Nice Day for a Ride/That’ll Buff Out 🙄

[Lowflying]

Was a glorious winter day down here in “the Shire”. Rode into the Nasho down to Audley, then across the Woronora River bridge, through Jannali and Como.

Some of the roads in Jannali were dead end, hilly turnarounds. Somehow one got the better (worst?) of me and I let gravity win. I’d been winning for probably almost twenty years so I guess the law of averages prevailed. Fair enough.

I’m sure a lot of you have your own stories like this but maybe some don’t so I’ll relate mine.

There was nobody around this quiet dead end to help me, or laugh at me. Anyway, I kept my cool, took off my helmet, jacket and gloves and let the adrenaline work its way through. I have watched a few videos about picking up a heavy bike and never had to use it, nor did I practise it. The most recent one I watched was only a few days ago by a motorcycle cop, “barkers bikes”, I find he’s got lots of great pointers on handling these heavy monsters. I recommend his videos.

Anyway, I followed his instructions, motor off, first gear, side stand down and got to it, lower back pushing into the seat, left hand on right bar, right hand on the pillion part of the seat. The bike was on its right side but slightly downhill too, so more work to do. My first couple of attempts were just to feel it out and lift it a bit. I made sure to not put too much back onto it and try to maximise my legs. I’m 63 and only 75 kgs so no powerlifter. Finally I got it to the point where I could really feel the weight diminishing as it got close to upright. I looked over to the left side and gently let it rest on the side stand. Success!

Damage assessment: the right valve cover will need replacement, and there’s just a little bit of scratching bottom edge of the right pannier, which I will polish and maybe touch up first and see how it looks. It’s not obvious so that’ll probably be good enough. You can barely see the pannier damage in the last picture below.

I like the look of the stock valve cover but am open to other ideas if they’re cost effective. Any suggestions welcome.

This little episode hasn’t deterred me at all. It’s a lesson. I will learn from it.

 

[Anibal]

I am sorry to hear that happened to you. I would advise you to get the OEM crash bars. I had them on my B and saved my bacon twice with no damage whatsoever to the bike, only a minor scratch to the lower part of the crash bar smaller than my little finger nail.
Ride safe

 

[Lowflying]

Thanks for the sentiment.

I must say, when I was younger I would’ve been a bit down on myself as a result of this incident. But, at 63, I’ve lived a bit, been through some stuff and seen others go through real life stuff, like really big things like my neighbour losing his lovely wife to cancer in her fifties.

So, a scratched bike is not a problem. Easily fixed.

And, ya, considering crash bars.

 

[Star-Lord]

I'm glad to hear that you're alright and was able to get the bike back up on your own.

This is always a concern for me, as I just recently removed my Engine Protection Drop Bar; I've been cleaning my bike up a bit, moving towards a "cleaner" or "simplier" look.

Now perhaps, reconsidering restoring the Engine Protection Drop Bar.

No damage to the exhaust system?

 

[KAus]

Crickey! If you have to have a gravity attach that's probably about as good as it gets. Good work on getting it back up; nice red / blacked out Rocktane too, btw. As you say, easily fixed. There are indeed much worse things to have to deal with.

Each to their own on the cluttered versus uncluttered issue but I'm a fan of crash bars. They are not fool proof nor do they make the bike or its rider indestructible, but they do help deal with the smaller stuff. They can also make the bike (slightly) easier to get back up from having a tarmac sleep. Stating the obvious, these are big heavy bikes and gravity doesn't take a holiday. I have factory bars on the front of my Transcontinental and a set of Wunderlich rear bars around the panniers. The gloss black, chrome and pinstripe aesthetic appeals to me so I don't mind the extra chrome and the 1,800 cc's don't care about the weight.

 

[cheeseBagger]

aren't there some smaller protection pieces that can be attached at the lower points of the jugs? Seems like I've seen these on other bikes. Anyway, glad you got it picked back up. It's just a Flesh Wound !!

 

[bmwsquirl]

great job l/f

 

[CajunRider]

Your valve cover damage doesn't look overly harsh... It might be worth a try to sand/buff it out a bit and redo the powder coating.

Glad you're OK and were able to lift without TOO much trouble!!

 

[Star-Lord]

aren't there some smaller protection pieces that can be attached at the lower points of the jugs? Seems like I've seen these on other bikes. Anyway, glad you got it picked back up. It's just a Flesh Wound !!

I'd love to do something, similar to what you see on the new Road Glide / Street Glide - Low Straight Bar

 

[Lowflying]

Thanks all for the encouragement and suggestions. I’ve almost exclusively leaned to the uncluttered look, as in no drop protection on my bikes. I prefer the clean look and I reckon it’s cheaper to fix any damage than to protect every bike I own. However almost all my previous bike have been Jap/Euro nakeds - significantly lighter bikes.

I might revisit the idea of something in the way of protection for this heavy beast though. A good point brought up by somebody above is the idea that a drop bar keeps the fallen bike a few degrees closer to upright which make it somewhat easier to pick up. That’s an angle (see what I did there?) that I didn’t consider.

 

[KAus]

Humour maybe?

 

[skidward]

View attachment 22203

Glad you're OK.

 

[Lowflying]

View attachment 22203

Glad you're OK.

Thanks. Just stepped off during the incident. I guess that could have turned out differently.

No aches or pains from picking up the beast either. I did think about that the next day!

 

[Lowflying]

Thinking more about what happened, and riding my Roctane some more, I realise that riding a heavy bike really showcases, and magnifies, your slow speed handling skills, or lack thereof! It’s motivated me to learn more, and practise more, in this area. ATM I’m watching that ex-NYPD guy’s “Preload and stay loaded” vids and picking up some good stuff.

Never too old to learn!