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So..I dropped the bike

8K views 28 replies 19 participants last post by  OldRocker 
#1 ·
I managed to drop my bike right at a busy intersection when it stalled while I was leaning slightly and pulling out. I caught with leg, but the weight of the lean was too much for my leg to correct (thank you God for damning me with my short inseam :crying:). It was a slow motion light drop, but it still managed to snap my brake lever off as if it was cheap plastic! All I had left was a little knub to pull on to use my front brake. Is it normal for metal levers to snap so easily? I expected it to bend maybe, but not break off so cleanly. My exhaust shield also got dimpled and scratched a bit. So irritating since the bike has all of 70 miles on it!

Anyway, where is the best place to get the OEM lever and is it easy to switch out, basically the one nut right by the lever adjustment wheel?
 
#2 ·
Bad luck. I’ve nearly dropped my bike twice at low speed. At 602” I managed to haul it back upright without it hitting the ground. But it was a struggle.

How about a nice set of ebay shorty adjustable levers? One of the best mods I’ve done.


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#3 ·
I did look there and saw inexpensive levers, but the description made it sound like they don’t just bolt up and require modification. Is this true? What was involved installing your lever? The cheapest OEM lever I’ve found was $64!! So crazy when the clutch lever is only $16.
 
#5 ·
Mine are very similar to Rise’s levers except mine are titanium coloured. I’ve had them 3 years and they are as good as new. No modification required and feel much better than the stock ones.







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#6 ·
Many videos on Youtube how to instal, but as you’re taking off the old lever you’ll just reverse the process. It’s easy. 5 min job tops. The clutch is a bit harder but still easy.


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#7 · (Edited)
I managed to drop my bike right at a busy intersection when it stalled while I was leaning slightly and pulling out. I caught with leg, but the weight of the lean was too much for my leg to correct (thank you God for damning me with my short inseam :crying:).

You basically recounted my incident from about a year ago. My brake lever didn't break, but it did bend. I replaced it with a Vortex shorty lever (pictured), along with a new crankcase cover (damaged cover pictured). By some miracle, my fairing was untouched.
 

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#8 · (Edited)
Thanks for telling me your story. Now I dont feel so stupid. I was extremely lucky that there was no body/engine/front fender damage. I’m sure I looked completely ridiculous using all the strength I had to push up the bike by the seat, then lean over the seat to put the kickstand down so I could allow the bike to settle on that. It’s more difficult for me to throw my left leg over and with the downward slope of the road to the right, I was afraid I’d fall right back down with the bike. I just hope I get more used to the top heaviness and that I didn’t make a mistake getting this type of bike. I’m beginning to wonder if I should have bought the CTX700 DCT. It’s heavier but the lower flat seat gave me much better command of the bike.

I went ahead and ordered some short levers off of Amazon that are blue like the bike. So thanks for all the insight guys!
 
#10 ·
Don't worry so much about dropping it everyone does at some point, you will get used to the weight and how it handles. I remember i almost dropped it at an intersection same scenario like you except mine was the cbr250r much lighter yet it felt so heavy at the time XD tho i did not drop it there i did in my garage while trying to put the rear stand on, man did i feel stupid lol
 
#12 ·
Oh yeah, I also got in the habit of leaving my feet an inch or two off the ground when starting from a dead stop for a second (kinda like you see drag racers do) before moving them up to the pegs. And also for right turns at intersections, I try to angle the bike slightly before stopping so the wheel isn't at such a sharp angle. I think that's what did it.. Stall jerked the bike and, since the wheel was turned, it threw the bike to that side. Just some food for thought.
 
#13 ·
A mate dropped his near new bike the day he got it in front of his mate & all their family. He pulled up not realising his shoelace had wrapped around the footpeg.
I came real close when I didn't realise the ground dropped away at the end of the driveway & it was further than I thought. Luckily a mate was there to help or I was over. Happens to the best of us.
 
#14 ·
I am with Karl Hungus on this point too. I came close once in a parking lot. The classic move of front wheel turned & front brake applied at slow speed. Never again! Did not drop it, but came close. I did manage to drop it once when putting it up on the center stand in the wet. My foot slipped off the stand lever & down she went on the throttle side. Amazing enough no damage except a few scratches on the bar end weight. I felt really lucky. As to levers, mine are stock & I like it like that. Never felt any need to change them out.
 
#15 ·
I ended up with “Ride On” blue levers and installed them on the bike yesterday. The clutch was super easy, especially after seeing on youtube that you can use a socket to hold the clutch open so you have enough free play in the cable. The brake lever gave me some problems as the throttle cables were in the way. Youtube once again came to the rescue and informed me I should have loosened the master cylinder bolt on the handle bar to rotate the whole unit forward to give better access to the lever bolt. After I figured that out, it was easy. You guys were right, much better feeling levers and the clutch is closer for my small hand so it’s easier to operate. They also look great on my blue bike.
 
#17 ·
Day 2 with my bike i did something similar. I stopped at a stop sign and popped the bike into neutral. I went to adjust my helmet with my left hand down she went on the throttle side. I had the balls of both feet on the ground, and I can deadlift nearly twice the weight of this bike, but I simply had no chance saving it despite every effort. I think the fact that I was wearing converse shoes and was on slightly uneven ground contributed to the situation. Just like yours, I snapped the break lever and scuffed the exhaust (although you can't even notice unless you get your face 6 inches away. For the next week I was really worried that it could happen again, but wearing boots and muscle memory has caused me to correct even the most minor shifts to keep the bike level.


I'm sure you've had the same experience, I think that the balance of the bike is like walking; this type of thing almost becomes a non-issue when your balance becomes second nature. I had to use a metal glue, tons of sanding, and patience to get a solid lever while waiting for my new levers to come in the mail. These cheap levers cost $60 for the OEM ones, that's just crazy to me for that kind of quality.



Posting this because no one saw me do this (luckily), and lots of really experienced riders on here are giving honest and humble feedback. Being a new rider I appreciate that a lot.
 
#21 ·
As a new rider, I may be a lucky guy but I have not dropped my bike yet, however, I have followed strictly some guidelines:

1-) I learned to ride in a very small and light bike according to my size and weight (5'5" 140 lbs), the Grom 125cc. I passed the California DMV Motorcycle driving test on this baby. But first, I learned how to ride at very slow speeds of 4 mph not putting any foot down, I practiced doing lots of "8 shape" turns with the bike, how to do emergency breaking, how to push the bike on different surfaces, going up and down, getting it in and out of my driveway and my garage and many other things that are a must to handle properly a bike.
2-) Never attempt to move the bike wearing sandals! You must wear motorcycle boots
3-) Always park the bike on a flat surface with no gravel, water, oil, etc.
4-) If you don't have enough space in between stopped cars, do not enter, go around or wait behind the cars.
5-) When pushing the bike stand on the left side of the bike, make sure 1st gear is engaged, pull the clutch, push the bike slowly and as vertical as possible, never lean it to the right side.
6-) Never move or ride a bike that you are not comfortable or able to handle. It took me months to master the Grom 125cc and then I moved to the CB500F and I had to re learn all over the same related things to the CB500F for its size and weight. The Grom weights 220 lbs the CB500F weights 420 lbs.
7-) Never pull the front brake while turning the handle bars.
:cool: Pay full attention while you are pushing your bike, you are moving a 500 lbs or more piece of metal that may hurt you or kill you. Don't get distracted by anything while going at slow speeds.

At the beginning ridding the Grom was the biggest bike that I could handle or ride, after I mastered the Grom, now the CB500F is becoming a Grom, soon I may move to the CB650R in the future but I already test drove the CB650R and it is super intimidating for me for 2 reasons, the clutch is very hard and I'm tippy-toe. I may easily drop it.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I have dropped my bike twice. Once on either side, so at least it matches.

First time I was trying to show off for a girl that wasn't paying attention anyway. :spin Pulling out of a restaurant parking lot that she was working in I did some stupid revs and then started accelerating towards the roadway. Of course, I was counting on traffic being low so I could just race out. Turns out cars were coming and I had to stop. And the sidewalk that I happened to stop on was uneven. So as I braked to a stop the weight of the bike leaned to one side... And there was no way to hold back that momentum. I managed to hold it to probably 8" or 12" before letting it go (who knows, that was years ago, and your memory during these events is always fragmented). Anyway, I did my best to lay it down gently. I was so embarrassed I muscled it up right after with the adrenaline. I had the good sense to realize my brain was a fog though and I waited a few minutes to gather myself before I pulled away. I don't think the girl noticed me showing off so fortunately she didn't notice me drop it either. She wasn't the one anyway. I met my now wife a year or two later.

The second time I was going to get my bike out of storage in mid-Spring, and the house that I was picking it up at had a tiny patch of snow covering the width of the driveway. I was hungover, and overly anxious. And I felt like an imposition on my friend's dad that had hosted my bike over winter so I was in a bit of a hurry to get out of there. Instead of taking my time, I got on, revved it a couple of times, and took off for the snow. In my foggy, hungover head I imagined myself zipping through the snow instantly and continuing on my way. It only took a second for me to realize I was going too fast, the snow was deeper than I anticipated, and there wasn't room to stop... I hit the snow, my front wheel "hydroplaned" up onto it, and obviously slipped immediately out from under me. There's a chance my panic made it worse and sealed my fate, or maybe there was just no way to have made it. Either way, I slammed hard into the snow doing probably 10 - 15 km/h. I was fully geared, thankfully, so I was fine, but I was sure as **** sore the next day, particularly in the shoulders where I landed. The bike was mostly OK. Didn't break any levers (no pun intended?) or do any serious damage that I could tell. The gash on the right side of the plastic from this "drop" (i.e., crash) is a little deeper than the other side.. While we were standing around shaking our heads at my stupidity I noticed that on the right side of the driveway there was a really thin patch where the snow was only a centimeter or two high, and I could have easily walked it out through that if I wasn't so hasty...

:embarassed

It pretty much amounts to being an idiot. I usually put in a pretty strong effort to not be an idiot, but these days I put extra effort into it when I'm riding the bike. :p I've been drop free for about 4 years now, though to be fair I've been putting much less mileage on it the past few years. Too busy with work and wife. We just bought a house, and we're going to have a 2 car garage... Maybe that'll help to inspire me to ride more often. I also might need to quit drinking to afford the **** house so with all of the extra time sober I might find some more miles...
 
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#23 ·
I have dropped a 'few" bikes in my 66 years of riding. With the new CB-500, I decided to think ahead for "what if" and I seized upon an idea. I always like carrying capacity and especially in the form of Nelson-Rigg sport bags of formed nylon cloth (they hold their shape). I made brackets and mounted these. Then I got firm but very lightweight styrofoam 6" x 12" by 12" and cut these to fit in the bags. If I drop the bike, the bags with firm foam (compressible but not soft) will act as a "buffer" between the bike and the tarmac. If I need to carry something, I remove a one block of styrofoam and fill the space with whatever I need to transport. Worst scenario is that I scuff up the nylon bags. These are about $125 USD on the Internet. They slant up at the bottom rear and easily clear the upswept muffler.

In another compulsive moment, I removed the OEM bar ends and fitted 2" milled stainless bar ends which serve to keep the front of the bike further from the tarmac. Redundancy is my middle name.

Ralph
 
#25 ·
Hello all! First post here and I'm glad to have found this forum. I also dropped my bike (more than once, ugh); forgot I left the bike in gear and turned it on after filling it up at the gas station and BAM! Down on the ground. My left front foot peg snapped off so I rode without for 2 days. Talk about an inner thigh workout, wow. Why it is impossible to find a foot peg to replace it with? I want to keep the ones I have, not get aftermarket ones.
 
#27 ·
Hello all! First post here and I'm glad to have found this forum. I also dropped my bike (more than once, ugh); forgot I left the bike in gear and turned it on after filling it up at the gas station and BAM! Down on the ground.
Was it a 2013+ CB500? There are supposed to be kill switches for the clutch lever, gearbox, and kick-stand to prevent this. It shouldn't be possible to start the bike in gear unless you've disengaged the engine from the rear wheel somehow. If it is a 2013+ CB500 take it to the dealership and have them fix it. That's the kind of story that is easily avoided. :) I guess if it's a different model that doesn't have those kill switches you'll just have to be more mindful of what the engine is connected to when you hit the starter! :spin

I mean, technically it was my wife, but still ... new and shiny things are magnets to the first ding. We both took the test a couple weeks ago to get our license(s), I passed, she let nerves get the best of her (she did amazing during the non-test portion) and didn't pass. Fast forward a week or so, I have my new bike, have taken it around the neighborhood and faster roads around us, she's practicing slow speed stuff in a school parking lot near us (I bought cones and measured out all the test stuff for her to practice for the re-test) ... as she was riding closer to a curb, she accidentally laid it down ...
It's not at all obvious to non-riders, but slow speed maneuvers are actually much harder than going fast (though cornering really fast is probably the hardest thing there is next to drifting and other stunts...none of which belong on the street). That's why the motorcycle courses typically focus so much on low speed maneuvers. I hope she was wearing proper safety gear at least!

Absolute worst luck, it pinched the radiator hose against the connection spot and when I lifted it back up, the poor thing was bleeding blue. Had the push-of-shame all the way back to the house because at the time I didn't know "what" was bleeding, only after searching and looking did I figure out it was coolant and the radiator hose. Also broke the clutch lever and put some really small marks on the bronzed part.
That really is some bad luck. Sorry to hear that. Sounds like you got it fixed though so glad to hear that!

I told her to get back on the thing! She was a bit apprehensive about riding it because now she was worried. I told her you can't worry about the stupid stuff like scratches and dings, that can all be fixed. She rode around for a little bit and then took her test on Saturday and passed with flying colors!
Awesome. You really can't prevent all drop scenarios, and there are also serious crash scenarios that we can't completely rule out no matter how careful we are (there's always the "other guy"). That's where All The Gear All The Time (ATGATT) comes from. We can mitigate the risks by dressing for the crash instead of the cruise.

I know you're "not supposed to buy new" as a new rider exactly because of this reason. But I love having the new bike, and it's a good piece of mind to actually know 'exactly' what has happened to it.
I did the same thing. This is my first bike too. I'm not very mechanically inclined so buying a used bike with zero riding experience was very intimidating. I wouldn't have been able to recognize the most obvious signs of abuse or neglect. Now I might do a little better, at least with the obvious maintenance items, but still it's nice to know where the bike came from and its full history.

Don't let drops ruin your confidence. It may never happen, and it may happen a couple times ... it's all a learning experience and you'll only get better.
It happens to anyone that rides enough. If somebody has been riding for 30 years and never dropped a bike then I'd question their odometer readings. :laugh:
 
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#26 ·
I have only owned my 2019 CB500F (first bike, new rider) for a few weeks and I already have a "dropped the bike" story!


I mean, technically it was my wife, but still ... new and shiny things are magnets to the first ding. We both took the test a couple weeks ago to get our license(s), I passed, she let nerves get the best of her (she did amazing during the non-test portion) and didn't pass. Fast forward a week or so, I have my new bike, have taken it around the neighborhood and faster roads around us, she's practicing slow speed stuff in a school parking lot near us (I bought cones and measured out all the test stuff for her to practice for the re-test) ... as she was riding closer to a curb, she accidentally laid it down ...



Absolute worst luck, it pinched the radiator hose against the connection spot and when I lifted it back up, the poor thing was bleeding blue. Had the push-of-shame all the way back to the house because at the time I didn't know "what" was bleeding, only after searching and looking did I figure out it was coolant and the radiator hose. Also broke the clutch lever and put some really small marks on the bronzed part.


So it has been out of commission for longer than I have owned it. She felt bad, confidence lowered ... I ordered all the parts and replaced it myself just this last Friday, also ordered some upgraded levers =). I told her to get back on the thing! She was a bit apprehensive about riding it because now she was worried. I told her you can't worry about the stupid stuff like scratches and dings, that can all be fixed. She rode around for a little bit and then took her test on Saturday and passed with flying colors!



I know you're "not supposed to buy new" as a new rider exactly because of this reason. But I love having the new bike, and it's a good piece of mind to actually know 'exactly' what has happened to it.


Don't let drops ruin your confidence. It may never happen, and it may happen a couple times ... it's all a learning experience and you'll only get better.
 
#29 ·
Nice stories :laugh:
Reminds me of a couple of things, way back in the mid 60's We used to have burn ups from a coffee bar (3 Monkeys) at Burgess Hill to Brighton (Sussex) about 14miles, last one brought the coffees and a bowl of chips (fries). I had my mate on the back of my '64 Norton Dominator 650 ss. I pulled up at the traffic lights just before the seafront in Brighton and put my foot down forgetting the road camber by the kerb, yup couldn't touch the road so over the bike went, mate as well. Egg on face came to mind, bent footrests, clutch lever and dent in tank as well as both had bruises on legs. Note to myself, check camber on roads by junctions and traffic lights also when parking up out and about. :glassessmilemaybe the problem of being vertically challenged.
 
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