I finally dumped my bike.

Managed to get through my first 11 months of riding with just a couple of close calls, but no accidents and no drops. I rode in cold weather, through a nor'easter storm, up and down skyline drive, all over the cab-infested streets of New York City, and managed to keep the rubber side down the whole time. Today, however, I picked up the bike from the shop after getting a 2-up seat installed and dumped the thing within 10 minutes of riding it out of the store. If you've ever dropped your bike in an embarrassing way, read on. My little f*ck-up might just make you feel better about yourself.

I hadn't ridden in two or three weeks because I'd been out of town. I went into a hard corner and made basically every mistake in the book. I didn't slow down enough; I leaned into it too hard; I didn't give myself enough throttle to power out of it; and I got caught looking at the ground. Just like they teach you in MSF school, all this equals a dropped bike.

The bike slid out from underneath me as if I had hit a banana peel. The thing went a good 30 feet, with me underneath it. Amazingly, the bike and I both emerged relatively unscathed. All I got was a lightly skinned knee. The bike took a hit on both brake levers, the throttle grip, the rearview mirror, and the pipes; but it was all just cosmetic damage. The rear brake lever, right foot peg, and right saddle bag must have acted as an impromptu engine guard. I was able to get up, get the machine back on two wheels, and ride back to the shop.

A Hell's Angel whom I'd seen at the shop earlier happened to ride by and saw me dusting myself off. He stopped to ask if I was okay. I gave him a thumbs up; we bumped fists, and he went on his way. I'll confess to having a bit of a fascination with 1%ers, so I thought this was actually kind of cool.

Only a couple hours later did I realize how absurdly lucky I was to walk away from it all. I slid a good 30 feet with a 600-pound machine on top of me, no protection but a helmet, leather jacket, and a pair of jeans, and I walked away with just a little boo-boo on my knee. My jacket didn't even get messed up. My jeans didn't even get a hole in them. I am one lucky ****.

The guys at the shop were incredibly good to me. They had some extra parts lying around, and they comped me what they could. I'll still have to shell out some dough, but not nearly as much as I had feared. I'll probably leave the scuffed rearview mirror on there, just to remind my *** to stay humble when I'm in the saddle.

Now my big issue is that I'm a little skittish on the bike. I might take a basic rider's course again, just to refresh my skills. I read somewhere that most accidents happen to riders with between 12 and 24 months of experience. Something about that level of experience fools people into thinking they're more skilled than they actually are, so they make sloppy mistakes (like, for instance, cornering all wrong) and get themselves into trouble.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Now that I've gone down, I feel like I've joined the club for real. Glad I finally got it out of the way--and in a relatively painless fashion, no less. Hope you're all riding safe. Keep the rubber side down.

 

Glad you and the bike made it out ok

 

Dude - I dumped my bike in gravel when I first got it. The best thing you can do after this ordeal is get back on it and be FEARLESS. Like it never happened. Don't be scared of your bike. YOU control her.

Glad to hear you and the bike are ok.

 

Thanks, guys. Streetfighter, that is one bitchin' bike you got there! I'm digging going through your photo albums. Ride safe on that thing, dude. It's a sweet ride!

 

I dropped mine last week. Was going a bit too quick in the rain and slowed down to make a right turn. I guess I braked too hard and the bike started sliding out and finally slipped, falling over on the left side (thank God). Only damage is a now loose side-mounted plate, and a nice big dent on the left side of my gas tank from my hand controls.

**** happens, ride on.

 

Thank you so much! I've wrenched this thing to death MYSELF and every compliment I get is truly gratifying. Thank you!

 

I dropped my bike the first day... forgot the stand was up and just let go of the bike. Faaaaack! Unbelievably, that metal peg under the footrest hit the ground and the peg didn't fold in - it just stayed there upright - waaaaaay lucky!

 

SauceNJ, dude, that doesn't even count as a drop! That's a near drop at best. But I'm glad the peg held up. May your good luck continue as long as you ride.

 

Good news you are ok ,it's going to dent your confidence a little but most of us have been there,ride on.H.

 

Glad to hear you are ok and the bikes fixable, I crashed back in April and haven't been on a bike since, once I get my project (09 iron) finished and take it out for a test drive that will be the first time back on two wheels, every time I think about it my heart races a bit,
Wish I could have just jumped right back on a bike straight after.
As my dad always said remember to ride black side down lol