Shoulda kept the GZ.....sigh

[Easy Rider]

Yo, Alan C. good buddy.......

When you're done with those "big bike" training wheels, could I borrow them for a while ???

[BusyWeb]

I wonder where the Mr. Alan is too?
Hello, there....
Um, he might be busy with his new bike's kind forum????
New mission, find Mr. Alan..................>>>>>

[JWR]

Did you get some of that Road Rash??

[burkbuilds]

You didn't drop that 07 Shadow did you Easy? If so, I hope you are not seriously hurt and neither is the Shadow, sweet bike!

[Moedad]

Say it ain't so, Easy!

[adrianinflorida]

You alright?

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by adrianinflorida

You alright?

NO!

I'm severly PISSED at how stupid I was.

0 mph drop. Only casualty=1 tail light lens.

I still can drop a bike garcefully so I guess that is good news.
(OK, make that safely; it really wasn't all that graceful!)
And I can pick it up by myself.
Oh, and there was NOBODY around to see it!

Two lessons to be learned:
1) Never say never
AND
2) The GZ is a great little bike but it is TOO forgiving. It lulled me into some bad habits. What I did on the Shadow wouldn't have even been noticed as a mistake on the GZ.

I had stopped to back into a parking space. Had the wheel turned hard left; pushed back a bit and noticed my right foot was a little out of position; squeezed the front brake......flop, over she went. The real mistake was starting to back up while being just a TINY bit out of balance. I've done it a hundred times on the GZ and it was no problem; just "throw" the little beast around wherever you need it. Add 100 lbs. and different geometry and you can't be that sloppy anymore.

I knew all that from previous bikes but the GZ just made it all too easy. Rude awakening.

[burkbuilds]

Glad you are okay, and the bike only suffered a minor injury! I'll take what you are saying to heart since I just changed over to the Kawasaki Vulcan 500 and it's about the same difference in weight that you experienced with the Shadow.

[mrlmd1]

You said in another post "A Shadow will lay over on it's right side, continue to run and sustain no damage.....other than a broken turn signal lens.

(Wonder how I know THAT!!!) ", but here you "Had the wheel turned hard left;" and squeezed the brake. Which side did the bike fall over on? Wouldn't it fall over to the left side just as if it was going forward? :??:
Glad you had no damage scraping the tank or bending shift/brake linkages, mirrors, etc., and you didn't get hurt, the only casualty is a little plastic lens and your pride.

The best part was that no one was there to see you do that. :poke2:

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

"Had the wheel turned hard left;" and squeezed the brake. Which side did the bike fall over on? Wouldn't it fall over to the left side just as if it was going forward? :??:

The best part was that no one was there to see you do that. :poke2:

No, with the front wheel turned to the left and the bike going backwards, the mass is moving toward the RIGHT; applying the brake (at .001 mph) stopped the wheel from turning but didn't stop the mass of the bike and rider from continuing to go RIGHT......because I had let it lean slightly that way to begin with and then was positioned wrong to deal with it.

I should never have started the manuver knowing that something just didn't feel quite right.

In that situation, I agree that no witnesses was the best thing.

If you fall down and get hurt, you get sympathy.
If you fall down and DON'T get hurt, you get ridicule !!