Triumphrat

Moogs

Happy you are alright. Happens to the best of us. It's not a big deal. You already got it out of the way. Like the first scratch on a new car.

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Whomever said all good things in moderation certainly never rode a bad ass Bonneville

jimbon

Nine times out of ten people fall off a slow speed because they touch the front brake and the bike slides down by the front. On a loose surface like gravel the tendency for a front slide out is amplified. If you use the back brake and the bike slides it's much easier to stay on as the bike is moving sideways but is upright.

The trick to slow turns, on gravel, dirt or tarmac, is to keep off the front brake and only look up to where you want to go, as the bike goes where you look (were you looking at the ground/gravel?)

Don't take it too bad: I take people on motorcycle tours and 3 weeks ago I watched a customer do just this on the gravel forecourt of a bikers' cafe (Oakdean Cafe on the A20 south of London). Mind you, this was the third time she'd dropped her hired Bonnie in 3 days. Day one she rode into the back of me at the second set of traffic lights we came to.

spank86

@AMC: word of warning, even if you can pick a bike up easily enough you may not be able to prevent it falling if its quite far over.

I can (and have) lifted my speed four off the ground but if its started to go over the momentum is too much, especially when I'm not braced to lift and all I can do is lower it to the ground (done it at a junction). You may be a lot stronger than me but its worth being aware of in case it happens and you jar something trying to hold the unholdable. It may be better to limit the damage than cause more trying to prevent any if its gone too far.

Hopefully you won't need any of that advice anyway, go easy on gravel, I'll happily ride on it but you don't want to be using any controls heavily.

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vonfink13

glad you are okay and that you are using this as a learning experience... dumped my bike in the driveway the first week I had it.. bent the clutch hand lever... when I tried to bend it back it snapped off in my hand... be very very careful that your lever is not cracked... if that snaps off while riding it could be pretty scary stuff...

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AMC

Guys, thanks for the encouragement. I thought that when I told people about this I was going to get a whole bunch of idiots thrown my way. I was so angry that I had done something so dumb, so i guess I was kind of waiting for the reproach. Like I said previously, this was quite the learning experience for me. No matter how good of a rider I become, things can and probably will always happen. I just need to be a little smarter in the future. Unfortunately there is really no way to remove the gravel from the front of my driveway other than paving over it, which is something that i will be considering soon.

I told a few guys at work and the conversation turned into them telling stores about when the dropped their bikes or fell when doing something dumb. Made me feel pretty nice to know that i wasn't the only one to do something dumb and eat gravel because of it. I've only been riding a month, but I'm starting to like this whole brother-sister-hood.

PS-forgive any typos, I'm typing with a brace on.

Timinoz

Smart move wearing the jacket. Glad you are ok. The number of clowns I see every day here riding in shorts & t shirts beggars belief. I love my skin. I prefer it un-grafted.


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Thruxtonbill

Nothing to ad here other then glad you're ok.
Did you bend the rear brake lever or the front? I have a spare OEM front lever if you need, just PM me where to send it.

Firstman

It sucks, but it does happen to everyone that keeps on riding. I know of two people that twisted a knee trying to keep a slow moving, but falling bike up.

Tremor

The first time I went down on my streetbike I was powersliding it through a gravel parking lot. That gravel you hit with your front tire. I hit with my bum. I didn't have to wait an hour to know my butt hurt!


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MikeinLA

Glad you're OK. You'll find that the weight of a bike varies in direct proportion to the number people standing around watching you try to pick it up.