First Good Ride and First Bad Occurance

[FJR Bill]

Sorry you dropped the bike but its easy to do. I haven't dropped mine but I recognize the need to be very careful and have good techniques to prevent a drop. The shorter of leg the more likely one will have problems. I only use my centerstand for maintenance and I never sit on it when getting it off. Why, because my 29 inch inseam doesn't allow me to have firm foot contact. Rolling off the stand you gotta get some part of you foot planted. If you hit a slippery wet or oil spot or if there is a slope, you might drop it due to poor ground contact with a partial foot contact.

I get mine off the stand standing on the side. One foot of course is already firmly planted, the second is flat footed as the bike rolls forward and I feel pretty steady while I then put down the side stand.

By performing a slight rocking movement then lifting from the handle she comes off easily. Front brake is available if needed but usually its not. I've never been comfortable fueling while sitting on the bike. On trips I have a tank bag and thats just more thing to manage. I can manage the fuel nozzel much better while standing. But that's just my take on it. One thing for sure is the FJR is a rather tall and heavy bike that needs caution when at a stop. One HUGE CAUTION for the uninitiated...If parking downslope using the side stand, MAKE SURE the bike is in gear and is against the gear before dismounting. In the mountains I've had about 4 of my friends on various bikes experience a fall as the bike rolls forward. Personally I always put mine in gear before I dismount. Best wishes, Bill

 

[FJR1300Mark]

I use the side stand while fueling and I"m always, well almost always, off the bike.

Center stand is mostly for level, secure areas. Sometimes when parked out overnight I feel it is more secure on the center stand.

We all have stories to tell about dropping the bike, but don't really want to tell. Mine with in the garage. It was too cold and raining to ride so I decided to be creative in getting on and off the bile in the garage and set ti down ever so gracefully. But still down. Minor minor scratch as I carried a lot of the wieght of the bike all the way to the floor - but I fractured my ego.

Good ride and enjoy the longer legs.

 

[Eric L]

I dropped the damn thing at Home Depot when taking it off the center stand when I had owned it for a week. Stupid move, I took it off with the wheel not straight, hit the brake, and thump. Squashed the cheap slider. scuffed under the muffler, and edge of mirror.

 

[Knifemaker]

Safety wise... Would not fill my tank while on the bike.

Let's say it overflows...you got gas on your crotch. Lets say a hot engine ignites the gas... Your balls are on fire, your bikes on fire, and you have to jump off the thing, likely knocking it over... With an open fuel cap.... Firery balls , burning smashed bike, and all you wanted was to fill the tank.

Get off the bike to fill the tank, use the sidestand, and be carefull not to drop the bike leaving the station.............

 

[BikerGeek99]

Know what you mean about your previous cruiser.

I had a cruiser for 10 years (Harley Dyna Wide Glide) that I was comfortable on for maybe 150 miles. 200 miles and I was pretty uncomfortable. 300 miles? Fuhgeddaboutit.

Then I got the FJR and, well, I discovered that with the stock seat, 550 miles was about 150 too many. Since I put on the Russell? Well, my first ride with that seat was 725 miles in a day.

As for the drop... Meh. Chicks dig scars, man.

 

[Cowcop]

How bad or deep are your scratches? I had some trailering marks that looked horrific, but a friend used very fine and very wet sandpaper for about three minutes resulting in a perfect restoration. FWIW.

Cheers!

 

[wheatonFJR]

Safety wise... Would not fill my tank while on the bike.

Let's say it overflows...you got gas on your crotch. Lets say a hot engine ignites the gas... Your balls are on fire, your bikes on fire, and you have to jump off the thing, likely knocking it over... With an open fuel cap.... Firery balls , burning smashed bike, and all you wanted was to fill the tank.

Way to paint a pretty picture there knifemaker. :lol: HOLY CRAP!!!

Now, I would call that scenario a "bad occurence."

 

[Ant1750]

Just two ideas one I recommend buying Wild Bills highway pegs. I have found them very comfortable and allows you to stretch out the legs on longer spans with no fast turns etc. Two before paying to get bag repainted you might want to just go ahead and get a custom decal placed on spot where the damage is located. You can smooth out rough surface with fine sand paper and then almost any shop that makes decals can place one over the damage and a matching one on other side so it blends in. Decals are fairly inexpensive to both buy and have installed. I just had a pin stripe down whole bike and then two decals matching on each side all installed with a heavy duty material that has laminate over it for only 80 total. They guarantee two years of wear and will remove them for roughly 20 dollars if I get sick of them. Sorry I would have sent pics but MC is at shop getting LEDS installed as we speak. Just an idea

 

[raitchison]

Know what you mean about your previous cruiser.

I had a cruiser for 10 years (Harley Dyna Wide Glide) that I was comfortable on for maybe 150 miles. 200 miles and I was pretty uncomfortable. 300 miles? Fuhgeddaboutit.

It doesn't help that it was a pretty small bike and I'm a fairly big guy. Here is a picture of me on the old bike from June:

On a side note, I think I was pretty much out of lean angle on that turn

How bad or deep are your scratches? I had some trailering marks that looked horrific, but a friend used very fine and very wet sandpaper for about three minutes resulting in a perfect restoration. FWIW.

Deep, down into the white part of the plastic in some places.

I did buy a 1000 grit wet sanding sponge and some black colored wax, I figure with those I can make it look better (from a distance at least) for a while before I send the bag/lid to garauld for repainting. I'll take some before/after pictures of that process.

 

[HawkWing]

Ditto on the sidestand precautions of others- I learned from experience. One other SS precation: make sure the SS leg is fully against the stop and cycle is allowed to settle against trannie gea.r (1st=best) on its own before dismounting. More experience. Some even file the SS stop back a bit in order to get a really positive engagement; I have not.

 

[WRichStrom]

I will third using Garauld to fix the saddle bag sides. Unfortunately I used him twice (one my fault sliding in the unexpected snow storm coming 1.5 blocks from home, and another on a lid that was scratched when a friend was using my bike to get ready for his DOL test). On the incident where a buddy dropped the bike getting ready for the DOL test I told him not to buy a new bag (but he did) and I sent my scratched lid to Garauld. No difference in the two paint jobs.

 

[blueman]

I have never used my side stand. Always use my center stand on level ground. Its hard for me to justify using that little metal toothpick to hold up my ride.

 

[RadioHowie]

I have never used my side stand. Always use my center stand on level ground. Its hard for me to justify using that little metal toothpick to hold up my ride.

HERE'S a link PERFECT for you.....

 

[Bounce]

Im too short to get the bike off the center stand while on it. While its up I couldn't touch the pavement lol.

touch the pavement? i get the bike off the center stand by standing on the pegs and shifting the bike forward with "body english". stand on the pegs, get a good grip on the bars, lean back to get the bike off the front tire, then jerk all your weight forward. the bike will move forward, the stand will flip up, the bike will drop down onto both wheels and you have plenty of time to them get a foot down to hold the bike as you balance it (or ride away).

as for the OP getting a little stiff at the end of his ride, move around and stretch your legs, arms, and back while riding. do it about every 20 minutes and you can do a lot more miles before needing to get off.

 

[Fred W]

I have never used my side stand. Always use my center stand on level ground. Its hard for me to justify using that little metal toothpick to hold up my ride.

While it may seem counter-intuitive, the bike is actually considerably more stable on a properly employed side-stand than it is when up on the center-stand. It's also a whole heck of a lot easier to employ. By "correctly", I mean that you need to follow a few very simple rules of thumb: You want to always park the bike with the front wheel level or higher than the rear wheel (but that would be true on the center stand also) and you want to have the left (kickstand) side level or lower than the right side. If the grade is severe you can park in gear to help keep it from sliding backward, but generally it isn't an issue. You'll also want to use a puck, squashed soda can, or better yet, get a Wynpro Bigfoot to keep the foot from sinking into hot asphalt or soft gravel. BTW center stands are not impervious to falling over in soft footing either.

If you are worried the side stand will actually break, don't. As far as I know, it has never happened (on an FJR).

i get the bike off the center stand by standing on the pegs and shifting the bike forward with "body english". stand on the pegs, get a good grip on the bars, lean back to get the bike off the front tire, then jerk all your weight forward. the bike will move forward, the stand will flip up, the bike will drop down onto both wheels and you have plenty of time to them get a foot down to hold the bike as you balance it (or ride away).

While I have no problem touching ground with the bike on the center stand, I sometimes do it this way this too, just for fun.

 

[dcarver]

G A R U L D for paint repair.

 

[TheZsdad]

Maybe a poll is in order on how you get the bike off the center stand.

There is no way I would attempt to get the FJR off the center stand

standing beside it. I also have 29" inseam. Ok one way with a spotter.

You need to be careful of your footing at gas stations which every stand you use.

I'd bet gas station drops out number garage drops. I can get a wee bit

more fuel if on the center stand but not worth the effort for my type of riding.

Coming off a cruiser myself it does take awhile to adjust to the new riding position.

After the sliders, highway pegs were the next farkle. This allowed me to stretch my legs

and get the circulation going in my knees. I've found I use the highway pegs less and less

as my bike gets more miles. Also if you ride in jeans make sure they are loose enough in

the knee area when bent. Good Luck.

 

[Doodidge]

If you need the bike to take up less room in the garage, you may consider one of the 'ride into' chocks. Also recoups the space in front of the bike. You may need to secure it to a piece of plywood so it doesn't scoot forward when you put the bike into it. Can usually pick them up at Harbor Freight for ~$50.

Dan

 

[SaharaJp99]

I too have a short inseam(28") and I wouldn't dream of taking the bike off of the center stand while on it. I use the center stand 90% of the time and on every fill up. It also is on the center stand 100% of the time while in my garage. I find that the stock side stand is too long(especially with the Wynpro foot) to use in a lot of parking situations(especially when parking perpendicular to a curb). I am going to shorten it about 1/2" here soon once we get a rainy day.

My technique for getting it off the center stand is to stand facing forward on the left side of the bike with my right hip resting against the seat or darn close to it and my legs positioned like a sprinter's start except my feet are also spaced about shoulder width to keep balance. Turn the handle bars slightly to the right and put downward pressure on the left grip(this keeps the bike wanting to fall towards you, and your side stand should be down, so if that happens, no big deal). Push forward and soon as the stand flips up, hit the front brake and set the bike down on the side stand(bike is already leaning that way). I've always done it like that and have never felt like I was going to lose control of the bike. YMMV.

 

[dbx]

My technique for getting it off the center stand is to stand facing forward on the left side of the bike with my right hip resting against the seat or darn close to it and my legs positioned like a sprinter's start except my feet are also spaced about shoulder width to keep balance. Turn the handle bars slightly to the right and put downward pressure on the left grip(this keeps the bike wanting to fall towards you, and your side stand should be down, so if that happens, no big deal). Push forward and soon as the stand flips up, hit the front brake and set the bike down on the side stand(bike is already leaning that way). I've always done it like that and have never felt like I was going to lose control of the bike. YMMV.

Over the last 40 years or so, I've lost track of the number of times I've seen people take their bike off the center stand while the sidestand was already deployed, whether sitting on it or standing beside it, only to watch the bike come down hard on the sidestand and plop over on its right side. I've also seen people get their foot caught under the deployed sidestand when trying to do what you described.

If it works for you, and it's apparent that it does, then great, but I won't be trying it myself, especially the "with the sidestand down" part. I'd much rather be on the bike, not standing beside it, when I roll it off the center stand.