Originally posted by: WisMan
I haven?t dropped it yet. I had one close call, but nothing serious.
When* I drop it I?m going to probably cry. Though the fairings are rather cheap on this bike compared to most.
* I said when instead of if just so i don?t jinx myself.
I've dropped my bike three times, one way or the other.
Once, about a month after I started riding, I had just backed out of a driveway, and leaned right and let out the clutch to turn onto the road. Well...this was in March, in Seattle, and there was this nice pile of wet leaves in the road...so basically my already-leaned-over bike just kind of "falls" on its side at 5MPH, leaving me looking like an idiot. I pick it up...turns out the pedal part of the rear brake had bent up. I bend it back, and it falls off. Also, my front brake feels REALLY mushy...and it doesn't hold pressure at all, it just goes straight back to the grip unless I pump it (damn!). I end up getting a rebuild kid, and new rear brake lever, and all is well.
The second time was also sheer stupidity. I was trying to put it on the centerstand. I didn't know the proper technique. I hold the centerstand down with a foot while trying to PUSH the bike up and back...and it overbalances and falls on the right again. Broke the front brake lever in half (double damn!). One new front brake lever later, I'm back on the road.
The third time was as close to "intentional" as you can get. There was this big, dry parking lot with no one in it, and someone had set up some cones. I decided it would be a good idea to learn a bit more about my bike's handling, and see if it was indeed true that every bike will scrape the pegs before slipping sideways. I also practiced panic braking and swerving. Well, while making left circles at ~10MPH, slowly increasing the lean angle, I suddenly learned that my bike loses traction on the rear tire at about the same time as it scrapes the pegs.
Of course, nothing broke that time...the clutch lever just compressed itself against the grip like it should, and the shifter is smaller than the brake and thus didn't contact the pavement.
I learned that it is, indeed, a good idea to get a rat bike for the first few months at least. I also learned that if you're going to drop your bike..drop it on the left