One side lower

thesmithiz

thesmithiz

Joined
Sep 25, 2006
Messages
31
Location
Tampa Bay FL area
Ok so I ride to my work out, something that I have just started recently which has been making me a sore boy (important note). Pull up to park the bike and rather than pullin and up the incline I decide to turn around to point down the incline (another important note). As I come to a stop I am now facing diagonal down the incline, right side footing several inches lower than left (another very important note). Left foot sdown first no problem, right foor down no contact yet with ground, bike beins to lean right still not foot on the ground, bike leans father right still no foot on the ground, sinking feeling now as bike is way leaned to right and foot has now made contact with ground and due to new work out program is lacking speed and strength to stop the wieght of the bike. Lost of pain now appears in left leg just above the top of the boot, pegs are hard as they go up your leg and pushes you away from the bike! Within seconds of stoping the bike is now on its side with me standing there laughing, yes laughing because as it went over I knew every mistake I had made and I now had to staning it back up. Here is the best part rather than lifting it the way one should I bent down grabed the handle bar and the grab handle and lifted right back up, dont ask me how I manged that, threw a leg over put down the side stand and all was over.....
Tip over bar palstic needs to be replaced and there are 2 very small scuffs in side case, it rocked over on the tip over bar due to falling down the oncline.
 
I put my left foot in some sand once and over we went. I picked it up and was back on it before I even realized it's 700lbs and should be a struggle and looked around like "did anybody see that" LOL

Hint: The MCL wings come with new covers so you can legitimately say you have never had to replace them due to a tipover.....the 1st time:rolleyes:
 
NEVER... NEVER....EVER stop sideways on an incline.
I've done that before, and it only takes once to learn the lesson.
 
I can also tell you not to negotiate inclines without the bike being in gear either. DAMHIK :)

Aren't you gland you don't own one of the other sport tourer's now! :D
 
Bummer! Here's your TOA!

toa.jpg
 
Steve forgot to mention that us "real experienced droppers" have become very adept with our electric heat guns, and are able to hide those nasty scuff marks with a few precise passes of the gun over the affected areas.

A rule of thumb I try to follow to avoid the embarrassing tip-over on an incline is to always park pointing the front of the bike directly uphill, using the side stand and leaving it in 1st gear before getting off. Less likely that gravity is going to overcome your good intentions that way (by yanking 700+ pounds of m/c sideways).

But that brings up another question--why don't motorcycles have 2 side stands, one on each side? Maybe it's time for some R & D by Mother Honda to explore this novel idea. Might save a few scuffed right-side tip-over covers.
 
Hmmmm. Kind of reminds me of the time I was slowly backing into a driveway with a little drainage swale on a downhill street. Everything was fine when I took the first step with the uphill foot...

John
 
BridgeMan said:
.......But that brings up another question--why don't motorcycles have 2 side stands, one on each side? Maybe it's time for some R & D by Mother Honda to explore this novel idea. Might save a few scuffed right-side tip-over covers.
Click to expand...

This is off the subject, but has anyone but me ever wondered why they don't have a transmission shift pattern with neutral at the "bottom"
(i.e., N-1-2-3-4-5, instead of 1-N-2-3-4-5)?
 
Don B said:
This is off the subject, but has anyone but me ever wondered why they don't have a transmission shift pattern with neutral at the "bottom"
(i.e., N-1-2-3-4-5, instead of 1-N-2-3-4-5)?
Click to expand...

My old Kawi H-1 500's had that type of pattern and it is mostly what you get used to, but having used a variety, including a rotary pattern, N1234N etc, or some old Brit bike, right hand shift 1 up, 3 down. I do prefer the standardized pattern, which was done for safety reasons.
KZ
 
:)
Don B said:
This is off the subject, but has anyone but me ever wondered why they don't have a transmission shift pattern with neutral at the "bottom"
(i.e., N-1-2-3-4-5, instead of 1-N-2-3-4-5)?
Click to expand...

there is a definitive answer to that question and as soon as I can find it I will post it on here.
Why does the shift pattern have neutral between 1st and 2nd?
Actually, there is a specific reason why neutral ended up between first and second gear when motorcycle controls were standardized in 1975: SAFETY.
In the 60s and 70s, there was a growing trend toward placing neutral below first gear. My nephew, for example, had a Kawasaki 100 with a "4 up" shift pattern (N,1,2,3,4). As this shift pattern gained popularity, more and more motorcyclists were developing the tendency to instictively shift the bike all the way down into neutral as they slowed, sometimes accidentally, but most times intentionally. The idea was that you could stay in neutral at a light or stop sign, then clutch into gear and start rolling again when right-of-way was established. The habit was obviously flawed, and riders started getting hurt.
The vast majority of injuries were caused when a bike was inadvertently upshifted from neutral into first gear at a fast coast. The resultant engine breaking caused instant rear wheel lockups, which in turn caused crashes. The mechanical aspects of neutral's location also caused various runability and logistical problems, as well.
By locating neutral between first and second gears, the severity of engine breaking in the event of accidental upshift was reduced, as well as making neutral a relative inconvenience, rather than something riders depended on. It also made first gear the natural first position in the gear box, which is where the transmission should be adjusted whenever the bike is stopped in traffic anyway.—Tim Kreitz

Neutral is in its odd location because that’s where it makes the most sense to locate it. On a bike, you rarely need to be in neutral: you’ve a clutch, which is your primary method of disconnecting the engine from the transmission. Indeed, you could go completely without a neutral gear, if you could stand the monotony of holding the clutch as the bike warms up, and turning off the bike whenever you got more than an arm’s-reach distance from it.
First gear, however, is extremely useful. It’s great for starting in. And it’s great for stopping in. It’s really good for driving slowly, too. So it’s at the bottom: as you approach a stoplight, you start to brake, and you tap your gears down to match your speed. If the light goes green before you get there, you’re ready to rocket. If it’s red, you keep the clutch in, and remain in first gear, ready to rocket. You never do go into neutral when you stop. As you leave the stoplight, you tap your gears up to match your speed. You never do go into neutral when you accelerate.
Now, imagine the situation if neutral were located at the bottom: you start slowing for the light. You begin tapping down. You’re almost stopped, you tap into neutral, the light goes green, you rev the gas, and you tip over because you’re out of gear. The ******* behind you runs you over as your engine shoots a piston through your groin. Damn, that sucks.
As it’s absurd to place neutral between 2nd and 3rd, or any of the higher gears, no example needed.— ((Five Fresh) Fish)
 
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BikemanKZ said:
My old Kawi H-1 500's had that type of pattern and it is mostly what you get used to, but having used a variety, including a rotary pattern, N1234N etc, or some old Brit bike, right hand shift 1 up, 3 down. I do prefer the standardized pattern, which was done for safety reasons.
KZ
Click to expand...

I had to go out to the garage last night to look for the shift pattern stamped or embossed on something in the vicinity of the shift lever on my ST, and haven't yet been able to find it. I don't remember any of my previous motorcycles not having the shift pattern stamped on the engine case. I recall that it was a real PITA on the Cavalcade to twist around & lean over to read it before shifting gears :rolleyes:. Makes about as much sense as having it embossed in the gearshift knob on a manual-shift car or truck. Come to think of it, I haven't yet found the "choke" knob on the ST either :D.
 
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One side lower- I've been riding a lot of years, and I did mostly the same thing last summer in a steeply sloped parking ramp, trying to hurry to make a meeting. I think that was the first drop in about 10 years. Dumb, but it can happen. Ya, I picked it right up, too, looked around too, and yes, there were witnesses. They were good enough to look away, so didn't see my red face.
 
Geoff said:
Fred :D your absolutely right..thats the funniest two words ever posted on here..I'm sittin here laffin:D :D
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And I had this image of Bevis and Butthead doing their "heh heh heh" while saying; "he said knob". Good one! :clap2:

Now back to your regular programming... Carry on.
 
You seem to have overlooked the concern about the absence of a shift pattern. If I can't find it, I'm thinking about removing the clutch lever and stamping it on the back side of the lever (facing the rider). Or, maybe I could just get a tank protector and have the shift pattern embossed on it before installing it - or maybe get a tank bag and display the pattern in the map window __ watch this space for an upcoming group buy :D. If we had a shift pattern displayed, we wouldn't need no stinkin' gear position indicator :rolleyes:.

Actually, I can do without either one, myself - I always know when I'm not in 6th gear.
 
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