I hate railroad ballast!!

Sorry to see ya go down:( Hope there was no damage to either one of you. I guess you got the first one out of the way...now, dont do it again:thumbup:

And great video! Its almost 60 deg. here, so I might get a chance to try out the new Contour:rockon:
 
Glad your OK! The first thing I did was think.. OMG the Paint! I knew from the speed you seemed to be going that you were ok, but that gravel was nasty! Hope the paint wasn't to bad, couldn't tell if its metal or platsic around the tank. Kudos on the self control... Think I might have been telling myself what I thought about the situation. LOL.
 
Mostly just scratched the plastic around the tank, nothing much on the tank.
As luck would have it help arrives in less than 15 minutes, they were out trying out the new pick-up and honked to see if I needed help, really nice of them:thumbup:

Jerry
 
In loose gravel, it's better to stand up, lean back and let the handlebars wiggle. (I would've been in a standing, attack-position already). Stay steady on the throttle. Too slow and the front end will sink. Keep your eyes up, look where you want to be. You can steer the bike with your body position when you're standing, and you can keep your balance better. Don't look down. Get some crashbars.

If you're going to play in the dirt, you're going to drop your bike. That's just how it is. So learn to pick it up. :D

Nice though!:thumbup:
I've been there, too.
I'm learning.....:D
 
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Glad your ok, but a couple of quick tips on getting the bike back up on your own:

Keep bike turned off, put in gear then lower the kickstand. In this case, get on the right side (low, fallen side). Back up to the bike, lower down with your legs grabbing the right handle bar with your left hand, the right hand grab anything else solid. Lift WITH YOUR LEGS, set bike on kick stand.

If down on the left side, same procedure (kick stand is still up and covered by the bike). Once raised, lower the kick stand with you foot and your done...

Picked up my old Goldwing this way (5'9", about 180lbs) and the police Harley full dress MANY TIMES, (mostly in formal training) when I was on motors.
 
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"Sleeping Tiger, Grouchy Old Man".... :D :D :D

Glad you're okay, and you could keep your sense of humor about it! :thumbup:
 
First off, Glad you are ok. I must agree with OMG WTF. Years on dirt bikes taught me that for gravel, standing, steady throttle and staying loose on the bike is better in the dirt. Also, dont tense up. let the front wiggle some. Mostly keep throttle on to keep the front light and the rear tracking.
 
Go get a quad...WAAYYYYY more fun on those types of roads....also riding alone in areas like that can be deadly to your health....doesnt take much to go over a little hill, bail and lay unseen..baking in the sun. Good to see you are OK
 
Thanks for the tips. I do OK on gravel and do much of what was suggested, my problem comes in when I encounter the evil ballast(think gravel on steroids) plus the fact I was totally on the wrong line as I should have been on the left away from the slope of ballast from the tracks, hind site is 20-20.
Crash bars are on the to buy list for this year.
Thanks for the tips on picking up the bike, I'll try that next time(hope there is no next time but who am I kidding:D)

Jerry
 
Like everyone else has said glad your ok, but did you hit the front brake when it started to wiggle?
 
Glad you're okay! Sleeping Tiger Grouch Old Man! :rof::rof::rof:

Time for a Spot Jerry!
If you're going on a jaunt like that, alone, out in on Nowhere Trail, you just tag some of us along through the email and SMS. We can check up on you! We can zoom it when your generating multiple tracks in on place. "Having lunch at Hooters!?!? :D
Lisa and I take the spot with us on hikes and have neighbors and family keep an eye on us.

When are you and the Mrs. coming for a visit?
 
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