Well finally it happened. After three trouble free years of Tiger ownership, I dropped the beast. Blithely started to dismount, heeling it over onto its sidestand, I realised a split second too late that the sidestand wasn't out!
Managed to wrestle it down to a reasonably soft landing on my concrete driveway. I hope I've been lucky here. Gear shift is snapped off but absolutely no other sign of damage. It's a '99 and I've read the horror stories online about engines blowing up after left hand side drops. But the engine wasn't running, I got it righted within a couple of minutes and it started again OK with no sign of black smoke from the exhaust, so fingers crossed. I have noticed that the neutral light seems to flicker on and off a little when the engine's running. Should that be a concern?
What did trouble me was this...When the bike was on the ground, I simply couldn't get in upright on my own, and I'm no weakling. It took some assistance from my 14-year old son. Beginning to wonder whether the Tiger is just too big a beast for me. Have been looking longingly at the new BMW F800GS. Hope it's just a phase...