So I guess my brand new Connie now has a "used patina". I had just finished installing 2" risers and I decided to sit on her while she was on the center stand while still on the lift. The lowest position is still about 7 inches off the floor. I liked the new fit of the handlebars so I made the decision to take her for a road test.
While sitting on it, I decided to rock her forward to get her off the center stand, something I had often done easily many times with my V-Strom. I had some difficulty doing this and so I made more vigorous pushes. The next thing I know she's going over on the right side - kind of slow motion while I struggled to stop her, or, at least, slow her descent down to the garage floor. What a sad sight.
At first I had to extricate my right foot from my shoe which was caught under the bike - pinned by the brake foot lever. How I didn't break my ankle is amazing to me. Thank goodness for the canyon cages already installed!
A couple of strong young neighbors got my Connie back up on the lift table - my sore back and shoulders were not up to the job. A cursory inspection revealed very little damage. Amazingly, a low horizontal scratch on the windscreen, small scratch on the front wheel slider, small scratch on the right bar end weight, some black paint (off the lift platform) on the exhaust can, and, a small abrasion on the rear canyon cage. Nothing major. A lot of the fall was slowed by contact with my Suzuki DR-Z beside it (which was pushed over as well) and the right bar end landing on a small plastic patio table (punching a hole through it but braking the fall quite a bit and keeping it suspended off the floor!).
The protection devices did their job! Well worth the investment. Are you listening, you guys that are too proud to similarly equip your bikes?
Damage to my body: no bruises. Right foot caught underneath is OK. Right shoulder is very sore - it was jammed pretty hard when I put out my right arm falling toward the garage floor.
I'm very lucky to have experienced a relatively small amount of damage - to both of us.
While sitting on it, I decided to rock her forward to get her off the center stand, something I had often done easily many times with my V-Strom. I had some difficulty doing this and so I made more vigorous pushes. The next thing I know she's going over on the right side - kind of slow motion while I struggled to stop her, or, at least, slow her descent down to the garage floor. What a sad sight.
At first I had to extricate my right foot from my shoe which was caught under the bike - pinned by the brake foot lever. How I didn't break my ankle is amazing to me. Thank goodness for the canyon cages already installed!
A couple of strong young neighbors got my Connie back up on the lift table - my sore back and shoulders were not up to the job. A cursory inspection revealed very little damage. Amazingly, a low horizontal scratch on the windscreen, small scratch on the front wheel slider, small scratch on the right bar end weight, some black paint (off the lift platform) on the exhaust can, and, a small abrasion on the rear canyon cage. Nothing major. A lot of the fall was slowed by contact with my Suzuki DR-Z beside it (which was pushed over as well) and the right bar end landing on a small plastic patio table (punching a hole through it but braking the fall quite a bit and keeping it suspended off the floor!).
The protection devices did their job! Well worth the investment. Are you listening, you guys that are too proud to similarly equip your bikes?
Damage to my body: no bruises. Right foot caught underneath is OK. Right shoulder is very sore - it was jammed pretty hard when I put out my right arm falling toward the garage floor.
I'm very lucky to have experienced a relatively small amount of damage - to both of us.
