Dropped 'Er

3304 Views 30 Replies 16 Participants Last post by flyingjib, Sep 10, 2011

flyingjib

Discussion Starter · Sep 5, 2011

Well, I,ve had the Wee four days and finally managed to lay it down coming down my buddy's driveway at the transition to pavement. It is a short and fairly steep drive and I just had her going too slow. The bike keeled over on the right side and flipped me off doing a somersault into the ditch. No harm to me and minimal damage to the bike namely a broken turn signal and a slightly scuffed up decal. Thankfully the engine guard did its job. After a bit of a laugh my buddy and I righted the bike and off I went. Jeesh! Any suggestions for where to pick up a right side turn signal assembly for a 2006 Wee?
On another note I absolutely love this bike! It handles like a bicycle with a motor, goes where you want it too and balances easily. I rarely have to put a foot down at STOP signs in this rural area. This is a keeper.

Earl

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BobA

· #2 · Sep 5, 2011

Welcome to the "dropped my Wee" club. The important question is were you able to pick her up without assistance?

I actually practiced gently laying the bike down and picking it up to make sure I could do it. Bit of a struggle, but possible, at least with 1/2 tank of gas and no luggage. Might be a bit harder with a full tank though.

I'd say it handles more like a loaded wheelbarrow when it's not moving, except it's a lot less stable. One it's under way it's pretty effortless and handles great, but at low to no speed I find it a bit of a pig.

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BobA

· #17 · Sep 6, 2011

Stixx said:
it works with a load or not because you are not really lifting anything just pushing with the legs. Try it next time but dont forget to put it in gear or you can chase the thing in a circle till you remember. Yes I did that too once. LOL :headbang:

That's the technique I use, but a load does make a difference. You are lifting because you are raising the weight of the bike (which is pretty much the definition of lifting!). However you are doing most of the lifting with your legs rather than your back and/or arms. More weight means you need more leg strength to push harder to get the bike back upright.

You do need to be in gear or tie your brake lever to the bars to keep the bike stable.

If you ever ride solo it might be a good idea to practice getting it back on its feet a few times so you can perfect your technique before you need it.

By the way, the OP said:

The bike definitely didn't stall as I had to shut it off after I scrambled out of the ditch.

I thought the Wee (at least the current model) has a tipover switch that turns the power to the fuel pump off if you lay it down. I don't know when they added it. Maybe you didn't get to the required angle to trigger it or maybe yours isn't working. I think there's supposed to be a short delay before the engine actually stops, but I'd have though that would be less time than it takes to crawl out of a ditch!

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BobA

· #24 · Sep 7, 2011

leygan said:
my 2008 Vee was still running when I hit the ground 'till I hit the Kill switch. If in fact a bike has a 'tip-over' switch, how do you reset and where would I find it? My luggage may have kept it from reaching the required angle of tip-overness

My understanding is that it resets if you turn the ignition off and back on again. Luckily I've never had to try that. When I dropped mine it fell over in the garage!

I know I had no trouble restarting after my gentle lay down tests when I gently lowered the Wee onto its side to see if I could pick it up again! Of course the ignition was off when I layed it down.

From what I've read the tip over switch is supposed to kill the fuel pump 2 to 4 secinds after the bike leans more than 65 degrees (when stationary). It's supposed to be somwhere near the battery.

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