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Senility has set in

Started by Ned, April 10, 2010, 11:54:12 PM

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Ned

You know this for sure when you do really dumb stuff! This morning while dropping a couple of books back to the library - a good excuse to take the bike for a walk - I was about to depart from the car park, sitting astride the FJ, kicked in the sidestand, and was about to fire her up when I thought I'd better just reset the clock as we have just come off daylight saving. So I pulled off a glove to check my watch for the correct time.  I dropped the glove. Bugger! Well I just leaned over to pick it up forgetting the bike was under me and no side stand out. Result - we reached the point of no return and over we went. As in the last time I did this, I managed to keep my leg under the bike to prevent it getting damaged - just a small scratch on the left hand bar end and engine cover. I lay there thinking - deja vu! I managed to drag my foot out - big bruise on shin where bike landed and a little old lady trotted over to see if I was alright, bless her! She even tried to help me get the bike upright but I had to ask her to desist in case it slipped and landed on her. I had it back on its wheels smartly, thanked her profusely for her offer and fired up the bike with a lot of coughing and spluttering while the excess fuel cleared. A small audience had gathered, as they do, but as usual no-one else came to assist! I waved cheerily as I rode off - very carefully!.
Am I alone in this stupidity? Is it time to find a warm fireside and a good book and a rug to put over my knees? Or do I just tough it out and keep picking myself up from dumb stuff. That's twice in a couple of years not to mention the tree incident of 18 months ago - still not forgotten in this household by Mrs Ned and the two daughters.

Ned - trying to keep the shiny side up....  :nea: :wacko3: :dash1:
Ned - Kiwis can fly ... on an FJ

andyb

I've fallen offa a lotta bikes.

And in all but a handful of cases it was either while stopped or at walking speed.  Happens, mate.

mz_rider

Ned,

If you are senile I'm part of that club. I've dropped two of my bikes recently at zero mph. Firstly my little Honda CBF250 commuter. Checking the mirror adjustment I stepped off to have the bike crash onto me - oh yes I must have flipped the sidestand up. Secondly my old FJ in the remote highlands. Stopped to admire the view and thumbed the started. The bike was in gear and lurched off its sidestand down a wicked camber. I had a huge struggle to get upright again with no one about to help. This can't happen I hear you say - it can if you've bypassed the cut-outs due to an electrical problem!

Stuart

Mike 86 in San Dimas

At your age, you should not be on the road! ...What were we talking about?
Mike

mickarch

I used a disc lock for a while and at least 2 times that I can remember, i forgot it was on there.  Got on the bike, fired it up and took off only to roll about a foot, then stop suddenly and fall to the side  :shok:

Mike 86 in San Dimas

disk lock thing. did that too...at least two times.  But I was only 30 something then. Not old, just stoned.
Mike

Mark Olson

The quick ride to the store in tennis shoes, and the laces get wrapped around the shifter and you can't put your left foot down.  boom down ya go in slo mo. :wacko3:
Mark O.
86 fj1200
sac ca.

                           " Get off your ass and Ride"

Ned

Thanks for all that - I'm not alone so maybe I still have a few years left before retiring to the armchair. I never used to do dumb stuff like that. At least the bike wasn't injured this time. Last time the clutch lever was bent, the gear change bent, the mirror scraped, the LH air duct scraped and the side cover was dented in. I just have a lovely big purple bruise on my shin where I gallantly saved the bike. I thought afterwards, "That could have been a lot worse - it could have broken my leg again!" The worst part was that I had forgotten I'd already fixed the clock the previous weekend when the clocks went back an hour. These days if Mrs Ned tells me something I have to be very careful to remember it in case I get tested on whether I was listening. Not remembering what she said could be construed as not listening - very dangerous!!!

Ned
Ned - Kiwis can fly ... on an FJ

FJmonkey

Al right, I chime in.....My first new bike a 86' Honda Hurricane (CBR 600). Not my first bike (third) but I was still a young rider with a lack of experience. I was at a friends house up in the hills of SoCal attempting to leave his driveway. His drive is tricky for cars and apparently tricky for new bike riders like me. I parked facing the house (up hill) as any one on a bike will choose to do. When I backed down to turn and face myself to head back down the drive I failed to consider the dip in the drive that controls rain water to a ditch. It was going just fine till my rear wheel hit the bottom of the dip and then shot back up while my front was still on the high side. my momentum was halted by my application of the brakes in exactly the wrong place. I am not a short legged guy but at that moment I may have well had legs as long as a Dachshund.  later my friend admitted that watching me perform this maneuver he had to suppress is over whelming urge to laugh his ass off but choose to look horrified (good friend) and came to help me pick up my newly damaged bike. Later he described me as peddling like I could actually catch some air (rapidly peddling fool) to repair my poorly chosen place to stop. Naturally, my bike choose the low side to tip and there was no way to stop the bike once it fell. I was 19, old age was not an issue, maybe the mileage? No, I guess I was just green and needing a lesson. I took that as lesson that I can get spanked at anytime by my lack of respect or attention to the needs of my two wheeled passion. I am always paranoid of dropping the FJ and fail to get comfortable when stopping. Lessons learned early for me.
The glass is not half full, it was engineered with a 2X safety factor.

'86 Ambulance - Bent frame, cracked case, due for an overhaul
'89 Stormy Blue - Suits my Dark Side

junkyardroad

QuoteThe quick ride to the store in tennis shoes, and the laces get wrapped around the shifter and you can't put your left foot down.

Hah, I have done that too. (not on the FJ)  The second time, I realised what happened quick enough to stomp down hard enough to break the laces.

Senile or not, just get your body under the bike to prevent damage and someone will be along soon enough to turn the damn thing off before you get burned too bad.

Rule number 1 of motorcycling is the bike will ALWAYS land on top of you.
Rule number 2 is that it will stay running when down ONLY when you are under it.

or is that just me?

pdxfj

You are 100% correct the bike will continue to run when it has happily pinned you under it.

On the ride back from my first rally we stopped somewhere in Southern Oregon to put on rain gear.  I was cold, tired and had been on the road for quite a long time.  Found an exit on the interstate that didn't get much use.  Got to the top and decided to pull as far off the road as possible just in case someone decided to drive up.  I thought to myself I would park as close to the grass as I could.  Keep in mind the connection from my brain to my body wasn't that great at the time.  I saw the grass getting very close and knew I had to apply the front brake to stop, but the command didn't reach my right hand fast enough and the grass turned out to be a small ditch.

Front wheel goes in the ditch, bike falls to the left and next thing I know I'm stuck under a running bike that is in gear and puking gas all over me.  Brian Hunt is behind me and I can see the look on his face though his shield.. "WTF did you that for??"




FJ Flyer

Quote from: mickarch on April 11, 2010, 10:27:06 AM
I used a disc lock for a while and at least 2 times that I can remember, i forgot it was on there.  Got on the bike, fired it up and took off only to roll about a foot, then stop suddenly and fall to the side  :shok:

Only twice?  I put the disc lock on over the weekends or if I'm out of town for a while.  I'm pretty good at remember it, now.  But I invariably would forget it and back up against it coming off the center stand.

I put it on the right disc, now, as I banged up the speedo cable connection pretty good, one time. :crazy:
Chris P.
'16 FJR1300ES
'87 FJ1200
'76 DT250

Wear your gear.


mickarch

Quote from: FJ Flyer on April 12, 2010, 06:09:17 AM
Only twice?

I only used it when visiting in the shadier parts of town so there weren't that many times that I needed to remember.  When parked in the lot by my apartment at the time I used one of those giant cables thru the rear wheel to an anchor set in the ground, always remembered to unhook that one.  Can't be too careful in some areas of Detroit.

Arnie

Quote from: mickarch on April 12, 2010, 05:20:52 PM

I only used it when visiting in the shadier parts of town so there weren't that many times that I needed to remember.  When parked in the lot by my apartment at the time I used one of those giant cables thru the rear wheel to an anchor set in the ground, always remembered to unhook that one.  Can't be too careful in some areas of Detroit.

Can't be too careful in most areas of Detroit, Southfield, Harper Woods, Grosse Pointe(s), Birmingham, Oak Park, Dearborn, Hamtramik, HP, Ferndale, Farmington, Novi, etc, etc, etc.  Same applies most places. :-(

Arnie

mickarch

You live in the area Arnie?  I'm still in the city, just in a little better place than when I was young and couldn't afford much.  I have a house near Palmer Park now and the FJ is safe in the garage.