BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

shut up and not disclose the fact that on my trip to the mtns yesterday, I got off 'ole Pearly and well, forgot to put the sidestand down. Needless to say, she's a bit bruised.

I like to think I'm one of those with alot of common sense. Oh well, as I come to grips with my own realities, here's to a new thread which can go in one of 2 directions....

1. How does genius boy cover up the horrible scarring he's done to his head?
or
2. Are you man enough to discuss something really stupid you have done (to help another board member forget what an idiot he is..)

When I was 10 years old I shot myself in the big toe with a BB gun, on purpose.
Feel better?

I got so cold once, out on the turnpike, I turned off to buy a pair of heavier gloves and didn't put a foot down as I rolled up to the gas station curb. Kerboom. Not on my BMW, however.

More recently I entered several *discussions* on ADVRider JoMomma. They ate me alive.

Pearly - Don't feel bad. Well, feel bad so you'll learn something and get over it. Guess what? Most of the posters here have dropped their bike one way or the other. Mine was by mindlessly take 'er off the center stand without paying sufficient attention to where she had a slow laydown on the ground. Felt enormously stupid.

I also did the same thing you did, except all the cycling I used to do and hack squating 700 lbs. back in college built up my legs to where my left leg had just enough power to keep me and the bike from falling to the ground.

See, you're not alone.

When I was 10 years old I shot myself in the big toe with a BB gun, on purpose.
Feel better?

I feel much better - but you were 10 - wait no, I still feel better, 10 or not, that's stupid.

Thanks for the laugh.

Pearly, really, it aint no big thang as Patrick would say. If it makes you feel better, I dropped my bike the 2nd day I got it. It was 23 years between bikes, I bought my 2002 R1150R July 2001 in Greensboro NC, rode it home in pouring rain. Did great!! The next day I was going to ride to work to show off to the 'guys'...I filled up at the gas station, started to back the bike out of a parking spot and my foot slipped on some oil and down she went. No big deal, but I managed to scratch the valve cover and scuff the bags. I took endless ribbing from those guys at work (the bastards!).

You can buy a new valve cover for less then $100 at Chicago BMW. You can also fix it yourself with a little bondo and silver spray paint from WalMart (Duplicolor silver dsgm 340) which matches perfectly. I've gone both routes. On the head that I refinished, you cant tell the difference between it and new. It's really an easy thing to do..

Mark

btw - welcome to 'the gang'!

Where do I start? I have backed a bike up out of a parking lot incline, only to sprain the ankle on the one leg that held me up (yes, I am somewhat vert challenged). Fell like a tree, shoulder was tweaked. The Suzuki was ok. This is when I learned to back a bike into a parking stall that slopes downward.

Rounded a slow curve in an apartment complex on a small Honda; the asphalt was glass-smooth. Glass-slick too, esp when you give it some throttle.

Same Honda, different curve. I made a U-turn in a cul-de-sac, but this time it was freshly done asphalt. Did you know the stuff is like a poo of black BBs?

On both a Suzuki and later a BMW, I was manuevering in a rutted hardpack path. Funny how the ruts can catch the tires just right and bring the bike, and rider, down. (I still have the Beemer, big scratch on the lower half of the left valve cover). The cosmetic blemish bothered me at first, but I got over it. Noone will ever really notice.

Had a BMW R80RT idling in a driveway. A driveway with a bunny-hill incline. The boxer engine rocks enough to walk the bike down to the street sans rider. When I caught sight of this happening, it already made it to the gutter and then I watched it fall over. On the right side.

Years ago I rode back to work from lunch. Stopped the bike and put the kickstand down. Did you know that these spring-loaded kickstands will spring back up if you don't fully extend them? Quite a strain to slowly lower the bike onto its side while still in the saddle... nope, I couldn't keep this from happening, as it was already too far leaned from vertical.

After crossing the border into Montana (from B.C., Canada), I stopped on the gravel area at a fork to figure out where I was. When you're already lacking in leg, a boot sliding over the loose gravel doesn't help. The K75S fairing edge had a few minor scratches, and the mirror got loose. A bit of touchup paint took care of the scratches and I tightened up the mirror.

Feel better now?

I shot myself in the big toe with a BB gun, on purpose

As a former southern boy with a BB gun also, I can understand shooting my little brother in the toe on purpose, but yourself?

My most embarrassing drop was pulling up to the ferry to Nova Scotia in Portland, Maine with my wife on the back. She got off and as I was swinging my leg over the saddle, I looked up at the ferry towering over our heads and got a sudden vertigo episode and dumped the bike in front of several tourists.

Take comfort in the fact that you are not the first person to forget to put the side stand down, and most assuredly wont be the last. A friend was on a ride in a group that included the manager of a local bmw dealer, when they stopped for lunch the guy forgot to put the sidestand down on the gs he was riding and it fell against my friends brand new rt. slightly damaging scratching the paint. Yikes!

To make you feeeeel better. Last night after putting new tires on , i was
putting bike on center stand and lost balance and droped my bike.
The good thing was that it didit scratch the valve cover any since i dropped the bike on Utau 12 in gravel pulling over for a picture. Those
scratches are the memories you wont forget.


Do a good deed daily

Well last Sunday wife finally after a year of asking decided to go
for a ride w/me. Everything going along just fine and for some reason
we came to a stop on a small hill w/off camber on right side and
the extra weight i gues along with a lot of Dumaxx on my part
got over to far so we just kind of rolled over into th gravel and grass on side of road. She was worried about me and I about her
figuring she would want to walk home but was very suprised that
after we both found out we were ok! Had a good laugh got back on
bike road to Hooters for wings and a beer.
Yes I have scratched right valve cover.
Wasnt going to say anything, but what the Hell

I did the same thing with a brand-new bike about three years ago (and I was much closer to 40 than 10)! Parked, started getting off, then thought about the side stand...too late, boom. So on the poor bike's second day of life, it got scratches on its paint, and my ego got scratched up too. Well, we're all human. Sometimes I think it's amazing how often we do everything perfectly, if you consider all the multiple small actions that we perform over and over in coordinated sequences every day. We all forget little things, and usually they don't matter, but once in a while they catch up to us...to remind us of our humanity, fallibility, etc.? Who knows....

I dropped my Beak while stopping to fill up for gas. I was wearing a brand new pair of Alpine Stars,. When I stopped and went to put my foot down those new soles just slipped. I fought gravity for a second or two, but there was no saving it. Fourtunately, I had protectors that did their job.

VM

darthrider wrote:When I was 10 years old I shot myself in the big toe with a BB gun, on purpose.
Feel better?

..... I have been laughing for about 10 minutes......

Why......because....I ALMOST did......Darth....I admit.....I was CHICKEN!


....now to admit that.....is Stupid!.......the kickstand.....a MINDFART! ....


.....

Well I can see that this is a case of "first liar doesn't have a chance."

On a number of my early BMW's I would put on a sidecar for the Winter. In the Spring I would take it off again.

You know how you don't put your leg down when riding a sidecar? Well I’m a creature of habit. I took off the chair and when I came up to a stoplight (I know you can see how this ends), I kept my feet on the pegs. Well I kept them there until the bike hit the ground.

Frank

My poor bike... he probably hates me.

The first time I laid it down was 10 minutes after buying it, (my first motorcycle.) The dealer started it after running through all the features and safety checks. I put on my helmet, and promptly grasped both handlebars and pushed it straight forward to roll it down from the centerstand. Well, I apparently had given it a good enough shove at an oblique angle to push it off the stand, and right over onto the right valve cover.

Besides the embarassment, I thought to myself that this wasn't a good beginning. On the up side, they showed me how to lift it back up right there.

A week later, I tried rolling it up onto the centerstand while in the saddle. I was on an-oh-so-gentle slope to left in the driveway, and I did not succeed in rolling it all the way up and back. It rolled forward and started to fall to the left. It (I) pinned my left foot underneath and fell over with it. Did you know that if you keep your leg straight, and forcibly have your foot bent far enough to the outside, you can actually see the bottom of your foot, OUCH!

I was reminded to never try that again with every step I took for the next 3 weeks. Sprained my ankle.

So, I can't speak for anyone else, but the R1150R wasn't the best choice for me as a first bike. BMW should have made me attach training wheels for the first week! Maybe 2 months.

It happens folks.

Just another reminder that we're all human and we all make mistakes.

(Makes it easer to "forgive thy neighbor")


Tom

Well, if it's any reassurance, I dropped mine for the very first time on Wednesday. We'd just got back from holidaying in the Maldives, and I popped into the medical centre to see how everyone was doing. As I rode up, I was manoevering in between the bollards outside the front entrance, applied the front brake too hard and down she went.

Scratched right mirror, flyscreen, right handlebar guard and right cylinder head protector.

I replaced the mirror, cylinder head guard and flyscreen. Fortunately the dealer had them all in stock, and it cost me £188 to fix but it was a salutory lesson.

Guys, I really cannot recommend cylinder head protectors enough.

Seems like a lot of us do it. It's a heavy bike.

J

6 years ago I was taking my first long ride on my pristine '94 r1100rsl....the original owner had logged over 30K and there was not one scratch on the bike. I was actually riding to my closest dealer at the time to get new stainless brake lines installed while I waited. The ride was over 100 miles one-way, and admittedly, I was a little cramped when I arrived. What I didn't know was that Saturday was open-house at the dealer and there were dozens of people in the parking lot chowing down on BBQ. I rolled up right to the front door, dismounted, and attempted to go directly to the center stand. It wasn't until the bike was falling away from me that I realized how wobbly my legs actually were. The bike lunged over, yanked me all the way across the top of the bike and I somehow managed to vault the bike and land squarely on my feet. I received a round of applause, a plate of great BBQ, and a 9.5 from the German judge for sticking the landing.

Humility is good for the soul...

In the mid-eighties, I had a Honda CX500. I had a habit of parking it on the sidewalk in front of the house. I was out one night, riding with a friend 'til all hours. I pulled up and parked in front of the house. After I dismounted, I decided that I would move the bike a few feet, as to not block the walk to the front door. As I moved the bike, the handlebar turned and the bike started that long and agonzing fall (like a John Woo film),...away from me. Thinking that I could stop the bike from falling, I decided to hold on with all my might. Needless to say, the bike wrestled me to the ground and beat me into submission. As luck would have it, I parked close enough to the grass, that I had no damage to the bike. I did, however, ride around for a week with a chunk of bermuda turf stuck to the left side cylinder. Ain't gravity a Muthah!

cricman