dropped my new fjr!

[Old Guy]

guess i don't see why leaving the bike in gear, and putting a kickstand down is such a hard thing to do.

Seriously, some bikes are different. If a person came from the cruiser world, those side stands are sometimes the size of ball bats. The side stands on these bikes are a little easier to get wrong. But with a few precautions -- don't park facing down hill, leave it in gear, roll the forward slack out, etc -- they work fine.

 

[danh600]

Ok, second drop of the 2013 FJR for me.

This one I have no excuse. It was not in the mountains, it was in Florida on a perfectly smooth, dry parking lot. Pulled up behind my wife who was stopped on her bike. Little too much front brake to stop. I was going very slow but just got crossed up. It was slow motion. I held it for awhile. Took my wife to long to notice me go over, get off her bike and help. So I finally just had to let it go on down.

No harm done. Fell on the same side as last time. Might have made one scratch a little deeper them before, but no real harm.

Worst part was my ego. My wife had just gotten back off a 3,000 mile trip on her bike. So she was feeling very confident and full of herself. I took more ribbing then normal.

Surprisingly, I didn't get pissed. Just moved on to enjoy the ride that day.

Things like that help remind you how easy it is to screw up on a bike. I think little mishaps keep us honest and out of big trouble sometimes.

 

[Uncle Hud]

Sorry, man. Glad you weren't hurt, which includes getting a hernia from trying to hold her up!

Grabbing too much of that front brake will compress the front forks noticeably. If you're not pointing straight ahead when they rebound, the bike will bounce back in the opposite direction from what you expect!

Wish I could say I've only dropped mine twice .....

 

[El Toro Joe]

This has been happening a lot lately...DAMHIK...although with 20k miles on mine, I don't consider it new anymore.

 

[Bugnatr]

This has been happening a lot lately...DAMHIK...although with 20k miles on mine, I don't consider it new anymore.

20K? It's worn out now Joe, time for a new unscathed bike.

 

[El Toro Joe]

This has been happening a lot lately...DAMHIK...although with 20k miles on mine, I don't consider it new anymore.

20K? It's worn out now Joe, time for a new unscathed bike.

It should look pretty unscathed when I get it back, Doug...

 

[Jer]

Okay, here is my drop story. I was riding with Sacramento Mike, Big John, JREW and another guy, the leader who took us on some real goat trails. The group stopped to discuss something, I have never asked what, and while waiting for them I left the bike running and put it in neutral to mess with my radio. I didn't think we would be stopped long and if I shut the bike down would have to got through starting the gps. I was on a considerable downgrade and the conversation went on so long I decided to turn off the bike and see what they were talking about. I forgot that I had shifted into neutral until it rolled forward and fell on the left side. I was lucky to have these big guys there to lift her back up.

I have canyon cages and FZ-1 mirrors on the bike. The only damage was my pride, which isn't worth much, and a 5 inch long paint scuff below the mirror. The mirror folded causing no internal damage. This was my first try to test the mirrors and hopefully the last. The folded without damage as they should.

 

[art miller]

Okay, here is my drop story. I was riding with Sacramento Mike, Big John, JREW and another guy, the leader who took us on some real goat trails. The group stopped to discuss something, I have never asked what, and while waiting for them I left the bike running and put it in neutral to mess with my radio. I didn't think we would be stopped long and if I shut the bike down would have to got through starting the gps. I was on a considerable downgrade and the conversation went on so long I decided to turn off the bike and see what they were talking about. I forgot that I had shifted into neutral until it rolled forward and fell on the left side. I was lucky to have these big guys there to lift her back up.
I have canyon cages and FZ-1 mirrors on the bike. The only damage was my pride, which isn't worth much, and a 5 inch long paint scuff below the mirror. The mirror folded causing no internal damage. This was my first try to test the mirrors and hopefully the last. The folded without damage as they should.

Glad to her you were not hurt and the mirrors folded as expected. I feel better now knowing that.

 

[steveoreno]

That sucks... been there done that as have others on this forum.
As you just learned, these bikes are top heavy and over they go really fast. Now you can learn all about taking the front cowling off and other good stuff. Good luck.

In another lifetime I owned a C-10, the original Concours and I belonged to their forum. Connies were notorious for slow speed drops, so much so that they had a "Connie droppers anonymous " section in their forum maybe we need a feejer droppers anonymous too.

 

[JimNtexas]

I dropped my FJR with 3 miles on the odo. At my first gas stop.

The FJR is a big step up from a Ninja 250. I gassed up, got on the bike, and dropped my glove. On a Ninja 250 you can lean over and pick up your glove.

You can do that in an FJR also, but the bike will tip over and impact the gas pump. DOH!!!!!!

 

[RaiderBill]

fz mirrors in my future at some point. I don't think the front canyon cages with help with the mirrors not hitting.

 

[dockjekyll]

Sorry to read. I owned my old 06 two weeks and dropped it at the end of a long ride. I had always had cruisers where the kick stand goes really far forward and the bike could never roll off. With the fjr, not so much. The stand is pretty straight up. For awhile you have to be conscious of making sure it's fully deployed. I also always leave it in gear and roll it full forward till the gears grab. Best of luck!

 

[Proteus1952]

Damn, these tales really do make me feel like not such a dumb ****. I owned my 2010 FJR for a week when I dropped it in the garage. I believe to this day a shoestring caught the kickstand. I still wear lace up hiking boots because I frequently travel just to enjoy some hiking at the destination. But you can sure as hell bet that I now have much shorter laces that when tied do not hang down at all.

Stuff happens.

 

[Carlson]

Dropped my '16 with less than 1500 mi. on odo. After a couple hours in the saddle was rolling into the parking lot of the restaurant, a bit hot, tired and hungry. Once on the lot I noticed a couple of bikes and their riders in front of the building, so I decided to join them. A also chose, for the reason I can't now understand, to make a u-turn and back-up into the parking space, rather than just rolling into it. Well, with all that activity I somehow forgot to downshift from 3rd and when I gave it a little gas to do a u-turn there was no power.. Next moment the bike is on its left side and me trying to figure out what the hell just happened

Luckily for me the damage was limited to couple scratches on the canyon cages (they already paid for themselves) and my pride.

 

[Uncle Hud]

In the FJR world, Pride goeth (away) after a fall.

 

[08FJR4ME]

Well I joined the drop club also yesterday. Yes I admit it.

I was on the 2015 and my first long ride with it. We traveled up to Lempster NH. We were heading home and it was already 5:30. The heavy storms were chasing us. Light rain and occasional lightning with some wind gust. The temperature dropped almost 30 degrees in 5 miles. High 80's to low 90 most of the day. So it was at the end of 149 in Weare NH on a downhill corner right at the old Ford garage. I was hoping to roll around the corner but the oncoming traffic was in a hurry. Came to a quick stop and there wasn't anything below my right foot. I couldn't touch down. Next thing I know is the bike was beyond the tipping point and I did my best to let it down easy. For once in my life I didn't procrastinate in putting the new guards on. (T-Rex full kit) My wife went over the guard rail into the bushes. I went up against the guard rail. Did I mention it was raining. The guards did exactly what they were supposed to do. Protect my bike. Not a scratch in the paint anywhere. I just saved me a couple of thousand in repairs. Some ***** they worked. That's all I could think at the time. The top of the windscreen rested against the guard rail and I had some minor scratches there. All in all it was money well spent.

By the way stay out of Boston. We got stuck for over an hour on what would normally be a breeze going through at that late an hour.

Dave

 

[El Toro Joe]

Glad you and the wife are okay...

 

[BigOgre]

Yup, that's an awful feeling when your foot doesn't find what you expect to be there. Glad you guys weren't hurt too much. Guardrails can be unforgiving.

 

[Uncle Hud]

08FJR4ME posted: <snip, snip> My wife went over the guard rail into the bushes. I went up against the guard rail.

OUCH! Assume you're OK. Hope the wife is OK, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Pillion riders put a lot of trust in their pilot.

 

[Viper Pilot]

I've dropped my '05 four times since I bought it 12 years ago. First drop was about 2 days after taking ownership. Stopped on a steep hill with a cross street and didn't notice the road fell off steeply to the side. Went to put my foot down and typical story, nothing but air under my foot. Bummer. About 2 years later I was riding with my wife on board and went to stop at a light and must have stepped on a banana peal. Over it went again and my wife said WTF! Has never ridden again with me. LOL! About 2 more years later again, after installing lowering links, I was pushing the machine up on a 2x6 so I could lower the center stand. Got the thing leaning away from me just a hair too far and you guessed it, over it went again. And finally last week I was pushing it over to a corner in my garage and must have been tired or just weak and you guessed it, she fell against the wall but not all the way over. In told, the damages haven't been too bad. Mostly scratches and one cracked side case. Have gotten pretty good at body work and painting however! LOL That's my story and I'm sticking to it!