Rider's Most Embarrassing Moments | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Rider's Most Embarrassing Moments

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Side stands figure large in these stories ...mine too. Anyone recall when they put interlocks on the side stand??
I know there were many serious accidents before that occurred.
 
Mala said:
My biggest fear is being so far away from home and something happens to the bike...So last Sunday we took a ride out to a lake about an hour away...time to leave, bike wouldn't start...My BF is a very experience rider and we were both like "OMG!" 10 minutes later...Well, Hello - maybe check if it's in gear (duh) All was good as soon as I popped her in neutral ;) We had the best laugh!
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My last bike had that neutral interlock. My current one does not. Luckily the current one doesn't have a huge amount of power so it'll just do a little jump if you forget. I've done it a few times.
 
Another Cycle World West story - I was in the shop on the lower level waiting for my bike, a mechanic was doing the first service on a VMAX - had the valve cover off and he dropped a small bolt down the cam chain space. Doh. Another mechanic quickly told him that the valve check wasn't required for the first service...
 
Sadz said:
Nope...target fixation...you were checkin HER saddle on the "turn to tight". IT HAPPENS...you WERE looking where you wanted to go ;)
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You're a little funny as well lol

Had similar thing happen to me but in the cage. Many. Many times. (Didn't drop the cage, but you know what I mean).

Sent from a Samsung Galaxy far, far away using Tapatalk
 
Too many stories to remember, let alone share, but here's the most recent one.

Riding a big ol' 2013 BMW R1200GS with aluminium panniers on it, commuting south, home from work down the DVP in the new HOV lane. I'm flying at 90-100 while the other two lanes are basically stopped.

All is fine and dandy until I realize that I need to get over to get my exit, at Don Mills South. Only problem is the speed differential between my lane and the lane I want to merge into. And I have traffic up my butt, so slowing down to 15 kph from 100 doesn't seem like a great idea as I'll likely get creamed from behind.

So I'm scanning, and it seems like the next lane over starts moving a bit quicker, and my exit is coming up, and I see a spot in traffic open up. Thinking I have enough space, I slow down to about 70 (trying not to get rear-ended) and move into the spot.

Only to have traffic in my new lane come to almost a complete stop. I haul on both my brakes, feel my ABS start screeching, and stop about 2 cm short of the car in front of me. But wait. There's more.

I had so much momentum going forward, my rear wheel up off the ground, and the DVP was cambered to the right, meaning the road was slanted because it turned. All that forward momentum on my front wheel and the cambre in the road meant the bike didn't come down straight, it flopped over to the right and went to sleep. In the middle lane of the DVP. In rush hour. In stopped traffic. People around me must have thought I was an idiot. Probably they were right.

I hopped off the bike when it fell, and never in my life have I hauled such a big bike (~600 lbs) back up on it's wheels on on my way.

Terribly embarassing. Rookie mistake. Very visible. But the bike had a scratch on the engine guard and (another) nick on the hard bags, that's it.
 
Ahh, I've got one to add. I had a paddle rear stand since I didn't have spools on a bike of mine years ago, and the stand has a forward handle so you don't need to walk around to the back. It was probably my third or fourth time using it and I had just brought the rear off the ground, but the paddle on the far side of the bike wasn't adjusted properly -- it was not touching the swingarm. The bike began to tip away from me with its rear end an additional ~6" off the ground, and as I held on desperately trying to keep it upright, it literally flipped me over the bike into my garden as it toppled to the ground. No damage to the bike, but my ego came out pretty bruised.
 
Going from 1st to 2nd with a weak shift, ending up in the middle of an intersection revving the **** out of my bike in neutral looking like one of "those guys"
 
You all are awesome! Just had my morning coffee reading through these :)
 
Boots said:
Going from 1st to 2nd with a weak shift, ending up in the middle of an intersection revving the **** out of my bike in neutral looking like one of "those guys"
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This one has been happening to me a lot lately and if I shift too lazily I'll hit a false neutral up in the higher gears as well. Was riding home one day with a couple of guys I met on the road and did it 3 times in that one ride. That was embarrassing.
 
I guess I'd better come clean....lots of riding experience, just not on a sport bike. Got my first one in 2001; went for a ride with a buddy on his RZ. At a light, went for the "spirited" launch, accidentally popped the front end in the air briefly. Came down so hard that I accidentally cracked the throttle again, launching me into a very big wheelie, which of course gave the bike a chance to get out from under me. Strangely I hung on (stupidly) and got dragged on my knees through the intersection (over tracks too, main and gage in hamilton). Had to walk the bike home after snapping off the clip on, shifter, etc, and bleeding like a stuck pig. Love Hamilton though; at least a dozen cars were in the intersection when I did it, all were long gone when I fell, lol
 
Fall of 1989. It was my first year riding and I learned a lot of valuable lessons; one of which was that wet leaves are very slippery.

I was attending Western Tech Secondary and school had just been let out for the day. I hopped on my little CBX 250 and jetted off. As I maneuvered around a slight bend I hit a patch of wet leaves on the road and wiped out in front of what felt like the entire school.

Not a good moment for the ego of a 16 year old.
 
On one of my first ever rides , Vstar 250 with Spitfire windscreen, I took a left turn far too wide - realised I was about to hit curb and grabbed front brake way too hard. Sudden stop had me hitting windscreen and breaking it . Had to dismantle at side of road while suffering questioning looks from everyone driving past
 
spitRR said:
I hopped on my little CBX 250 and jetted off. As I maneuvered around a slight bend I hit a patch of wet leaves on the road and wiped out in front of what felt like the entire school.

Not a good moment for the ego of a 16 year old.
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Could happen to anyone. A well known Canadian flat tracker (is there such a thing?) now called the Professor looped his dual sport in front of the whole high school. OK, I excagerate, it was just the whole west side of the high school. Today it's part of his arsenal of bench racing moves.
 
Boots said:
Going from 1st to 2nd with a weak shift, ending up in the middle of an intersection revving the **** out of my bike in neutral looking like one of "those guys"
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Funny, I was going to use this one as well.

On a rented fully loaded R1200RT in Spain, I'm following my GPS with old maps and turn down an old road that dead ends, instead of the new one 200 m further along. I have to duck walk it backwards to turn it around and the back wheel drops into a pot hole. The bike starts to tip to the right and I think I have it, but there's gravel under my boot and the whole thing just continues to tip gently going down and dumping my wife onto the pavement. After confirming she was okay and getting that monster back up, all I could think was there goes my damage deposit. Fortunately IMT was really good about it and only charged me 50 Euros for some scratches on the pannier and cylinder head guard.
 
Mid 1980's. Test driving a RZ 350 race bike in the parking lot of Rocket Motorcycles. Showing off doing Chinese wheelies, needless to say I crash the bike doing some pretty good damage. Get up off my *** and look over to Robby and say " if you can straighten out the forks I will buy it" Robbie just shakes his head and walks away. Been friends ever since, miss that Guy
 
Sandman124 said:
Mid 1980's. Test driving a RZ 350 race bike in the parking lot of Rocket Motorcycles. Showing off doing Chinese wheelies, needless to say I crash the bike doing some pretty good damage. Get up off my *** and look over to Robby and say " if you can straighten out the forks I will buy it" Robbie just shakes his head and walks away. Been friends ever since, miss that Guy
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What's a "Chinese wheelie"?
 
hmm, I guess one that comes to mind...first date with girl I just met, meeting up to go for a ride. Convo was great...talked about everything ;) I recall spending quite a bit of time reassuring her that I was a super safe rider and she was in excellent hands (she was nervous as I was on a Busa at the time and she knew it was a quick bike). I gave her the safety speech prior to taking off...now this lady was very well "equipped" and after our convo/her being on the back of the bike I was clearly distracted...blood quickly left big head and went to little head resulting in me literally blowing the very first intersection we came to...I pretty much ran a red. I was hoping she didn't notice but at the very next light..I hear her laughing "I saw that". I pretended not to hear and just continued on like nothing happen...and indeed at the end of the night....nothing happened...lol fml.
 
Chinese wheelie - Grabbing a fist full of front brake, resulting with the back wheel going up in the air. Probably called something different now
 
Went on a ride with a friend on a cbr250, I was riding my gsxr 600, went on some very twisty roads and I was unable to keep up despite his bike having 24 hp and mine 100+. :( Other than that can't think of any embarrassing moments, never dropped a bike yet.
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