05-07-2018, 01:19 PM
I know....they say that there are those that have, and those that will. Having said that, I haven't dropped a bike since my YZ80 as a teenager in the late '70s. I'm a pilot too, and they say that there are those who have landed gear up, and those that will, but I've always rejected that line of thinking.
Well, today, with my brand spanking new CB1100EX, I dropped it. I have my "excuses". I was riding to work and the right side mirror was flopping lose in the breeze. Pulled over into a parking lot to sort it out and my normal procedure failed me. Unless I'm parking on a grade, I shift to neutral, put the kickstand down and wait to turn the bike off until I get off if it. For whatever reason (maybe because I was thinking too much about the mirror) I put the bike in neutral, got off, but didn't put the kick stand down. Sinking feeling.
Here's the good news though. It fell towards the left (port) side and landed on the oil cap. Not a scratch on the tail pipe, not a scratch on the tank, not a scratch on the bars. Notta. Just a very minor scratch on the oil cap. What a perfect excuse to get the vintage cap that's been advertised here on the forum. And in any case, 15 minutes of buffing would render it good-as-new. Really, I'm shocked at the fact that I dropped the bike and essentially no damage was done. Yeah, I was very stupid to do this. But what a great design that you can drop the thing and not sustain any real damage.
Couple of lessons for me. First, no matter how long I've been riding, a new bike throws me off of my normal routine. Gotta make sure I develop fail-safe procedures. For whatever reason, my BMW procedure fails me. Second is that when things go awry, that's the time to pay particular attention.
Now, on to the mirror. So, this was a bit of a mystery. When I took delivery of the bike, the mirror seemed fine. I rode it a couple of days and I didn't notice anything. But (and this was the right / starboard mirror), this morning it was completely lose, which I only noticed when on the road (it was flopping in the breeze). The mirror stalk counter-rotates to screw in as it turns out. After I dropped the bike, and after I figured out that it tightens with counter rotation, when I tightened it up, it was 180 degrees out of what it needed to be. The mating "nut" can be adjusted also, but it was loose for any configuration that had the stalk snugly mated. When I go to the office, I found a couple of washers that made the whole thing work out, but "stock", I don't see how you could ever adjust things to work out. Wondering if anybody else has had this problem.
At the end of the day, my bike still looks spiffy showroom new with just the most minor scratch to the oil cap. Gives me even more confidence in the bike....
Well, today, with my brand spanking new CB1100EX, I dropped it. I have my "excuses". I was riding to work and the right side mirror was flopping lose in the breeze. Pulled over into a parking lot to sort it out and my normal procedure failed me. Unless I'm parking on a grade, I shift to neutral, put the kickstand down and wait to turn the bike off until I get off if it. For whatever reason (maybe because I was thinking too much about the mirror) I put the bike in neutral, got off, but didn't put the kick stand down. Sinking feeling.
Here's the good news though. It fell towards the left (port) side and landed on the oil cap. Not a scratch on the tail pipe, not a scratch on the tank, not a scratch on the bars. Notta. Just a very minor scratch on the oil cap. What a perfect excuse to get the vintage cap that's been advertised here on the forum. And in any case, 15 minutes of buffing would render it good-as-new. Really, I'm shocked at the fact that I dropped the bike and essentially no damage was done. Yeah, I was very stupid to do this. But what a great design that you can drop the thing and not sustain any real damage.
Couple of lessons for me. First, no matter how long I've been riding, a new bike throws me off of my normal routine. Gotta make sure I develop fail-safe procedures. For whatever reason, my BMW procedure fails me. Second is that when things go awry, that's the time to pay particular attention.
Now, on to the mirror. So, this was a bit of a mystery. When I took delivery of the bike, the mirror seemed fine. I rode it a couple of days and I didn't notice anything. But (and this was the right / starboard mirror), this morning it was completely lose, which I only noticed when on the road (it was flopping in the breeze). The mirror stalk counter-rotates to screw in as it turns out. After I dropped the bike, and after I figured out that it tightens with counter rotation, when I tightened it up, it was 180 degrees out of what it needed to be. The mating "nut" can be adjusted also, but it was loose for any configuration that had the stalk snugly mated. When I go to the office, I found a couple of washers that made the whole thing work out, but "stock", I don't see how you could ever adjust things to work out. Wondering if anybody else has had this problem.
At the end of the day, my bike still looks spiffy showroom new with just the most minor scratch to the oil cap. Gives me even more confidence in the bike....