New rider - dropped bike

**wormburner** · 04-11-2012, 04:32 PM

Glad to hear you're okay. I'm a 37 year old father of two myself. These situations give you pause when you think about your kids. But you're obviously handling it well, and you're going to learn alot at the safety course.

Feel better soon.

**Derek Paisley** · 04-11-2012, 05:55 PM

Very sorry to hear of your Drop. When I had my first bike back in my 20's (600 Katana) I popped the clutch while in 1st gear standing up. Did about $1800 worth of damage the first day. Suffice to say, I learned my lesson. (While at Humber College's Ride program, I wished they had explained that when we stalled their Dirt Bikes).

As a married man, I gladly dismiss those riders who toss negative comments about my Spyder. The drivers in this city coupled with lousy road conditions and the inevitable incidents riders experience were a good enough reason for me to go the 3 wheel route. Loving every minute of it!

My biggest obstacle when riding 2 wheels are the Bus Knuckles, as I use my ride as my main transport. They can take you down quick. Watch out for Everything and Everyone!

Ride on!

**Spyug** · 04-11-2012, 06:34 PM

Sorry to hear of your unexpected lesson. Been there and did that in my first season at age 50. I turned in to a gravel and sand parking lot and as soon as the back end touched, down I went. Absolutely no warning. It was the first time I had worn a full face and as luck would have it I smacked my chin and it saved my jaw for sure as my bell rang pretty good. I got trapped under it too and luckily again, I had on leather pants and calf high boots or the hot exhaust pipe would have branded me.

After the fact, I remembered someone glossing over gravel in my course but after that episode I made a point of learning all I could and became much more aware of road conditions and hazards. To help, I found David L. Hough's two volume set, "Proficient Motorcycling" to be invaluable (around $25 each at all good bookstores). Its the absolute gold standard in street rider education and I read mine every winter before the start of the next season.

Its good that you have a level headed approach to this. Riding is a life long learning curve and you just picked up one of the most important lessons. Now you have to get your confidence back up so get that bike repaired, as soon as you can, and get your *** back in the saddle. Be aware of gravel and road hazards but don't get paranoid. Being paranoid leads to tension and that can lead to other accidents. Ride, learn and enjoy.

Good luck and cheers,
Spyug

**LoneRonin** · 04-11-2012, 07:31 PM

sorry to hear about your fall, I've had plenty myself...As you get more experienced you'll find you'll can pay even less attention yet you'll still be able to recover my from things that'll get you as a noob, even if you think you're paying attention. Just keep riding...

**Twitch18** · 04-11-2012, 08:32 PM

I know how you feel and yea it sucks, good thing your okay though..

my cbr 250 'fell over' the first day I got it.. making a u-turn on my street I gave it some gas and then braked hard before I hit the curb. I got my feet on the ground but I didnt place them properly so the weight of the bike made me unbalanced and it started to fall over.. I messed up my arm pulling on the handlebar trying to keep the 300lb bike from hitting the ground, realized it was impossible so I just laid it down under me... lucky for me there were only minor damages..

**Tazmaniac** · 04-16-2012, 06:43 PM

Hey OP dont feel too bad, glad you are OK. I took my few days old GS500F back to the empty Humber parking lot to practice. Took the boomerang a little too fast and grabbed the front brakes...down I went. Pinned my right leg, had to crawl out army style. Cracked the right fairing and turn signal. Light still work but droops down, $600 to repair, saving up for it, but still riding. 6K kms later, still checking the forecast weekly to see when I can ride.

Take your time to get back in the right frame of mind and ride again!

**AF4iK** · 04-16-2012, 07:04 PM

Ouch... I know what it feels like to lay down a new bike. Hope you get well soon and back in the saddle.
Don't know about shops in your area but I recommend ordering non-crucial parts from ebay to help keep your costs down.

Oh, and if itiswhatitis comes lurking around here to harass you about your fall just remember:

**rich6969** · 04-16-2012, 07:19 PM

OUCH ...Glad your ok Op. we all fall in life, its what you learn from that fall .. heal up and get back on the saddle. cheers

**Sillylion** · 04-16-2012, 07:41 PM

Sucks to read about soon many downed bikes in the past few weeks. On the bright side, you got it out of the way and now you won't have to be super nervous about dropping it anymore. You can also take the opportunity to work on the bike with the repairs and get to know your bike better. Buy the minor things off eBay and enjoy working on the bike.

Also, Google twist of the wrist. Its a bit corny and had mostly Ss in its demonstrations but the rules apply for anything with two wheels.
It really helped me grasp a better understanding on proper cornering and riding technique in generals..
I did cringe at the cornyness though

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

**conundrum** · 04-16-2012, 08:17 PM

Ouch sorry to hear -- I had a down at the RTI course around the first hour in (when we first started practicing low speed figure-eights). Luckily it was with their bike and not my new CBR250R, at least in my case.

As much as it sucks going down, most important thing is you're ok, and bikes can always be fixed or replaced.