The reason why I ask about dropping your bike is that I see plenty of photos of dropped bikes on the forum. But very few complaints of damage.
Somehow, when I drop my bike (or have a very low speed off) it gets damaged. I have had bent footpegs, broken mirror, broken hand guards, broken screen, scraped and cracked fairings, bent sump guard and bent handbars and forks. I have dropped my bike onto grass, tarmac and rocks and each time it has suffered damage.
Do you guys experience the same thing, but accept it as a hazard of adventure biking?
Do you have a technique to dropping the bike to minimise damage?
Could it just be the type of bike I have? (It is tall and thin and I do not have any crash bars or anything like that)
Or am I just unlucky?
Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
Re: Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
Being a regular trail rider (Yam TTR250), I think it's difficult to adopt a technique for falling off, sometimes it just happens so quick. When you know it's going to happen, I try to get clear of the bike, better break the bike than me.
Last time out I went down on some hard decking type surface, broke a bolt on the hand gaurd and a number plate. Just cable tied it up. The guards saved the clutch lever though. To be honest, the more protection you have on the bike, the better the chance of saving the important and expensive bits.
If you trail ride, you are going to fall off at some point, and will get some damage. It goes with the territory, you bend stuff back, cable tie or gaffer it up, and fix it later!
To be honest, I just accept it will get damaged now and again. That's what it's made for. If you don't drop it now and again, you're not trying hard enough!
Roly
Last time out I went down on some hard decking type surface, broke a bolt on the hand gaurd and a number plate. Just cable tied it up. The guards saved the clutch lever though. To be honest, the more protection you have on the bike, the better the chance of saving the important and expensive bits.
If you trail ride, you are going to fall off at some point, and will get some damage. It goes with the territory, you bend stuff back, cable tie or gaffer it up, and fix it later!
To be honest, I just accept it will get damaged now and again. That's what it's made for. If you don't drop it now and again, you're not trying hard enough!
Roly
-
Tonibe63
- Posts: 3095
- Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:05 pm
- Has thanked: 1539 times
- Been thanked: 690 times
Re: Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
All dropping of bikes is preplanned and practiced until it becomes an artform, just like falling with style :silly: .
Damage is just par for the course really although some bikes are built with crashing in mind and others are farckled up to deal with it ie barkbusters, sump gaurds etc etc.
Assuming you are talking about your KLE500 I would think engine bars would be a first purchase (I think you can get them to cover lower fairings too) closely followed by handgaurds and a nice big bashplate.
Damage is just par for the course really although some bikes are built with crashing in mind and others are farckled up to deal with it ie barkbusters, sump gaurds etc etc.
Assuming you are talking about your KLE500 I would think engine bars would be a first purchase (I think you can get them to cover lower fairings too) closely followed by handgaurds and a nice big bashplate.
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
Re: Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
Is it you or the machine in consideration.Throttled wrote:The reason why I ask about dropping your bike is that I see plenty of photos of dropped bikes on the forum. But very few complaints of damage.
Somehow, when I drop my bike (or have a very low speed off) it gets damaged. I have had bent footpegs, broken mirror, broken hand guards, broken screen, scraped and cracked fairings, bent sump guard and bent handbars and forks. I have dropped my bike onto grass, tarmac and rocks and each time it has suffered damage.
Do you guys experience the same thing, but accept it as a hazard of adventure biking?
Do you have a technique to dropping the bike to minimise damage?
Could it just be the type of bike I have? (It is tall and thin and I do not have any crash bars or anything like that)
Or am I just unlucky?
I was at a course many years ago in how to fall of a bike to avoid body damage.
The result of protecting yourself CAN be demostating to the bike.
Or are you talking about just dropping the bike from still or almost no speed at all?
Niklas
Re: Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
I think it's more about the bike than technique. Some bikes have fragile stuff sticking out, others don't.
The Tenere's pretty bombproof - if it falls over it almost always lands on the bar-end. This does mean my bars aren't quite straight any more (but hardly noticeable), and I have in the past dropped it hard enough to bend the alloy spine of one of the Barkbusters, but it saved the lever. That crash also managed to break an indicator lens.
If it doesn't land on the bar end, it will land on the plastic 'crash panel' on the side of the tank. Which is there to take the damage rather than the tank, and are (as stock) an unpainted grey plastic which hides the scratches well (mine are painted, so it shows up a bit more, but I'm not too fussed about cosmetics).
If you drop it on the right side on a hard surface, it tends to bend the brake pedal a bit, but it's a steel pedal, so it can be fixed with a vice and a big hammer
So yeah, my total damage list runs to:
- A set of Barkbusters
- One indicator lens
- A few scratches and scuffs
The Tenere's pretty bombproof - if it falls over it almost always lands on the bar-end. This does mean my bars aren't quite straight any more (but hardly noticeable), and I have in the past dropped it hard enough to bend the alloy spine of one of the Barkbusters, but it saved the lever. That crash also managed to break an indicator lens.
If it doesn't land on the bar end, it will land on the plastic 'crash panel' on the side of the tank. Which is there to take the damage rather than the tank, and are (as stock) an unpainted grey plastic which hides the scratches well (mine are painted, so it shows up a bit more, but I'm not too fussed about cosmetics).
If you drop it on the right side on a hard surface, it tends to bend the brake pedal a bit, but it's a steel pedal, so it can be fixed with a vice and a big hammer
So yeah, my total damage list runs to:
- A set of Barkbusters
- One indicator lens
- A few scratches and scuffs
Re: Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
Mainly the KLE, but alos my YBR that I had with L Plates.
I have broken the handguards, they are plastic and only secured at the handlebar and not round to the bar end. So I may get ones which are secured at both ends. I have thought about the front crash bars, but would they not bend back onto the fairing if the bike fell over?
I have broken the handguards, they are plastic and only secured at the handlebar and not round to the bar end. So I may get ones which are secured at both ends. I have thought about the front crash bars, but would they not bend back onto the fairing if the bike fell over?
YBR125 > KLE500 + KLE650 Versys Tourer
Re: Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
Each fall I have rolled clear of the bike, one where I could not roll I was trapped and it took a while to free my foot from under it. They have all be pretty much at a standstill as I lose momentum and topple over.Niklas wrote:
....
Is it you or the machine in consideration.
I was at a course many years ago in how to fall of a bike to avoid body damage.
The result of protecting yourself CAN be demostating to the bike.
Or are you talking about just dropping the bike from still or almost no speed at all?
Niklas
YBR125 > KLE500 + KLE650 Versys Tourer
Re: Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
Put the shitty plastic flappy guards in the bin, and get some proper ones...Throttled wrote: I have broken the handguards, they are plastic and only secured at the handlebar and not round to the bar end. So I may get ones which are secured at both ends. I have thought about the front crash bars, but would they not bend back onto the fairing if the bike fell over?
http://www.barkbusters.net/products/81.html
Re: Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
Throttled...
with ref to bending in of crash bars...the cheaper badly designed ones do. But stronger ones dont..my ta650 being a example .
Most are just "bling" and bend in very easy were as mine "africa queens" didnt cost much more than say Givi ones BUT have a support/strengthener running between each cylinder V twin.. not sure what you could do on a kle.
Loosen the bar controls on the trails means things twist rather then bend/brake..
its all really a learning curve and the better you get at reading the trails the less you fall off to one day become a "god" :woohoo:
fixing broken fairing plastice is easy but leaves some battle scars though.
with ref to bending in of crash bars...the cheaper badly designed ones do. But stronger ones dont..my ta650 being a example .
Most are just "bling" and bend in very easy were as mine "africa queens" didnt cost much more than say Givi ones BUT have a support/strengthener running between each cylinder V twin.. not sure what you could do on a kle.
Loosen the bar controls on the trails means things twist rather then bend/brake..
its all really a learning curve and the better you get at reading the trails the less you fall off to one day become a "god" :woohoo:
fixing broken fairing plastice is easy but leaves some battle scars though.
-
AckAckFlack
- Posts: 1224
- Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:57 pm
Re: Dropping your bike, is there a technique to it?
Have to agree with what is said about accepting damage when you are on the trails - I for one have an affinity to dropping it at low speeds (cos I don't get to fast speeds)
You will be able to work out which parts of the bike are going to take the hit and then look for the best protection.
The Africa twin for a start has quite some plastic up front and I went for the Wemoto crash bars that extended higher.
I managed to dent the exhaust on another drop and decided to buy the holan pannier rack to protect the rear of the bike. So far it looks like a climbing frame but all the drops are now taken care of (yeh like)
It's also true that the more you do the trails the better you get at looking ahead and planning rather than at your front wheel which is about to go into that hole.
You will be able to work out which parts of the bike are going to take the hit and then look for the best protection.
The Africa twin for a start has quite some plastic up front and I went for the Wemoto crash bars that extended higher.
I managed to dent the exhaust on another drop and decided to buy the holan pannier rack to protect the rear of the bike. So far it looks like a climbing frame but all the drops are now taken care of (yeh like)
It's also true that the more you do the trails the better you get at looking ahead and planning rather than at your front wheel which is about to go into that hole.
BBRR - Big Bike Rough Road Riders Group
It's all about how big it is and how Rough you use it
The journey aimed to challenge the perception of blindness…
Usually People call me Sir... closely followed by 'You are making a scene!'
It's all about how big it is and how Rough you use it
The journey aimed to challenge the perception of blindness…
Usually People call me Sir... closely followed by 'You are making a scene!'
