Parking lot tip crushes helmet

[cap'n]

...guh.

Went to the grocery store last night to get soy milk for the baby. Took a Givi E21 side bag in with me, filled it, paid, left. Got back to the bike and realized the parking spot pitched slightly down to the left, meaning there was a lot of weight already on the kickstand side... I didn't want to lock on the side bag and put 30 lbs more on there and THEN have to heave it upright, so I walked it back halfway out of the spot and turned it uphill first, so it would be easier.

At this point, I stuck the kickstand out (**but not all the way, accidentally**), set the bike down on the kickstand, and it stayed upright so my brain was all "hey cool everything's perfectly ok!" I grabbed the side bag, clicked it on, and the bike began to eeeeeever so slowly roll a few inches forward as the kickstand began to give up and twist back. Brain: "hey wait bike's not a-sposed to roll forward like that what's going on OH SONOFA - NOOOOO!" It was like slow motion. I tried like hell to stop it, and I did slow it down, but with all that crap on it I'm sure the bike was over 500lb's. And as I heard a sickening CRUNCH slowly unfolding somewhere under the bike, I realized that things were even worse than they otherwise might have been.

A guy was loading his car right next to me, and he rushed over and helped me right it. At this point I looked down and realized that my Shoei RF-1000 was still locked onto the side of the bike, and had indeed born the entire weight of the bike upon itself. It slid up into the bike's plastic black side pod, crushing it as well, all of which left the helmet with deep gouges and scratches down into the shell material. The helmet was 3 years old, so that's fine, I guess, but the blue mirror visor was pretty new. Dammit.

So you're looking at the proud new owner of an Arai Vector 2 in dark metallic blue. Went to a good local shop and paid a little more, but got all the pads swapped out for ones that fit me exactly right, which is awesome - no extra charge. And it's nice to support the local guy.

Ahhhhh, that New Car smell. Make sure your kickstand is 100% EXTENDED, kids. Kick that bastard hard.

 

[Bates121]

There have been alot those kickstand accidents lately (including myself:spank I like that helmet it looks sick

 

[cap'n]

Thanks dude. I couldn't resist another tinted visor... I've gotten spoiled on them.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Don't you park your bike in 1st gear? Bike shouldn't roll.

 

[zmeiaspas]

Look on the bright side - your bike is not damaged and you got a new lid A pretty sweet one at that. I love how Arai profiles fit my elliptical bucket - best fitting helmets ever.

I myself had a kickstand accident a week ago. My roommate and I each have 2 bikes sitting in the garage and it gets kinda crowded. Last weekend I decided to go out for a ride but couldn't hop on my bike cos the roommate parked his 650r too closely. So I just walked his bike back and forth a little to make some room. I always stay on the right side of the bike whenever I need to walk it. I also leave the kickstand down so that if I loose my balance either the kickstand or I have a chance to save the drop.

So I make some room and I slowly let the bike lean to the left thinking that the kickstand is still down. I let it lean and lean and lean and at one point I realize - holy **** the kickstand must have hopped back up. So all of a sudden his 650 catches me by surprise and I get an instant flashforward - I can just see how his bike is on the verge of leaning against my VFR, which in turn is on its centerstand and doesn't need much to get knocked over on the roommates 250 which is right next to my track bike

I somehow managed to save it tho ... thank god 650s are so light. If it was my vfr instead, the bike and I were both going down.

So yeah - moral of the story: kickstands suck! :BLAA:

 

[cap'n]

Don't you park your bike in 1st gear? Bike shouldn't roll.

You know, I never have. 7 years, 3 bikes, and a total of 51k miles, and I have never parked in 1st. If I try to start now, it's gonna be hard to form a new habit, and it may mess me up at starting time (though I do always clutch first before I hit the button), but I guess it's worth it, huh.

 

[cap'n]

Look on the bright side - your bike is not damaged

Allllmost. I need a new side pod, and the left bar end got a small scratch that I won't bother with. But the side pod got annihilated. The frame slider didn't touch anything, though. It was 98% helmet (which slid up into the pod and crushed it), 2% bar end. Nothing else.

Sayonara, Shoei.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

You know, I never have. 7 years, 3 bikes, and a total of 51k miles, and I have never parked in 1st. If I try to start now, it's gonna be hard to form a new habit, and it may mess me up at starting time (though I do always clutch first before I hit the button), but I guess it's worth it, huh.

I always ask my students does a motorcycle have a parking brake? Most reply no, but in reality, we can use first gear. Not sure if you have any experience driving a manual transmission car, but when you go to park, I think everyone agrees that they leave it in gear, not neutral.

The same goes for a motorcycle. Prevents the bike from rolling for whatever reason. Wind, kids pushing the bike, etc. Like you said, it's a habit, you either develop good or bad ones.

 

[92fz08]

Putting the bike in first would be bad for me, i always leave my bike on the center stand i could see me now, push it off the center stand and hit a dead halt while my bike slowly falls over . Sure you could just hold the clutch in but inevitably i would forget one time and go boom. I do park my 5 speed car in first always though.

 

[lytehouse]

A guy was loading his car right next to me, and he rushed over and helped me right it.

That was very nice of a stranger :hug:

but be honest, you were just looking for an excuse to buy a new helmet, right?!?! LOL

 

[greg]

completely unrelated to bike, but if your baby is a boy, or even a girl, then i would be a little concerned about giving them soy products (as it can muck up your body's hormones, especially in developing children)

 

[Erci]

I always ask my students does a motorcycle have a parking brake? Most reply no, but in reality, we can use first gear. Not sure if you have any experience driving a manual transmission car, but when you go to park, I think everyone agrees that they leave it in gear, not neutral.

The same goes for a motorcycle. Prevents the bike from rolling for whatever reason. Wind, kids pushing the bike, etc. Like you said, it's a habit, you either develop good or bad ones.

Excellent advice as always, Kenny!

Sorry bout the mishap, cap'n.. new helmet FTW though!

 

[wolfe1down]

Coulda been worse. At least it didn't: 1. land on you, or 2. crush one of your Givi bags (they're not cheap).

Nice new lid BTW! :thumbup:

 

[novaks47]

You just now had a kickstand drop? Pffttt. I got that out of the way the first week of owning the FZ. BAM! Right onto the passenger foot peg of my father's then two week old 2009 FZ6. Garage mishap FTL. :banghead: At least his bike didn't get damaged though. The main fairing on mine is what hit and held the bike up, thus bending the main fairing stay. How it didn't crack or otherwise break the fairing is still a mystery. lol

 

[Hoshiko]

Sorry about your "accident'

Any pictures of the Shoei?

 

[MHS]

Sorry to hear about the drop. I'm constantly double and triple checking the kickstand because I'm paranoid something like this will happen to mine.

 

[lazamus69]

Sh itty about the bike and helmet but maybe the gym is in order...30lbs isnt really much to "heave"

 

[cap'n]

Sh itty about the bike and helmet but maybe the gym is in order...30lbs isnt really much to "heave"

No but 500 lb's is. The guy who helped me out was a big dude and said "Damn, I didn't think it would be this heavy!" Once it started, that was it.

And I guess there was part of me that wanted a new lid, but not til next year. The shoei is what I'm wearing in my avatar pic, fwiw.

 

[lazamus69]

Not raggin on you man, Ive dropped my bike too(and know how it feels) but I read "I didn't want to lock on the side bag and put 30 lbs more on there and THEN have to heave it upright, so I walked it back halfway out of the spot and turned it uphill first, so it would be easier."
If you had just put the bag on and left you woulda never dropped it. 30lbs more on a 500lb bike is peanuts to handle . Can you touch the ground with both feet planted comfortably?