First drop ...

[maxincuk]

Oh well in front of my house ... Hope my neighbours were asleep.

It's been raining all night, driveway full so I decided to drive past the lawn. Bike was still warming up at 2,000rpm and my poor clutch control (still transitioning from the previous bike) let to a bit of wheel spin, followed by front slide when I tried to compensate and off she went 

Really pissed to say the least but glad it was muddy and it felt on the grass with 0 damage. Interesting points to note were:

1. Right foot peg buried 1/3 in the soil.
2. Foot break pedal seem to have not touched the ground (not traces of mud at least).
3. Top fairing did not touch the ground. Sparkly clean. Lower faring hard to tell since it had some mud from the previous rideout so not sure.
4. Bike rested on the exhaust's heat shield, engine cover and right bar end.
5. Front brake lever buried in soil.
6. Indicators, top box etc. untouched.

So it was an easy and embarrassing lesson to learn.

[Rocker66]

I'm glad that you got off so lightly.That sort of thing is easily done. When my CR was tipped over by the B******ds at the service centre in Carlisle the worst damage was to the front brake lever which was bent and slight scratching of the pannier.
Another good thing is that were not hurt at all although I suppose your pride might have been

[maxincuk]

I feel pretty good about it considering that I din't put the crash bungs and CR seem to have taking it pretty well. Probably a spare brake lever would be a good investment and chances are it will snap quite easily on a harder surface.

I'm looking into some off-road lessons for next year.

[Rocker66]

My lever only bent leaving the bike just about rideable. Fortunately I was only a few miles from my hotel. Next morning I discover that I was only about 1/2 mile from a large Honda dealer. they took the lever off a brand new bike and whilst I drank the tea that they made me fitted it to my bike. They only charged me the cost of the lever and absolutely refused to take "a drink"
As I am hardly likely to be there again I thought that this was " ACE" service

[Shaunomercy]

Originally Posted by maxincuk

I'm looking into some off-road lessons for next year.

Thats easy matey... Keep 220kg bikes on tarmac...  If you want to go off road get a 250cc lightweight bike....

Paul

[maxincuk]

That's the lesson I learned. Although very well balanced and manoeuvrable, the CR is one heavy bike with higher centre of gravity and needs to be treated with respect at slow speeds. Once it starts tilting  there is no way you can hold it or push it back to vertical :(

[xrunjoe]

Hard luck - but at least you experienced a drop on soft ground.

Talking about luck - last year in Austria three of us on Suzy 1250 GSXF bikes all managed to have a drop in the very same day - all on hard surface and we all got away with no broken levers or indicators. Two bikes had R@G's fitted but one didn't. In the hotel that night we talked about how lucky we had been - could so easily have ruined the whole trip.

By the way - how did you find the task of getting bike back upright?? On your own or with help??

[Rocker66]

I don't know about Maxincuk but when mine was tipped over I had to avail myself of the help from a motorist who was just entering the service centre and stopped to help. Mind you the bike was loaded with my luggage for the week

[maxincuk]

Originally Posted by xrunjoe

By the way - how did you find the task of getting bike back upright?? On your own or with help??

There is a technique thought to me by a Dakar racer instructor during a machine control day I attended last year which works on virtually any bike with only one person.

In my case, bike dropped on the right side. First thing extend the side stand since you'll be lifting from the right and you need to prevent the bike from falling over to the other side . Then, handlebars turned to the left lock, move the mirror out of the way and grab the right handlebar grip with both hands. The bike will pivot on the front wheel and will be easier to lift. Lift using the leg muscles not the back, about half way up, then a small step forward and lift all the way up, again using the legs and not the back.

I lifted an Adventure GS1200 full with luggage and, although not very easy, it was doable and more importantly didn't break my back as it felt natural.

The CR in comparison was quite easy and I'm not a particularly strong man.

[danesman]

I dropped my machine exactly one week after fitting R&G crash bungs.
Entirely my fault , was messing about in an empty carpark trying to do U-turns on full lock. I used same/similar tehcnique to Maxinuk, both hands on one grip. Not a difficult lift, maybe that's cos anger is an energy !!