Oh no... I dropped it.

[ChriSTian_64]

The day was nice here today. Sunny, around 72 F, 21 C.
One of the last ride of the fall, before the long hibernation of the bike.
Nice country roads, with workers in the field.
Every few miles, I stop, take the phone out of my pocket, take a nice picture, and keep on going.

At one point, immigrants workers were harvesting cabbages.
I stopped on the side of the road, to have a better look.
Hum, there was not much shoulder on the side of the road at this place.

A bit like this kind of shoulder. The one at the base of the picture.
The top of the grass is even and level, but the soil is not.


You have the asphalt of the road, then maybe two foot wide of sand and grass, but (contrarly to this picture) not at the same level than the road : it was in a light slope tilting toward the deeper ditch (12 feet).
So I stayed on the asphalt, just at the limit of it. Put my two foot on the ground. Had a look. Took a picture...

And then it happend.

While I was trying to put my phone back in the lower right pocket of my jacket, I leaned my upper body on the left side, to stretch the right side of my jacket.
I put my phone in the pocket, and then, as I had leaned to the left, the bike was lightly pushed on the right side.
It was a slow movement. It happend in three seconds.
From its normal position, the bike started to tilt toward the right side. I let it go a bit at first, being busy with the phone.
And when I realised the bike was going a bit too far, and that it was time to grab and hold it, my right foot slipped just a few inches on the sand.... and was now maybe 4 inches lower than the other foot.
It was too late.
Couldn't believed it was happening.
All I could do, was trying to minimize the damage.
I hold it the best that I could, and hoped for no damage at all.

The fuel cutoff valve worked as it should. The engine stopped running the moment the bike was on the side.
Geee... due to the fact that the soil was soft, and tilting toward a ditch, my ST was on his side, horizontal, flat to the ground, zero degree with the horizon.

To put it back up, I tried what they teached us during my course.
Turn your back to the bike, sit to have your lower back toward the seat, hold the handle and the back of the seat, and push with your legs.
No way. It doesn't worked.
So, i face the bike, took the throttle handle, and grabbed the guard behind the seat. And... up on his wheels it was.
I had put the sidestand down before, so I let it go a bit on the other side, until the sidestand touch the ground.
Only then, I realised someone had stopped his car to help me. I waved my hand at him, to thank him and show him all was allright.

After I catched up my breath.... I realised I had some damage.
The right tip over plastic guard was cracked.


And I later discovered that my right miror cover was also cracked.


That's a pity, because that tweny years old bike had both guard cover intact, before this.

Oh well...
I guess I broke the ice... And I am now a member of the club.

Oh yeah. Something else. Should I try to start the bike now ?
I waited maybe two minutes before doing so.
It started instantly, as I touched the button.
The sound of the engine was as smooth as before.
I didn't saw a drop of liquid anywhere. Not even a gas spill.

 

[Bush]

OUCH! What, no picture of the fallen ST to show?

While the engine tip over guard cover can be replaced, the bigger concern may be what happened behind that mirror. On tip overs that involve the mirror cover, there is a possibility that the "antler" beneath the fairing panel has been tweaked a bit by the force of the impact, although your cover wasn't actually broken, just cracked, so maybe the force wasn't great enough to bend the antler.

You will find out the next time you strip the plastic off and upon putting it back, find that the mirror bolt holes in the plastic will not realign with the antler threaded nuts. Happened to me and rather than go to the trouble and expense of buying a new antler part, the fix was achieved by using a rat tail file on the fairing bolt holes until alignment for the bolt could be made. Didn't take much to adjust mine.

 

[ChriSTian_64]

You're right Bush. I should had taken a picture. But man... I wanted so bad to put her back on her wheels.

As for the miror cover, it had pop out. So I just press it back in place.
As you say... there might be something else underneath that I will only find out later.

My biggest concern, while the bike was lying on the ground, was for the engine. Maybe some oil could get up in the carburator, or something.
I checked the breater cap of the gearbox. Nothing there. No trace of oil anywhere.
And the bike probably stayed a good 20-30 second on the ground. It seemed an eternity.

Also, I forgot to mention, my two "pannier", or luggage box, had stayed home for this trip.
Probably a good thing. Otherwise, I could had break the side reflector on those cases.

Here is a view of the place where it happend, from GoogleEarth.
Look at the stone dust and tiny gravel narrow shoulder (I was on the right lane, on the other side of the road).
The wheels of the bike where there, and... I'm telling you, the rest of the bike was lying in the grass, a bit in a downward slope. Geee...

 

[Alberto]

that's cool you could managed to pick the bike up yourself alone. Crash bar cover can be welded or replaced. Mirror cover - need to weld and paint, it is possible to weld it at home but paiting is a pain, it you dont know exactly how to do it. I have exactly same damages after dropping by bike, and tried to paint it with spray can but my work was awfull.

 

[pmatulew]

I broke and repaired my mirror covers several times. But mine was black so the paint was easy to match. Your scenario is exactly why we stopped checking the mailbox on the way home. It's been years and my wife is still telling the story of how she was upside down in the ditch.

 

[Sheriff41]

Nice write up, Christian. As you said, you've broken the ice. Other than some bruised pride you're not injured. Your faithful STeed is good, and ready to provide many miles of pleasure. Thanks for sharing your ST adventures!

 

[Erdoc48]

As others have said, it’s an unfortunate event, but easily remedied- the mirror cover might bother you so find a good MC painter and have them fix/ repaint (unless you can source a good cover on eBay)- the tip over covers are still available and cheap (Partzilla). It’s frustrating no doubt, but at least you didn’t get hurt in the fall

 

[jfheath]

I know this is an 1100 thread, but paint is paint. I made a 'reasonable' job of re-spraying my mirror on my 1300 - but it wasn't perfect. I bought 3 cans of spray paint from a company that specialises in colour matching the Honda metallic paints. There was a silver metal fleck base paint. A red translucent paint and a clear lacquer. The problem is getting the correct thickness of the translucent layer to get the correct depth of red and to allow the correct amount of metallic lustre to show through. The next problem is that when you apply the lacquer, the colour you have brightens up - so the colour before applying the lacquer has to be darker.

I got an old plastic spectacle case and gave it a few light dustings of spray of the silver metallic layer. Enough to cover everything

Then I sprayed one dusting - a single rapid pass of the red translucent layer. Not enough, so I did two more passes, allowing each to dry before applying the next.
Then I masked of a 1" strip at the left hand end of the case.
Another single pass dusting of red over the remainder. Let it dry. Mask off another 1" strip.

Repeat. By the time I had finished I had 9 strips - the left hand end had a 3 coat dusting, the next had 4 coats, then 5 coats, 6 coats etc etc.

Then I masked off half of the case crossing each of the 1" strips and gave the exposed half a few coats of the clear lacquer.

By the time I had finished I was able to use the case as a 9 strip colour matching chart to compare the strips with the original colour. I think it was the 6th one that was closest (9 dustings) when the comparing the strips with the lacquer applied. The half of the strip that didn't have the lacquer showed me what colour the mirror needed to be before applying the lacquer.

It was pretty good. Its the entire right hand mirror - ie the one on the left of this photo. In this light you can hardly tell the difference.



Before applying the lacquer, the built up layers were a purple colour - more like the wineberry red. In the dim light of the garage, the finished mirror seems to have retained a purple tinge, which I could never see when it was outside. That is visible in the photo below.
It will do, and the eventual buyer was not bothered about it.



Honda seem to introduce new colours when they produce a new model. I think that maybe they might paint all of the pieces they want in one batch. It seems to be quite difficult to reproduce exactly the same colour. (Although ahving said that - my last 1100 was exactly the same colour as this 1300.

 

[SMSW]

My hat's off to you for picking up your bike the brute strength way. As an expert dropper, I was able to pick mine up 'by the book' on a city street. Clean asphalt, no traction concerns, all I had to do was engage the parking brake (Tony Worrell - a farkle), plant my glute on the seat, grab ahold, and straighten my legs. I've also picked it up on grass, but under your conditions? No way.

 

[Obo]

@ChriSTian_64 glad you are ok and weren't pinned under the bike. As for repairs, it's just a matter of time and money.
Breaking the ice equates to a learning lesson. A list of things you'll remember not to do again.

 

[Al st1100]

Just for your info , the tip over sensor killed the engine.

 

[paulcb]

Just for your info , the tip over sensor killed the engine.

To add to that, the fuel cutoff valve is designed to stop fuel flow if the engine quits and electrical power is still on, not to shut off the engine. This keeps the fuel pump from pumping fuel to a non-running engine, i.e. in a tip over after the tip over sensor shuts it off. The engine must quit first before the fuel valve is activated (closed) because it's held open with vacuum from the intake.

 

[Smudgemo]

They go over fast, don't they? I dropped mine in the garage just trying to move it around. Sidestand got retracted just a bit and I didn't notice, and down she went. Broke off the Y axis handle of my milling machine, but I can't see any damage to the bike. Thankfully I was not under it. I needed help to get it up. Not enough room to do the textbook lift.

 

[CELarson]

Welcome to the club.... There are those who are still to have a tip over and there are us ones who have had tip-overs and there are people like me multiple offenders in the club. I think that this counts for the number of tip-overs that I had.


The pannier on the back of the bike also help to hold the bike up in a tip-over, however if you are going downhill, then it make the bike easier to continue the roll...... you can get a new mirror cover on partszilla. I have dropped mine in the gravel alley way twice you have to remember that it ways 650lbs and so if it starts to go, get out of the way and drop it. It beats being under with your leg twisted up or foot or leg pinned on the exhaust pipe.


At least you weren't hurt and didn't hurt yourself picking the 650lb beaST off of the ground.

Cheers,

 

[Al st1100]

To add to that, the fuel cutoff valve is designed to stop fuel flow if the engine quits and electrical power is still on, not to shut off the engine. This keeps the fuel pump from pumping fuel to a non-running engine, i.e. in a tip over after the tip over sensor shuts it off. The engine must quit first before the fuel valve is activated (closed) because it's held open with vacuum from the intake.

I'm at work and did not pay close attention to the first pics , then I see pics of a 1300 ... Yes your correct! Just for giggles When the bike is hot , after a short trip, take the fuel hose off to the fuel cut and you will be surprised how much fuel will come out till you relieve the pressure by taking off the gas cap. ST110 only

 

[SMSW]

Couldn't believed it was happening.
All I could do, was trying to minimize the damage.
I hold it the best that I could, and hoped for no damage at all.

As already mentioned, its best to take care of yourself and let the bike fall once it starts to go. Mine has flipped me several feet at least two or three times - it acts like a pinball flipper and I am the ball.

 

[CYYJ]

...The top of the grass is even and level, but the soil is not...

I once had a tipover due to exactly the same circumstances - side of the road, one side was level, the other was not. Put my foot down and nothing was there.

Same year & colour of motorcycle, even...

So don't feel too bad.

Michael

 

[Larry Fine]

Oy! It looks like it would be easier to roll it away from the road to stand it back up.

 

[Bush]

I once had a tipover due to exactly the same circumstances - side of the road, one side was level, the other was not. Put my foot down and nothing was there.

Same year & colour of motorcycle, even...

So don't feel too bad.

Michael

That picture is very similar to a famous photo that was on Steinar's forum, or is it the same bike from a different angle? I remember the original "photo of shame" was taken from the rear.

 

[CYYJ]

That picture is very similar to a famous photo that was on Steinar's forum, or is it the same bike from a different angle? I remember the original "photo of shame" was taken from the rear.

This one?