didn't fall but ~
The day a rode my new FJR home, which btw was my very first brand new motorcycle (others were always purchased used or even broken to be repaired to ride) anyway - when I got home my daughter and son both wanted a ride. Daughter first, helmet on and around the neighbor hood. Get back to the house and there is a small crowd of my sons friends 17 ~ 20 years old come to see the bike. Oh great, an audience.
Daughter gets off, removes helmet and hands it to Son. While he is stashing his cap and donning the helmet, Daughter places my grandson on the bike in front of me. Now Grandson was 2 and 1/2 and wearing a diaper and tennis shoes. nothing else. I am stopped in gravel drive with right foot down, engine running, grandson perched in front of me with my left hand holding firmly onto him and right hand on throttle and brake. The next three seconds were in slow motion.
The bike started to drift a bit to the left. My left foot was on the peg so that my leg helped stabilize the toddler. As the bike continued to drift left I tried to remove my foot from the peg and place it on the ground.
It wouldn't come off the peg.
Understand the short period of time here, this didn't take very long.
In that instant I became very concerned, the bike was still headed in a lefterly direction and some magical device had my foot glued to the left peg.
Brand new bike, grandson with no protection, gravel drive way. Oh Yeah It took about 2 tenths of a second for full panic to set in.
Tried to get the foot off the peg again, still no go. Bike is beginning to list alarmingly and gaining momentum. Foot finally pops off peg but now the bike is leaning pretty far and though my foot is on the ground and momentem is partially arrested I can't stop it with just that now very bent leg.
My brand new FJR is headed for the gravel in slow motion, carrying my grandbaby and me along, and I can't stop it.
oh ****! oh ****! oh ****!
Try to help from the right handle bar, that twists throttle and engine revs - let off throttle - bike sinking more. All the while surrounded by able bodied people who are looking with uncomprehension at me like I've gone crazy. My leg isn't going to hold out much longer. I start yelling "get the bike get the bike get the bike". The only boy there I didn't know suddenly grasps the situation and as it turns out is a pretty brite kid. He grabs the right handle bar between the grip and the mount and pulls - hard. That makes all the difference in the world and my leg now pushes the bike back to perpendicular. I relax what has become a death grip on the toddler who is rapidly changing emotional state from "oooo fun, it's moving" to fearful concern that he might be crushed. At least I never even considered letting him go. If we were going down I was going to land under him.
Now back to normal with both feet on the ground, relief is a flood. I am thanking the young hero profusely and the remanding my grandson back to his mothers care. The vision of my brand new $13000 bike lying in the gravel before I've had it an hour wouldn't fade away even then. My son walks up now wearing the spare helmet and asks me "What were you doing?" DOH!!
I respond by studying the left foot peg with much suspicion and ignoring him.
How the hell does my foot get stuck on a foot peg?
Well, I have kind of big feet. Size 13. While resting there I had let my foot slip back a bit on the peg. If you look at the lever on the center stand you will see that it sticks up in a big hook. Just enought to hang on to your heel if placed just right and while you can easily just raise you foot a couple of inches, if you don't know it is there , well it hangs on pretty good.
I still look at that foot peg/centerstand lever with suspicion.