Every bike has two sides

[MichaelK]

Please hold the laughter until the end...there is lesson to be learned.

The other morning I back my bike out of the garage, as I do every morning, and watch the garage door close. I make my usual left hand turn to head down the drive way when I realize that I am about occupy the same space as a minivan (the minivan was going about 30mph down the street and so was the other two cars behind it). I immediately applied both breaks and stopped with plenty of room to spare. I go to put my foot down and realize that the back tire is on the driveway three to four inches higher than the front tire (front tire is on the sidewalk). This situation left me with an extra 3 - 4 inches further to the ground. The problem is that I am 5' 6" with a 30" inseam, so the extra distance was too much for me to over come. I was unable to hold the bike and was forced to lay it down and lay it down I did. I held it up and slowed the fall as much as I could but she hit the ground.

I was so mad at myself and absolutely sick at seeing my bike on the ground that I jumped up, grabbed the bike by the passenger rail and handle bar and picked her up. New problem, I live on a hill and now the bike wanted to roll, so I grabbed the hand brake and stopped her. Now I am standing on the right side of the bike, the bike is perpendicular to slope and I am down hill. There is no way that I can mount the bike. So I carefully bend over the bike and lowered the side stand with my hand. All seems good until I go to rest the bike on the side stand. As the side stand hits the pavement it folds up and now the bike is falling onto the other side. Again I find myself trying to hold the bike up and slow it's decent. This time she hits with much greater force and flips me over. Yes I am know laying on my back on top of the bike...and thinking...please Lord don't let this end up on youtube.

Once again, I pick her up and this time I pay attention to my situation and put myself in a better position to handle the bike and get her up and on the side stand. I never realized how heavy a bike is until your at that spot where you just can't hold her up. (and they are even heavier the second time you have to pick them up).

First thing I do is an inventory of the bike, No major damage to any of the control arms brakes, clutch, etc. No damage to the front paint only the right mirror was moved out of position, but no damage, windscreen, lights, etc all ok. Then I look at my panniers and realize that gravity sucks. Both are scratched up the left one worse than the right. No damage to the rider (pun intended)...just a hurt ego.

So why do I bring this up...well I learned that, as when on the road, you need to have a plan even when you are on your driveway. If I had, I would have turned and rode down the sidewalk, or over to the grass, etc. So please learn from my mistake. Look first.

Ok...there is an upside (no pun intended).

I was already considering purchasing the larger panniers, as I commute everyday on my bike and would like the extra room.

Questions: Do the larger lids stick out past the mirrors (I filter lanes and sometimes it gets tight)?
Can you fit a full faced helmet inside?
Suggestions on a seller?
Anybody going to be painting parts for a (faster) NT Red. I would be willing to ship my lids etc..?

Thanks for your time,

The newest member of the "drop me" club ... I wanted in so bad, I am now the president.

 

[Bear]

Sorry about the drop. They do happen.
The mirrors stick out farther than the large pannier lids.
A full face helmet fits nicely into the left pannier
E-bay is probably a good place to start.

As far as fixing the red panniers, there are a few things to consider: 1.) Red costs a lot more than any other colour. 2.) Honda red is quite costly. 3.) Red is very difficult to match (number of coats determine the density of the colour) My large pannier lids are painted General Motors Chevy HHR Metallic Black. It really looks good.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Michael, if number of drops is what earns you an officer's position in this prestigious club, I'm probably President. But I'd be williing to let you have it if you really want it.

I can tell you that the large panniers get more dinged up in a drop than the small ones, because they stick out another 4-6". I've bought three sets. Alex (Sailariel) has my first ones; somebody -- don't remember who -- bought the second set. The third set is on the bike -- scraped up but functional.

I spent about $130 buying Color-Rite's system (primer, color coat, clear coat, plus sandpaper, etc.). I'll use that in the next few weeks to repaint them. The next time they get painted, it'll be with Krylon flat black or black wrinkle paint like Jim Moore used on his.

I bought my big lids from Honda of Bournemouth, UK. Good service and as good for price as anywhere else.

 

[Nicole]

Thanks for sharing! I am Glad to hear your ok!

 

[Rich]

I crashed once on my GL1000 (cheap tires + rain + oil from the collection of crappy cars that ply North Federal Blvd. in Denver). Just stopping for a red light, nothing special and WHAM - down I went. Virtually no traffic around (about 7:00 AM). First priority was to pick the bike up and drive a block away from the woman yelling "Are you all right?" and turn the corner down a side street.

Then and only then did I pull over and take stock of whether the pain indicated something serious (it didn't) and whether the bike was rideable (it was).

No youtube in 1979, but the need is the same. Gotta maintain one's cool like the Fonz.