How to pick up a dropped bike.

reiobard

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that is a great article, that was one of the first things i had my wife read when she got her bike. Luckily enough (sarcasm) just after reading the article and buying her SV650 brand new (her 2nd bike, up from a ninja 250) she put her side stand down in a parking lot on a small rock and the bike fell over while she was getting off and as the bike laid on the ground I had to stop myself from picking it up and let her try while using that technique. it is a shame that it tipped over but while it was on the ground it was good to find out that she CAN pick it up if she ever needed too.


PS: There were people around and i felt like a total ass telling her to pick up her own bike after it toppled over tossing her rolling with it...
 
H

HavBlue

Harley will do this from time to time at events. Note the bike being lifted is a 600lbs Sportster and this is a chick doing it. This same action works on an 800 pound Wing too. I actually saw a chick of roughly 140lbs. pick up an 1800 Wing at one of their events a few years back.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4MPyX0QCYw"]YouTube - How to pick up your motorcycle[/ame]
 

VEGASRIDER

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Unfortunately, my bike has been dropped, not once, but around 3 times. I asked or accepted help twice, and picked it up once. I picked my bike up pretty easlily because I had all that energy and anger built up inside of me from dropping it in the first place. Thought the kickstand was down. Hell, once that bike gets to a certain angle, and reaches that threshold, you can't save it.
 

clunk

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Dropping in a parking lot has been my most embarrasing moment (to date). I was going to back into a space, so I was going forward and turning to set the angle. Guess I turned a little too far, too slow, so the bike started to lean over. It's amazing how much thought got crammed into that split second: hmm that doesn't feel quite right, uh oh, she's leaning, better catch it, not stopping, leaning farther, getting really heavy, get out of the way! Luckily, I had just seen the BMW skirt lady video (from this forum) so I knew how to pick the bike up correctly. Only damage was a small scrape to the right mirror, a small bend to the rear brake lever (easily bent back), and a bruised ego.
 

taco

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I haven't dropped it yet so I haven't got my return on investment from those frame sliders.

How hard is it really to just grab the bars and pick it up like you would an mx bike. I could get a full size mxer (220 lbs) up at 12 years old. I just can't imagine it being that hard for a grown man to pick up a FZ.
 
H

HavBlue

I haven't dropped it yet so I haven't got my return on investment from those frame sliders.

How hard is it really to just grab the bars and pick it up like you would an mx bike. I could get a full size mxer (220 lbs) up at 12 years old. I just can't imagine it being that hard for a grown man to pick up a FZ.

It's a whole different animal and the heavier they get the harder it gets. The safest way in either case is to use the seat and your butt.
 

kustom17

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The other week someone backed up into my bike, and knocked it over.
I wasn't around, but when the cops got there they told me it took 3 of them to pick it..... if i wasn't so mad i probably would have laughed when they told me
 

VEGASRIDER

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It's a whole different animal and the heavier they get the harder it gets. The safest way in either case is to use the seat and your butt.

What about the saying the "older you get, the harder it gets"...........When I watched the Police Motorcycle Skill Competition, a lot of them dumped their bikes. Every single one of them who dumped it, picked up their bikes just like the way you saw it on the video.
 

amy

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What a great article - as a woman, it is always great to know the ways to use technique instead of brute force to do things. I saw another class where they taught a woman how to pick up a Gold Wing.
 

billm

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Great posts & links from everyone! I don't know how I missed this earlier.:thumbup:
I almost had a slow drop in a parking lot last week; Bike was started & I was on it trying to walk it around (190 deg.) between two cars when it got over balanced on the left & I tried to swing my leg over, but in my haste it hung up for a sec. on the stupid tail-bag & I was scrambling to catch it before it went all the way over. Anyway, I did manage to hold it from a drop, but barely; I had hold of both bars & my left knee under something like the frame. The engine started to ease up in revs so I managed to relese my deathgrip on the rt. bar & switch off the kill sw. Then I transferred my rt. hand to somewhere sturdy under the seat (while my knee was killing me!) & w/all my might get 'er upright. I still have a sore spot on my knee. Two lessons: don't climb on a running bike & think you're gonna walk it places.....And get frame sliders!
This would have been the 3rd time I slow-dropped a bike too! First was w/a Virago & 2nd was a Sportster......that thing was over 100# more than the FZ6. I had to have help w/ the H.D. Both drops were hasty drops where I tho't I had the kickstand down!
BTW I've literally just ordered a set of Sho-Gun frame sliders.............for the next time..........hope not!:)
 

cv_rider

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Coulda used this post this morning. Up at 6am for a ride before the rest of the family was up. But our sloped driveway is a little narrow for two cars plus a channel down the middle (for getting the bike from the garage to the street), and my wife's car was too close to the center, so the channel was narrow. Certainly I could have moved my wife's car, but that would have involved going back into the house and getting the keys, which I felt in no mood to do. So I tried to back down through the channel, but couldn't turn sharp enough, and sort of got stuck on my wife's car's bumper. Here I could have started the engine and rode uphill to get re-oriented and go down the channel straight. But I didn't want to start the engine, as it I was right under the bedroom window and might have woken her. So I tried to push it uphill with my legs, which worked for at least one step. When I pushed forward with the left leg, I ended up leaning the bike to the right, and it soon toppled over. Although I once saved my Buell Blast when it got that extended lean angel, no luck here. The extra hundred pounds did me in, and it landed. Couldn't lift it on my own, and had to wait for the wife to help me. By that time, the window of opportunity was blown, and couldn't get out today. Bummer. Thankfully, the Moto frame slider took the brunt of the fall, and a bit of bending on the rear brake pedal. I'm hoping taking that off, hamering it back into shape, and re-installing it is as simple as it appears.
 

yamaha rider87

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lol you think that's bad I almost dropped mine in the DMV parking lot taking my motorcycle skills test.....I was going around a right handed u-turn with a tight radius and didn't start far enough to the one side so when I realized it was gonna be too tight I kinda went for it anyway instead of just missing the box i had to make the turn in....and the front end pitched in and had I not been 6'1 300lbs and able to yank the bike back upright from almost laying on the peg I woulda lost it lol
 

VEGASRIDER

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Bump, for those who may need some help on how to pick up your bike properly. We have a lot of new memvers here and might be able to use this info.
 
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