I'm on a GS), and I come up to a fork. I'm just creeping along trying to take the right angle on gravel, and I got my weight balance wrong.

 

Over she goes!

 

Thank God for the crash bars! She flops on them, pivots a bit lower (making me glad I wasn't still in the seat - that would have been a leg breaker), and comes to a rest pointing down the hill on her side.

 

I'm actually laughing about the absurdity of it all.. I am WAY off the road (several miles to hike back to the highway at the summit), sunset has already passed and thge clouds are reddish, and there's not a soul in sight.

 

Plus I've never done the solo lift manuever before.

 

I take my grip bag off the back and give it a whirl.. knees low, butt against seat, grab onto bike and HEAVE!!!!!!!

 

I got it to move 2 inches...

 

OK now I'm not laughing anymore.

 

I've been riding for 10 hours straight, I'm tired and my bike is down in the wilderness.

 

I psych myself up, get down LOW this time and HEAVE.. and I get it up just enough to reposition myself and keep it moving..then I crested the 25 degree angle or so and it became manageable and got her righted.

 

I was pretty proud of myself after I got done feeling stupid!

 

The crash bars saved the bike from any damage, and even they didn't get dinged since it was nearly a drop at standstill.

 

I don't know why but I haven't told anyone about this so thanks for allowing me to come clean!

[Redbrick]

QUOTE

 

"Question: does 1st on your 'cycle seem rather tall? Sure feels that way on my K, and that's really the only beef I have"

 

QUOTE

 

Yah, 1st is a little tall but I have no excuses for the stall/drop...Trying to use rear brake, two-finger the front brake and twist the "go" grip all at once I just didn't manage it well and couldn't get right foot off brake fast enough to prevent the lay down...

 

Phil......Redbrick

[Rusty1945]

two weeks later I pull into my garage, drop the kickstand and start to dismount, suddenly I realize the bike is going down as I get off, what the hell? the kickstand kicked itself back up and I hadn't realized it.. too late now, she went down albeit very slowly.

Wow is this ever familiar. I did the same exact thing, but was parking next to the left wall of my garage. I somehow managed to stop the fall and heave that sucker back upright; only the left mirror lightly brushed the wall. Now I LOOK DOWN every time to see that the kickstand is where it should be. I also don't let it swing down on it's own, I guide it down with my foot so it doesn't bounce back up.

[GelStra]

Jeez, why do you think I put case savers on? To GUARANTEE that I wouldn't do it again! Feel fine about yourself. You're in good and PLENTIFUL company.

[Carnadero]

..re-raise the bike just by grabbing pillion rails and a handlebar, I wasn't even thinking.. I just did it out of sheer anger and managed to get her back up straight..

That's what I did when I set down my K in my apartment parking lot. Now I'm kinda wondering if I'd be able to pick it up if I wasn't in a rage....

[Laura]

...What a tragic sight......A beautiful red race horse on its side...Pathetic..

 

Wonderfully put, that's exactly how I felt when I let her down gently a couple of years ago. No damage to the bike but for a popped off mirror that I whacked back on but seeing my RT on her side was awful.

[Redbrick]

two weeks later I pull into my garage, drop the kickstand and start to dismount, suddenly I realize the bike is going down as I get off, what the hell? the kickstand kicked itself back up and I hadn't realized it.. too late now, she went down albeit very slowly.

Wow is this ever familiar. I did the same exact thing, but was parking next to the left wall of my garage. I somehow managed to stop the fall and heave that sucker back upright; only the left mirror lightly brushed the wall. Now I LOOK DOWN every time to see that the kickstand is where it should be. I also don't let it swing down on it's own, I guide it down with my foot so it doesn't bounce back up.

 

I fear the "not fully deployed kickstand" situation and have a habit of kicking it with my toe TWICE after I put it down to make sure it is all the way forward..

 

Phil.........Redbrick

[algover]

Heck, with the full tank-bag and top-box, I dropped it 4 times on our Gunnison trip!

[quaintance]

I fear the "not fully deployed kickstand" situation and have a habit of kicking it with my toe TWICE after I put it down to make sure it is all the way forward..

 

Phil.........Redbrick

 

Yup, following the kickstand down with my foot and then verifying its down is almost a ritual for me now.

 

only other time i've dropped a bike was coming to a stop in very loose gravel on my old triumph and at the last moment the front tire slid out a bit and i just dumped over, stood there for a moment(I think to shed a tear) and then heaved ho back up..

 

I've got a friend with a Harley S-Rod that he seems to drop inexplicably on nearly every major ride we do, that bloody thing is only 30lbs heavier than my R12RT but feels like you're trying move a grand piano. I keep telling him to trade in the 600lb sled and buy a K12R.. to no avail so far

[AdventurePoser]

Good confession, Phil, but where are the pix?

 

Glad you both are okay!

 

Steve in So Cal

[Redbrick]

Steve.....

I thought about taking a picture just after I raised it off the ground....Damage is minimal so pic's of that wouldn't show much...Nothing to compete with yours....Sorry about the windshield.......

[norah]

J You're in good and PLENTIFUL company.

 

Yeah, it's a BIG club. I guess you didn't notice the fine print when you bought the bike. It said to take it out in the parking lot, gently drop it and get it over with...... . BTW - you know you've really made it when you join the multiple drop club .

[NevadaNez]

Ah, at least you were doing something wonderful when you dropped your baby-I was showing off my brand new purchase by doing circles in my cul de sac while my green with envy neighbor watched. I stopped for a second to talk with him, proudly showing off all my LT's bells and whistles, and when I started to turn into my driveway, I bumped over the tiniest lip in cement where the slab met the road and, with the front wheel turned slightly to the right, I hit the front brake. Down she went, quicker than sh*t and she looked like a beached whale--a $20 thousand dollar, brand new, golden gleaming beached whale! "Arrgghh" cried I. I did manage to hoist that 850lb behemoth up by myself, and I think that may have removed some of the embarrassment of the moment, but in a weird way, once that happened, I lost all fear of dropping it again and it hasn't happened since, knock on wood.

Glad you're okay except for a bit of bruised pride, and heck--so long as ya don't tell anyone, no one's the wiser....errrr, too late....heheh

 

[NoLongeraK1200RSRider]

With more than one million miles on 2 wheels.. I finally joined this dubious club myself Sunday. After cleaning it all up I decided to put it back on its' side stand from the center stand.. it was just slightly over centered away from me and dropped like a rock!!!! I had for some stupid reason grabbed both handlebars instead of the handlebar and grab rail.. so I lost control of it and down it went. <deep sigh> so now I know how easy it is.. and how sad for this beautiful machine to have such an incompetent rider.