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One Way to Avoid Dropping Your Bike

How sick and tired can teach you a lesson

By Genevieve Schmitt, Editor
9/25/2008

One of the most embarrassing times for a motorcyclist is the moment when he or she drops their bike. In my 18 years in the saddle, I can lay claim to this embarrassment twice. I won't bore you with the same old story of how befuddled I was when it happened, the subsequent discombobulation that ensues, and how I had to flag down nearby muscles to help me upright the mass of metal. (This was before I learned the technique on how to pick up the bike myself.) What I will share with you is something I learned to avoid dropping the bike in the future.

In the summer of 2003, my then fiance (now husband) and I secured a couple of press bikes (factory motorcycles made available to members of the media for testing) to embark on a two-week round trip journey from Los Angeles to Montana's Glacier National Park. We switched off riding a Honda Gold Wing and a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic, two of the largest motorcycles available. I was up for the challenge of manhandling a little extra weight day in and day out on whatever road, trail, and parking lot surfaces I encountered.

In southern Oregon before heading south into California.
In southern Oregon before heading south into California.

I'd like to report that the trip started out great, but the first night into it as I lay in my tent pitched at a KOA campground in Ely, Nevada, I noticed my throat feeling scratchy and enflamed the way it does when a cold is creeping up. The next morning I awoke with a full-blown sore throat. I thought, no big deal. I'm armed with vitamin C and a bottle of Echinacea with Goldenseal drops. I'll be OK. Trudge on. Most colds are bearable.

Long story short, this was the worst cold I'd had in years and the sore throat was just the beginning. My head ached and my chest cringed. I monitored my temperature daily to make sure a fever didn't take hold. I managed to ride every day with only one day of rest. Each day I grew wearier though. My husband was having a hard time offering sympathy since I looked fine; I just rode a little slower as I was suffering through coughing fits in my helmet and wiping nose dribbles under my face shield.

Trying to muster a smile despite feeling lousy with a bad cold.
Trying to muster a smile despite feeling lousy with a bad cold.

The lesson learned comes from knowing when to quit. Dropping the Electra Glide was my sign. After 500 miles in the saddle on about the eighth day we pulled into a steep gravel parking lot of a campground near Glacier. Stupid me stopped the bike on an uphill slope waiting for my husband to return from the registration office so he could tell me where to park. I got frustrated hanging there on an incline, brakes engaged, motor running so I attempted a hard downward right turn into a nearby parking lot. Battling exhaustion from being sick (but still trying to muster up enough mental strength to get through the day and not let my partner down), I failed to compensate for the sharpness of the turn and dropped the big, heavy motorcycle. Kerplunk! Actually, it was more like a ker-BLUNK!

If all of my physical energy was available to me and I was not mentally drained, I would have easily negotiated that turn like any experienced motorcyclist. But because I miscalculated my physical and mental abilities, I lost control of the motorcycle for a split second and down it went.

Taken in the Shields Valley along Route 89 in Montana, Genevieve is on the home stretch of her two-week adventure and her nasty cold.
Taken in the Shields Valley along Route 89 in Montana, Genevieve is on the home stretch of her two-week adventure and her nasty cold.

More than being embarrassed, I was mad at myself for not assessing my debilitated condition better. I was trying to be strong and tough and ride it out, as they say. I learned a big lesson that day on when to put my foot down—both figuratively and literally—so I don't drop a motorcycle again.

RELATED ARTICLES
- Feature Articles: Technique To Lift A Downed Bike
- Visit the WRN Mall to see the ad for Save Your Back Jack, a motorcycle jack designed to lift a downed bike



Reader Comments


I learned right off the bat in my safety training course last August how dangerous fatigue is for a rider. It was the end of my second day (a long day that went from 9 a.m. to 4p.m.) and I was turning the bike around to go to the rest area recognizing that I was getting tired. Guess I didn't know how tired I actually was as I crashed right into the chain link fence and lay on the ground helpless with the bike resting on my inside thigh.

We still had to ride our bikes back to the garage but it was only a three minute ride so I wasn't worried. I should have been. I was the last one to get to the end of the driveway and idled my bike while waiting for my turn to park the bike with the group. All I remember was hearing the engine revving really high and heading towards my classmates and their bikes. All I could do was aim for the bikes instead of bodies to avoid killing anyone. After the crash, my bike landed on top of my same leg but my ego was more bruised than my legs.

Those two incidents in the last 10 minutes of the day were a real confidence sucker. I was nicknamed "Crash." But I learned that you don't wait UNTIL you're feeling fatigued to take a break. I just bought a new bike and plan to ride at my own pace and stop frequently. And adding engine guards was a given! My friend always tells me that there's two types of bikers - those who have dropped their bike and those who are going to.

Gayle Thoun
Alberta, Canada
Sunday, April 12, 2009
I am encouraged to know that I am not alone in dropping a bike when tired. Learned that lesson the hard way the third time I rode my first bike. First time over 60 mph; first time getting caught in rain; first time over 80 miles. I was tired, stopped at friends who wanted to see the bike. Knew they had aggressive dogs so while I spoke to the one I thought would be worst, another dashed in grabbed my left ankle (above the boot of course) and pulled. Down we went and help was there (dogs had announced my arrival) to help me back up.

But when visit over, still had 23 miles to get home. Started off great, made a perfect stop at a rural stop sign and just tipped over. The best I can figure is was just so tired that I forgot to even put my foot down. Bruised ribs, but that was the only time I ever lifted my bike by myself. Now I have a bigger bike, a Volusia Intruder (think Boulevard C50). I doubt I will ever get this one up by myself, so the lift gear is definitely on my list. Don't ride tired. Doesn't pay; and thank you WRN for continuing to educate us

Linda Evans
Williston, FL
Monday, February 23, 2009
OK, since you were all kind enough to share your experiences, I will share mine. I had been sick with sinuses for about a week but it was the weekend and a beautiful January day. I thought I'd just take a short ride. My bike backs out of my storage unit rolling down a slight hill and back up a slight hill and at a slant. I have to put him in gear on his stand so he won't roll while I lock up my unit. Not being quite up to par, I didn't let the momentum roll him back far enough. My thought was, "If I don't use my friction zone correctly and cut far enough to the right, I'm gonna hit that door," because I'd be going to the right, in a tight turn and up an incline.

Well, what you think is what you do. I got started, popped my clutch and rode right through a storage shed door. It happened in a matter of seconds. And in a matter of seconds I had two young men there, along with the son of the storage unit manager, help me get my baby out of the mess I'd just gotten him into. Damage was minimal to the bike and the door but my pride sure was hurting.

I learned a very important lesson that day -- you don't ride a 700 pound motorcycle when you don't have your strength, even if it is a beautiful winter day! Thanks for sharing your stories. You encourage me through them. And since I ride alone, that jack just might be on my list of "have to buy" for the new year.

Lynda
Van/Ft. Worth, TX
Sunday, February 08, 2009
I have had two bikes - one a 1992 Honda Nighthawk 750, which I dropped a total of four times on my own very steep, very rutted dirt driveway. I have since had the drive paved and no further problems on that score.

Before purchasing my Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, I rented one to test it out. I had no idea what a throttle lock was (a type of cruise control which sets speed), but it had been turned on resulting in my inability to adequately control speed in the friction zone and down I went in a parking lot in front of 150 Harley riders.

After purchasing a Fat Boy, I proceeded to drop it twice (it was really more of a gentle laying down than a drop) - both sharp right turns on inclines causing my right foot to have be considerably lower than my left. I have now learned not to get shook up, not to get too embarassed and to realize that no matter what, my physical build is different than a man's. I have a shallower fulcrum point (the point of no return) than a man has, and I frankly don't care. I am passionate about riding and won't give it up just because I might suffer a moment or two of embarassment.

I have never been able to lift my bike by myself. I have very long legs and to be able to lower my butt to the height of the seat on a downed bike means my legs are stretched out vitrually straight in front of me, taking all traction away. Who cares? If someone isn't there to help, I'll call AAA to come and lift it. One way or another, the bike will get lifted and I will be on my merry way again, with perhaps just a little embarassment. I will, however, invest in that jack. It seems like a great product that can help either a man or a woman.

Pat
San Diego, CA
Monday, December 08, 2008
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