Well, I did it again....

[Roden]

....dropped my bike that is.

I (foolishly) decide to go for a quick blat this morning, you know, the Sunday Morning thing, therapy for the soul, plus I wanted to try out my newly acquired leathers and boots. The missus is at the shops, the kids have taken the dog for a walk, heres my opportunity!

So, I go through the usual routine, started the bike on the race stand, warmed her up for a minute, then I dropped her off the race stand onto the side stand with a block of wood under it, like I always do. She always leans onto the wood, not too upright if you know what I mean.

I turned around for 5 seconds to grab my jacket off the chair and bang crash, turn around and there it is, laying on its right side.

She stalled but the motor was cranking as the starter button had jammed into the tank but fortunately, I was able to kill the ignition quick.

I got her back up again but not before it bled a litre of coolant out of the expansion tank, then I swore loudly enough that the neighbours would blush, got a beer and surveyed the damage.

Front right indicator broken.
Right clip-on moved and socked the switch block into the tank.
Sizable dent in tank caused by above mentioned switch block.
Starter button jammed into the switch block, probably not repairable.
Graze on the engine cover.
Graze on my beautiful 3 into 1 silencer.

Hopefully, there is no internal damage from the starter cranking whilst on its side. I really do not want to have to do a sprag on top of it all.

So thats the story, I'm thoroughly pissed off and I am now going to get loaded.

Cheers,

Roden

[ozjimmy]

I feel for you. And such a nice looking bike. But I must admit, Iv'e done it a few times now. And yes the cure is a few good beers, I can send some VB.

[Highside]

Sorry to hear that. I dropped mine the other day putting it away. Luckily I had no damage as I was able to be the cushion between the bike and the floor, but I couldn't get out from underneath it and I had to call the wife.

[Roden]

ozjimmy - Yes, send me some VB, thank you.

Highside - at least you were able to throw yourself between your bike and the cold hard concrete. Very admirable behaviour on your part I must say.

As it happens, my son and I had a look at the damaged bits and sorted most of it out. The switch popped back into place once I loosened the screws inside, we straightened up the bars and started the bike, no dramas. I even managed to fix the broken indicator, just a matter of screwing the stem back into the indicator. Yay!

So I am left with a dent in the tank and a slightly bent brake lever. The scuffs and scrapes are not bad enough to worry about (but they will still secretly cheese me off.)

I am going to see if I can get the dent sucked out by one of those vacuum thingy-me-jigs like used on hail damaged cars. The paint has not been broken so it might be worth a shot.

Maybe I wasn't meant to ride today, prehaps fate intervened....

Cheers,

Roden

[Highside]

The dent and scratches in the tank will annoy. I currently keep a Baglux tank cover on my bike until I can get the tank repsrayed. It has a lot of scratches from a previous owner.

[Roden]

Yep, it will annoy like no tomorrow.

Maybe its the excuse I need to change to fireball orange...

[MotT3]

Gut churning stuff when your bike goes over !!! I feel for you, good that you have sorted most of it.

Most of the tanks on flea bay have a dent on the right hand side from a fall :-(

[Razzoo]

Originally Posted by Roden

....dropped my bike that is.

So, I go through the usual routine, started the bike on the race stand, warmed her up for a minute, then I dropped her off the race stand onto the side stand with a block of wood under it, like I always do. She always leans onto the wood, not too upright if you know what I mean.
Roden

I have only had mine 8 months and dropped it twice so I know the heartach of seeing your baby on it's side. The first drop I had to replace the upper fairing, the second time I had R&G sliders so no damage.

One thing I try to do now is use the side stand unless I am working on the bike (the 2nd drop was pulling it off the center stand on an incline). I never move the bike unless I am sitting on it, and don't get on the bike unless I am wearing boots or shoes with aggressive soles.

[Sydtrip]

Sorry to hear it Roden, especially on the side of your new exhaust - that's gotta hurt! Glad to hear you put a positive spin on it with the suggested colour change. Fireball Orange could bringten your world in more ways than one and it would be unique on a Sprint. Not that your Sprint isn't unique already.

[KiwiGeoff]

Commiserations Roden - that sucks especially on a Sunday morning.

There will be a cure for the grazed stainless can. If you google "refinishing stainless" or something similar there is a sanding type process that will do the job. I'm another vote for a fireball orange makeover tho'

Cheers Kiwigeoff