[homewrek]

Just want to say that I've broken my virginity and did the unthinkable this past weekend.

Backed the RT out of the garage and parked her where I always do with front wheel on the driveway and rear wheel on my front walkway...no problem their.

In my infinite wisdom, I decided that it would be a good time to check the oil level pre-ride. So.. I pulled the RT up to get both wheels on the driveway and thought I was on level ground. I had a devil of a time getting her on the center stand (I always leave the side stand down when doing this). My wife was out there and throwing out her 2 cents on why it wasn't going up (no I'm not blaming her distraction). Maybe not entirely level in rolling back into the crack between the driveway and walkway?
I somehow had a brain to body disconnect and let the bike go before it was on the stand and not settled on the side stand in horror watched her tip over to the opposite side and thud to the driveway. Urgh!!!
I tried calmly to compose myself and stepped around and got her upright and back onto the sidestand.
So now I have a beautiful 2011 RT with 2000 miles and a couple of nice pock marks and scratches on the side cases and I cool little scrape/chip on the right side mirror casing.
I did have tankslapper on the side cases so it saved a little bit of damage, but not all of it directly on the side. I also have cylinder protection "CRASH" bars so no damage to the cylinder heads or anywhere else. Ilium foot pegs which helped too.
Oh well...I don't know if I'm going to have her re-painted or just live with the painful reminder of my carelessness. Leaning toward the latter since I'll get used to it and I'm not overly anal about these things.
Damn though! Damn Damn Damn.

 

[JayJay]

Bruce - don't sweat it. A lot of us have done it, and under less glamorous circumstances than that. Just look at those scratches as "experience" proving that the bike gets out of the garage. They add character. I've done it once on each side, so I'm symmetrical.

As one doctor told my son on one of his several trips to the Emergency Room to get stitched up, "Look at the positive - chicks dig scars".

JayJay

 

[gphusky1]

Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever. - "Shane Falco" - The Replacements.

 

[HeliMark]

Feel the pain. This morning at the local mailbox to mail a letter, parked on a slight hill like always, walk away and the bike rolled forward slightly. Well, rolled enough to come off the side stand and yeah, you know the rest of the story. 2012 RT with 6K miles. Crash bars helped on front, but bent pretty good. Good scratches on the bag. Going to repaint the bag.

Arghhhhh

-Mark

 

[hopz]

Several words of wisdom come to mind...

- It's a tool, not a piece of art.

- We all do it, welcome to the club.

- Sooner is better than later. How would you feel if it were ten years old and dropped it? You would be really be pissed then.

- Now, at least, it looks like a bike you ride, not a garage queen.

- Now you can brag about how that spendy Illium set saved your valve covers.

- You are a real BMW guy now, welcome to the rodeo.

choose one you like and ride with it.

 

[NorthWoods]

Several words of wisdom come to mind...

- It's a tool, not a piece of art.

- We all do it, welcome to the club.

- Sooner is better than later. How would you feel if it were ten years old and dropped it? You would be really be pissed then.

- Now, at least, it looks like a bike you ride, not a garage queen.

- Now you can brag about how that spendy Illium set saved your valve covers.

- You are a real BMW guy now, welcome to the rodeo.

choose one you like and ride with it.

All of the above??

.

 

[homewrek]

Feel the pain. This morning at the local mailbox to mail a letter, parked on a slight hill like always, walk away and the bike rolled forward slightly. Well, rolled enough to come off the side stand and yeah, you know the rest of the story. 2012 RT with 6K miles. Crash bars helped on front, but bent pretty good. Good scratches on the bag. Going to repaint the bag.

Arghhhhh

-Mark

Sorry that you have to share my pain Mark.

 

[homewrek]

Several words of wisdom come to mind...

- It's a tool, not a piece of art.

- We all do it, welcome to the club.

- Sooner is better than later. How would you feel if it were ten years old and dropped it? You would be really be pissed then.

- Now, at least, it looks like a bike you ride, not a garage queen.

- Now you can brag about how that spendy Illium set saved your valve covers.

- You are a real BMW guy now, welcome to the rodeo.

choose one you like and ride with it.

I appreciate the words of wisdom. I'm pretty much over it. I was pretty upset at first and I'm sure my blood pressure went up quite a bit at the moment. My wife was right in asking me to step back and calm down for a few minutes before hopping aboard for my ride. After a couple of hours riding, I didn't think about the tip over except on the couple of stops that I made, where I had to take a peek at the damage again.

 

[cessna]

Sorry to hear your story; but if it helps most of us have one too!

When I picked up my RT from the dealer one of the guys told me that another customer bought an RT and walked it out of the showroom. He proceeded to intentionally let it go and crash onto the asphalt. The salesman was incredulous and asked he what he was doing. He was told that he just wanted to get the inevitable out of the way!

I don't know if that is true; but it is a good story!

Regards

 

[PaulStaske]

On my KLT my brother got on her and proceded stand her up then dropped my bike on the other side. so in my case my brother did it and saved the hassle for me to drop my bike. ha ha. And yes he does ride a Kaw. 1600

 

[rapz]

I can beat that, I bought a brand new '04 RT the ones with those electric/power brakes. I didn't know how well they worked, I got on the bike, had my front wheel turned to enter the main road from the dealership, pressed that front brake as I turned to check for traffic, and it went down so quick! I was about four feet into my ride home! No damage though, just red faced in front of salesman.
I once rolled my LT off the center stand when it was on an incline and dropped it as I tried to keep it in-between two cars that parked very close to me.

 

[johnbaker15]

Thanks guys, I am feeling better about my Lt drop after every post.

 

[JayJay]

Well, I can't quite top Rapz, but my first drop was also early on. I picked up the bike on Saturday and dropped it the following Wednesday, less than 500 miles. What really pissed me off at myself is that I had purchased a set of head cover protectors when I got the bike but hadn't installed them. Fortunately that scratch is hidden by the now-installed protectors.

JayJay

 

[bikerj]

Well, I can't top the tippers of brand new bikes.
I had just returned from a short test drive of my 99 LT, and while trying to maneuver it back to the spot where the seller had it, it started to fall. I was able to keep it going on the way down, but I was really straining w/ this beast more than half way over. The seller realized I probably wasn't going to win, so he jumped in and helped. Talk about embarrassed.
He was a good sport and complimented me on saving it. I was just glad I had already decided to purchase it beforehand. You've seen the signs- "you break it, it's yours".

But more embarrassing than that was my fall w/ LT in front of a BMW dealership. We had just stopped to check out the place, and doing another slow speed maneuver going through the parking lot, I must have hit the front brake, and just like everyone says, it decided to take a nap. DOH!!! I even had my wife on the back. Thankfully, it rested on that left hand built-in engine/tip over guard, and only minor scratches to that. Seems like my wife managed to stay on, only to get off so I could get the bike uprighted.

Not sure which is worse, but we had a tip over on our driveway on my new HD Sporty, after turning it around and starting to take off. The problem is the driveway is so steep, looks like a car parked on it is aiming for the moon. :wack: Took off, but the wheel was turned to sharp and we weren't counter leaning against the slope of the driveway, and PLOP! over we went.

Wife was able to get out, but my leg was pinned under the bike, which was laying down hill, so it took even more effort to get it back up. :cussing: Poor wife's shoulder/arm was sore for what seemed like months. Bike suffered minimally- scrapped mirror and bent shift lever that I was able to straighten out for most part. Wife now waits until I'm down on the level alley before getting on. Can't say I blame her.

 

[steveaikens]

Damn. Sucks to be you. Then again, it sucks to be all of us. If we enjoy our motorcycles half as much as we're supposed to - it's near inevitable that we're going to conveniently allow it to rest on it's side to check underneath the engine where we can really get a good look. ------ You DID look under there when you have it where it was easy to see, RIGHT?

As to painting it up and all the hoo-hoo - personally, I wouldn't unless you think of the bike as a show piece. If you ride it - it's going to sustain some damage.

Go dust it off and go for a ride.....

 

[HeliMark]

Just to add for anyone with a newer bike. I found some oil on the rear tire, and I am guessing that maybe the new vent on the FD let some oil out while the bike was resting. Bike is in the garage right now until I can make sure of the oil level in the FD. I am just going to drain and put the correct amount in.

 

[JonA]

Well one time it happened to me was a bit of a classic. In the middle of a crowded car park I got off my R1100 and decided to put it on the center stand (can't remember why). As I leaned back with my weight on the stand, the bit that you put your foot on, snapped off completely from the main stand. I fell straight back on my arse in one direction and lifted my head up from the pavement just in time to watch my bike falling over in the other direction.

Boy was I cursing that weld - but it must have looked hilarious to anyone watching. Then my wife - who was looking the other way and missed the whole thing, turned around and gave me that "what are you doing down there" kinda look. :histerica

 

[1964Hall]

As an aside.
If your having trouble getting the bike on the center stand. Park the rear wheel on a 3/4 or 1" thick bit of board/wood.
Easy then, even with a full tank and loaded panniers.
hth
\v/

 

[beech]

Feel the pain. This morning at the local mailbox to mail a letter, parked on a slight hill like always, walk away and the bike rolled forward slightly. /QUOTE]

Was your bike running? Never leave an R bike (or a K for that matter) idling on the side stand. The slightest bit of incline down and that bike will go for it. Possible even when level! Take the time to turn off the bike and leave it in first gear, then get off for business. It's worth the trouble for this habit. I watched a guy lean over to put a fuel nozzle back on the pump after fueling the bike while sitting on it. His weight bearing foot slipped on the concrete and he almost lost the bike. Many combinations of slow or no speed riding cause super heartburn.

 

[HeliMark]

Feel the pain. This morning at the local mailbox to mail a letter, parked on a slight hill like always, walk away and the bike rolled forward slightly. /QUOTE]

Was your bike running? Never leave an R bike (or a K for that matter) idling on the side stand. The slightest bit of incline down and that bike will go for it. Possible even when level! Take the time to turn off the bike and leave it in first gear, then get off for business. It's worth the trouble for this habit. I watched a guy lean over to put a fuel nozzle back on the pump after fueling the bike while sitting on it. His weight bearing foot slipped on the concrete and he almost lost the bike. Many combinations of slow or no speed riding cause super heartburn.

Yeah, it was running. Most, but not all the time I stop and put the kickstand down with the bike in gear, which kills the engine. Always do that at the house to get off and open the gate to get in, but I was thinking about how I really did not want to stop at the mailbox and not parking right, and paid the price. I usually drop every bike I have owned once, and usually when new. Guess the tradition continues...