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Oopsie lesson #5: slippery grounds

RJVB

RJVB

GT Reference
Joined
Oct 28, 2008
Messages
1,936
Location
Paris
What to say, it's all in the title: I learned another lesson. I'd already learned to take very good care taking the bike off the centre stand, esp. in case of unsure footing. A week ago I learned to do the same when getting the bike onto that stand.

I'd heard/felt something different that appeared to come from the front tyre, riding on what looked to be quite new asphalt. As I was going to fill up anyway, I decided to put the bike on the centre stand for once. Mistake. I hadn't noticed the fuel on the ground next to the pump, and not realised just how much there was when I got off. Maybe the 250 or so kilometers I'd ridden almost without stopping didn't help, but I also didn't notice I didn't have a good grip on the stand's lever (which *is* too close to the exhaust) until it was too late. My foot slipped off, and the bike fell back on the rear wheel with just enough gusto to start to tip, of course away from me.

Luckily, I select a pump that's on my right hand side when I can, to the bike just settled against the pump. I saw the mirror do what the stock mirrors do so well: move out of the way (I haven't even noticed a scratch on the chromed plastic). I also saw the fairing coming to rest against the pump, which wasn't exactly a heartwarming sight (it's about half a year old). The brunt of the "impact" was absorbed by my Skidmarx screen, though.

It broke, almost clear in half, along the upper right fixation bolt.

A helpful person who happened to be filling up too helped me get the bike back up. That was a spell of luck, a Sunday afternoon, as I would have had neither the leverage on the bike nor the footwork necessary to lift her by myself.

Apart from a small nick in my new RHS pannier, the broken screen is all I have to boast for this latest oopsie. Whew. And I still had/have a refund on a stock screen paid by somebody else's insurance waiting for me at my dealer's (and a mint stock screen sitting at home). So this actually appeared to be the perfect opportunity to order a CalSci screen :)
 
Well, all things considered, good to hear... sounds like it could've been worse. These are the "experiences" that "experience" affords. We've all been there is some fashion in the past. There is not a day that goes by that all of my seat time pays off... from smelling a fuel spill before I see it in the road, to a perceived sixth sense to hazardous situations and occasionally legal situations. They still happen of course, but our reward is large, and the life stories great.
Ride on. B)
 
Well René, I,ve had my oopsies the past 4 years (who hasn't)

With my Breva 750 first holiday first camping before I stopped to put up my tent, I was lying on the ground with my "Italian girlfriend". :oops:

Next holiday in France parked downhill on the jiffy without putting it into gear..... :huh:

Last year in Sweden I slipped over diesel at a filling station pulling my Breva 1100 from the centre-stand :blush:

This year in Norway I ended up in a ditch after drifting on a gravelroad in heavy rain :angry:

All in all it has cost me one clutchlever second hand for 7,50 euro and now I still have to fix a pannier the locking-mechanism is broken (my winterproject...) the "crappy" Guzzi case is still in one piece....

That's one of the reasons to ride a Naked Bike, no expensive tupperware to crush :lol:
 
Yeah, these things happen. I felt eminently stupid just after, but after all, it's our own fault in riding things that won't remain upright out of themselves B)

However, I seem to recall Todd had some plans to make (or have made) fibreglass fairing replacement parts for the Norge. There might be some use to that...
 
Diesel can be SOOOO slippery.
A couple of years ago I laid down the Breva when braking from app 5 kmh, when the first rain in months hit the ground in Riva at Lago di Garda.
Nothing hurt besides my self-reliance and the front right signal lamp.... :dry:
 
GT-Rx said:
from smelling a fuel spill before I see it in the road, to a perceived sixth sense to hazardous situations and occasionally legal situations. They still happen of course, but our reward is large, and the life stories great.
Ride on. B)
Click to expand...
Ay yes, I feel that tingle in my hear from time to time saying... it looks good, grippy and black, but it's NOT! and then see a looong diesel stripe from a truck that has filled the tank too much and it's losing fuel on the lefties.

Hey René that one it's not that bad. My first ooopsie happened last winter when I had my arms crossed on my chest (at 1ºC) and I stepped onto the gear lever. 1st gear went in without a fuss and I went down arms still crossed! Thankfully I had my winter muffs on the handlebar and they stopped the bike nicely and without scratches.
 
haha, something similar happened to me on one of my very first lessons. My instructor tapped just a bit too hard on my left arm (too stretched to his taste), and since he hadn't noticed I was holding in the clutch, the bike made a jump when my grip slipped. My reflexes are pretty good in that kind of situation (growing up in a bicycle saddle does leave its traces ;) ), so I think he actually got more bruises than I did :mrgreen:
 
one time, my girlfriend's idiot sister blocked me in her driveway. I tried to *carefully* wiggle between the edge of the driveway and her car, but the driveway is actually convex in shape, sloping down toward either side. Also, as it was dark, i hadn't noticed the sprinklers had come on, making the sides slippery. I ended up in the grass, with the end of my handle bar buried about 1 foot into the dirt, with no damage other than an injured ego. My girlfriend saw the whole thing.

Earlier, i had decided NOT to wake her sister and make her move her car. so much for shivelry.
 
René, We have all been there.
Last summer I had a problem when I caught a kerb on the side of a busy road - I was pulling off to stop. Bike was fully loaded, panniers top box, full tank of fuel, and tank bag. Ever tried lifting that lot up?
One difference between France and England, in France someone will help, in England no-one will.
 
When I first got my Griso, perhaps the second or third ride I took in on, I pulled up to the gas pump, put my foot down (onto spilled gasoline) and the griso fell over and broke the lever and the plate..... I had a $400 gas stop and got to ride home in second gear.
 
Brian UK said:
One difference between France and England, in France someone will help, in England no-one will.
Click to expand...

Yeah. In France you'll find René. Hopefully you'll drop the bike in Paris, when it happens. :p :mrgreen:
 
I usually put the kick stand down before I shut the bike down. Pulled into my garage, shut the engine down and proceed to dismount. :oops:

I had a nice dent in the passenger side of my new XF. Was my wife pissed.
 
oca said:
I usually put the kick stand down before I shut the bike down. Pulled into my garage, shut the engine down and proceed to dismount. :oops:
Click to expand...
The only kickstand "issue" I've had (from memory) is (after disabling my kickstand "safety" switch on my Jackal), we were on a group trip to Nova Scotia in the Summer of '00. I had pulled off at an overlook on the Cabot Trail to wait for the group, flung my kickstand down, but didn't dismount or shut the bike off. When I heard them coming, I pulled out... first corner was a right hander, next was a left... outside corner, no guardrails... onto the kick-stand I leaned, and for those of you who own a Cali know they are designed *NOT* to fold up once weight is on them... the road kept going left. On the brakes hard, when I reached the edge of the road (read cliff), I pitched the bike hard downwards (dirt-track style). It bent the kickstand tab/bracket to release from what it was designed not to do. I ended up backwards, under the bike, ten feet or so down a *very* steep incline. it took four people to get the bike off of me and back up to the road. Only a bent handlebar and a dangling kickstand was the damage. A little force and a zip-tie later, we motored on without a hitch. Lucky.

Oh and for René - My first big trip on my Jackal was to the (then) Guzzi U.S. Open house in Angier, NC. After riding the last few hours in a *major* thunderstorm, the hotel was nice enough to provide hoses and buckets for everyone to clean their bikes off. After washing mine, I proceeded to push it down the parking lot and jump on it (side-saddle) so I didn't have to start it... promptly kicking the gear-shifter into first, and causing me to go instantly to the ground on the right side. No real damage, but such a grand entrance amongst a park full of Guzzisti.
 
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