Dropping Out

[Filtertron]

Hello everyone,
I was having a bit of a chat with my girlfriend over the weekend and she asked if I'd made my mind up about the bike I want when I pass my test. "Great" I thought, "She's taking a real interest in this."
I told her I was still not 100% sure but I was thinking of getting an "in-between" bike that I could use to get round on while I get some road experience. And anyway, I guess there's a chance I might drop it a couple of times. At that point she looked horrified and kind of withdrew from the conversation. Before we speak about it again, I was wondering about the statistics in this area.Which brings me to the real reason I am writing this.

I was wondering, of all those reading this post,

1. How many of you had dropped a bike in your first few years of riding?
2. Was this down to being a newbie or an accident caused by somebody else?
3. If you've had a number of drops, how many were (a) damaging to you, and (b) damaging to bike or equipment?

I assume somebody might have asked these questions before (I saw the "spill counter") but I was trying to nail it to newbie riding, so if there's an existing thread then I'd appreciate a link or something?

I think if I had some answers to these questions then it might ease her mind a bit as she thinks my acceptance of the likelihood of dropping a bike is tantamount to making it inevitable!

A great, cheery way to start a Monday(!)
____________________
I would never join a club that would have me as a member (Groucho Marx)

[anthony_r6]

[grr666]

Bikes are heavy, people will drop heavy things if they aren't used to heaving heavy things about.
Wouldn't matter if it was a washing machine on a sack barrow, the weight and general bulk of the load is the issue.
I nearly dropped mine getting it out of the shed once but was able to stop it going over, if it's going to happen it will
probably be while the bikes being all slow and unwieldy, often when you are physically handling it in such a way
where your legs can't take the weight if it suddenly overbalances. Mines such a sod to put away that there's a lot
of handling getting it from road to storage space, including rolling it both down then up metal ramps, until my storage is
more convenient, I'll be sticking to relatively lightweight machines.
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[MarJay]

You do realise that a drop and a crash are different things, right?

A drop is generally 0-5mph, and anything above that is a crash.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Ste]

Loads of new riders drop their bike at slow speeds or when stationary. But I don't think that's what you're interested in.

Not as many are involved in crashes, be it their own fault or somebody else's.

Here's the thing, some people rack up a list of non fault accidents whilst others manage decades and hundreds of thousands of miles without any accidents. So just because a crash isn't your fault doesn't that you couldn't have avoided it.

[M.C]

Year 1:
- stopped behind a van (know not to do this now), it reversed into me

Year 2:
- 6 weeks after passing my test a van took me out whilst filtering* **
- dropped the heavy courtesy bike I had at about 5 mph*

Year 3 (although with a gap of not riding for about 8 months):
- clipped a van and went sliding down the road* **

* damaged bike
** damaged me

Bikes are dangerous, but also a lot of fun. You don't get the fun without the danger unfortunately. When you crash you will get hurt, luck and gear depends on whether it's bruising/grazing or something more serious.

For what it's worth I've still got a f**ked back and semi-f**ked knees from the crash after passing my test. On dark days I wonder why I took up riding, then I go for a ride and come back with a smile on my face and remember why.

[P.addy]

[grr666]

^

Steer clear of vans seems to be a good plan?
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Doomsnite]

Had 2 bikes, riding 2 years this month, done about 5k miles and not dropped or crashed *touching wood as i type*
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Triumph Street Triple-R
Sold: Honda Hornet CB600F-Y / Yamaha YBR125

[WimbleHJR]

Dropped it once trying a U turn on a hill, leant over too much and couldn't stop it. Was a controlled(ish) drop but broke brake lever.

Had a accident 6 weeks after getting my first (and current) "big" bike. Riding on a dual carriageway in the rain. There is a middle section which allows people to pull on from a side road. Old lady pulled out without looking, I emergency stopped, lost the back end in the water and slid down the road. Had to replace fairing and handlebar.

Drop was my fault. Crash could have been avoided if I had a) been going slower, b) reacted differently and swerved past her c) didn't take a road home that is notoriously shit at shifting water.
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YBR125, FZS600, FZ6 S2 F800ST

[Evil Hans]

I spent a lot of time bouncing off things* on my moped** as an irresponsible youth***. Since returning to biking a few years ago, haven't dropped anything. Yet. Touch Wood. Etc.




*the ground, lamp-posts, Volvos

**East German. Indestructible.

*** Teenagers - also indestructible.
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Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[pepperami]

Show me a long term biker who can say they have never dropped their bike and I`ll show you someone telling lies.
We`ve all stumbled, slipped, fallen, and bumped.
What we all seem to have in common is that we are all still here to tell the tale.
Some off us have bent or broken bits and most of us have healed.

Coming off at higher speeds seems to be the problem.

Most of us wear gear, and as a result we stay in one piece and alive.


My point being , if she is going to fluff and cluck about bikes, you need to convince her that it can be done safely.
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[winz]

I passed my test pretty much a year to the day. So in my limited time...

1. How many of you had dropped a bike in your first few years of riding?
I did

2. Was this down to being a newbie or an accident caused by somebody else?
I had a few ciders and needed to move the bike on my driveway. It was heavy and I underestimated the weight.

3. If you've had a number of drops, how many were (a) damaging to you, and (b) damaging to bike or equipment?

Scratched bar end, nothing else.

I nearly dropped the Blackbird at a junction because my clutch decided to dump it's fluid as I was going around the corner. Thankfully I just managed to get a foot down before it leant over too far. Gave my leg a proper workout.
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Current Bikes: BMW K1200S
Previous: Honda CBR929RR, Honda CBR1100XX, Honda CB600F

[Rogerborg]

Dropped the 125 while dismounting at the end of a long day's ride. Panniers and bars took it, no damage.

305 went rubber-side-up on black ice at walking pace. Panniers took it on the back, bent the front back into shape, no damage to self.

500 rolled of the sidestand on a hill while I watched and said "Didn't I leave it in gea-?". I guess that's a drop. No damage.

Dropped the Nazi Tractor doing a liberally non-committal u-turn to pick up my forgotten lunch (mushrooom Chinese curry). Crash bars took it, no damage.

Threw the Enfield down the road at jogging pace because herp a derp. Bent the footpeg, scuffed the crash bars and lever end. No damage to self beyond a very slightly hurty shoulder.

Bikes are unstable. They'll fall over unless something holds them up. But they don't fall over that often, and most offs are no more hurty than stepping off a pushbike badly.

Would your girlfriend shriek in horror if you said you were going pony trekking? If not, then she's got no business being concerned about the risks of biking. See my .sig - people's perceptions of risk tends to be badly messed up when it comes to 2 wheels and an engine.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[M.C]

[Filtertron]

Well that turned out to be a popular thread, and some really good replies so thanks to you all

I guess the key things I learned are;

1. A drop is not the same as a crash, and until I'm used to handling the bike at low speeds, it's probable that a drop will happen to me. Fortunately at low speeds it'll usually end up in minor damage to the bike rather than something serious to me.

2. Crashing is a good thing to avoid, and is as much related to decision making, observation and conditions is it is to stupidity or carelessness of other road users.

3. No matter how appropriate the weather is when I leave the house, I can't assume what the weather or conditions are like 50 miles away 4 hours later. That said though, road conditions outside of weather (diesel spills etc.) are out of our control so we just need to be aware of them.

4. I need to make my girlfriend aware of number '1'. She isn't risk averse (she's a diver) so I probably was just a bit too blasé about it.

Thanks to you all, and if you have some advice keep posting it here
____________________
I would never join a club that would have me as a member (Groucho Marx)

[grr666]

Aaah, you've got it in the bag if your OH is a diver.
Mine is too, I won't even paddle never mind dive, I am not comfortable in the water. But our understanding is that if
she can do a life threatening thing, then so can I and the arrangement is that the other isn't allowed to go on
about the other ones dangerous pursuit. Works for us.
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Rogerborg]

[supZ]

[Ste]

[SteveSmith]

[Tamsin]

just coming up on 2 years riding...

0 crashes

1 drop when I overfilled the topbox in Tesco car park in July. Got the balance point wrong and everything just went wrong. No Damage to bike.

bike has fallen/been knocked over a few times.. which has resulted in cracked tail fairing and snapped clutch levers.

[Silver_Fox]

Reverse parking?

[dydey90]

Never just dropped it. Having a test run on my half-built 125 I came back down the street too fast, the unsecured clocks slipped and jammed the bars, I foolishly deployed both anchors and slid it into the curb. Got a lovely burn on my ankle from where the exhaust pinned it to the floor.

Since then, the closest I've had is a few "oh shit" moments in car parks on my ER6 where I've been waddling backwards to leave and I've done the splits on loose gravel. Also nearly dropped the ZZR on myself in the garage when the front axle bolt put up too much of a fight, but I caught it and heaved it back upright, just like Hercules would.
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This post is probably not serious and shouldn't be taken literally.
Past: CBR125,ER6f NINJA 650, ZZR600 Current: VFR750

[Rogerborg]

Oh, right, I had the Tractor fall onto me while I was on hands and knees doing something or other to it, while the engine was running as well.

There was a brief moment of "... and this is how he died. BCF will be proud," before I remembered that I'm a man, of sorts, and with a mighty thrust achieved an erection.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike