[Heavy]

I dropped my 650 today. At idle, not moving. Fell on left side, crash bar and rear case took the brunt of the force. Everything seems fine except my confidence...anything I should pay particular attention to on the bike in the short term??

I'm new at this and I feel like an idiot.

New at dropping your bike? Don't worry, you'll get good at it. It's taken me 4 times to perfect it.

The Strom is a pretty tall bike and it can be a tricky one to learn on.

I've got a number of miles on bikes and attribute my Strom tip-overs to my short legs...well that, and my short attention span.

 

[vegashotwheeler]

If it runs ok, and looks OK its probably only injury is your pride.
Welcome to the club:thumbup:
No more being scared to scratch it:yikes:
Mike

 

[The Golden Monkey]

Probably most of us have done that at one point, or several points. Eventually you'll get used to the top-heaviness, and you'll learn to be conscious of the ground surface when stopped -- dips or holes that mean a longer reach, sand or leaves that will make your foot slip, etc. After I dropped my first strom for the 3rd time, I lowered the bike 3/4" (longer dog bones in the rear and raised the forks in the triple clamps) until I felt more comfortable and confident. Then I raised it back up to normal and have been fine ever since.

 

[bureaucrat]

You are in good company. The phrase "I've never dropped a bike" should have the modifier "yet" at the end. Over at the Concours forum they have a thread called Connie Droppers Anonymous. At least Stroms don't need a whole gaggle of do-rags and unkempt beards to get it back on its hooves.

 

[Psykledelic]

Aren't you glad you thought to get the crash bars before the drop? You can give yourself a pat on the back for that one. My only advice would be to do what I did not do after my drop: if your bar is scratched or nicked, lightly sand and apply a touch of satin black before any rust sets in. I procrastinated a year and then had to sand pretty rigorously to remove the ever-expanding rust spot. Of course, you may appreciate the way it looks now - like it's seen some action.

 

[dkbellga]

Yep, all of us honest people have done it!

Hard to believe how easy it can go over if your foot slips, or you lean over to look at the oil window, etc. Don't forget it, but don't stress over it either. The zero mph learning moments are the best ones.

Now it has a scratch and you don't have to dread that coming....so get out there and enjoy it!

PS - Two points for the humility and desire to benefit from the incident.

 

[Jstrom]

Duh...

How'd you like to get peeled off your bike by a chain stretched across a driveway at night and be so knackered by the fall you have to go take a rest before trying to get the beast up on it's wheels again? Oh yeah! Thought I was gonna drop a nut getting that sucker back up, but I did it with brute force and ignorance. Bike didn't get a scratch. Unbelievable.

 

[2tall]

I dropped my 650 today. At idle, not moving. Fell on left side, crash bar and rear case took the brunt of the force. Everything seems fine except my confidence...anything I should pay particular attention to on the bike in the short term??

I'm new at this and I feel like an idiot.

First post to tell us you dropped your bike!! Welcome to the club.

Last time I did it, it was on a soft shoulder of the road. Got off the bike, turned my back for a second and my VEE ended almost completely upside down in the ditch. Had to stop a couple cars to get enough people to help get it back on the road.

 

[Spartan]

I dropped my 650 today. At idle, not moving. Fell on left side, crash bar and rear case took the brunt of the force. Everything seems fine except my confidence...anything I should pay particular attention to on the bike in the short term??

I'm new at this and I feel like an idiot.

Well, the first thing you do when you drop the bike is buy everyone else a beer. How else do you join the club? :green_lol:

Dropped mine on the left on my second ride and the right on my fourth ride......and haven't dropped it since! It kicked my confidence in the balls too so the first thing I did was change the links and drop the bike 3/4 of an inch. The reason I dropped the Beast was that in both cases, I thought I was in first gear and when it stalled.....timbeeeeer.

Don't worry about it. Your brain will adjust to the weight of the bike and soon it wont be an issue. If you lower the bike and have good footing but still keep dropping the bike on your 100th ride then you have an issue.

 

[BryanR]

Dropped it today, need advice

1. don't do it again.

2. keep on keepin' on. If you just dropped it at idle you didn't hurt anything other than some cosmetic stuff at worst.

 

[strent]

Join the club...

Ya, dropped it at an up hill stop sign 500 feet from the dealer. Used superhuman strength to snatch it back up... Dropped it again in a parking lot after I forgot to put the kickstand down!... again used super human strength to snatch it back up, primarily driven by not wanting any one to notice... yep, happens to the best. No drops in over ~14k miles though.. you'll get the hang of it!

 

[Rashnak]

I've dropped mine probably more than a dozen times. Sometimes on gravel when I lost footing, one time I bottomed out unexpectedly and when I went to put my foot down on a slope I could not reach the ground.

Several times I misjudged clutch/gas and seized the engine, and the slight forward motion put the bike down.

One time I dropped it on the right side and I forgot to put the left side kickstand down, so then I immediately dropped it on the left side!

The crashbars + panniers were worth every penny and took the beatings with only minor scratches.

The most important thing I learned is how to pick up the bike properly. I used to try to muscle it up and beat myself to hell doing so. Finally I came across a video showing how to do it right and now I can pop it up easily and without strain.

don't try to lift the bike facing it, turn around and use your leg/butt muscles to do the lifting. easy peasy

oh- and one time I dropped it and it would not start again- I got an F1 error code. I dunno what that code means, but fortunately I was on a hill and bump started it in second gear by popping the clutch. So if you are a new owner ya might wanna practice bump starting on a hill a few times to get the hang of it- in SECOND gear, not first.

 

[greywolf]

There is a tip over switch that stops the engine after about 2 seconds. The ignition switch has to be turned off after a drop to reset it. See FAQ: Dealer Mode & FI Error Codes about FI codes.

 

[Spartan]

The most important thing I learned is how to pick up the bike properly. I used to try to muscle it up and beat myself to hell doing so. Finally I came across a video showing how to do it right and now I can pop it up easily and without strain.

Good video. When I dropped mine, both times I dead lifted up and they are NOT light nor easy. I wouldn't do it normally because I have a back that says hello to me once in a while but the adrenalin and embarrassment kicked in and up she went.

I don't plan on dropping her again but IF I do (or is it when?), I'm going to use the video technique.


BTW.....if you're a newbie, it's amazing how dropping the bike can be a swift kick in confidence department. I had a bike decades ago and I never dropped it so when I dropped the Wee, it felt like I was back to grade one on of bike riding. Even turning 90 degrees became a "I hope I don't drop it" moment PARTICULARLY if you're riding in the city. Anywho.....no biggie.

 

[perArdua]

I dropped my 650 today. At idle, not moving. Fell on left side, crash bar and rear case took the brunt of the force. Everything seems fine except my confidence...anything I should pay particular attention to on the bike in the short term??

I'm new at this and I feel like an idiot.

Try to figure out why this happened - what you did or did not do, what your state of mind was. Learn from it, then keep riding. I haven't fallen the same way twice - on the same bike - yet!

 

[Rashnak]

There is a tip over switch that stops the engine after about 2 seconds. The ignition switch has to be turned off after a drop to reset it. See FAQ: Dealer Mode & FI Error Codes about FI codes.

you continue to amaze with your depth of knowledge about this bike- thx

 

[footloose]

:

Good video. When I dropped mine, both times I dead lifted up and they are NOT light nor easy. I wouldn't do it normally because I have a back that says hello to me once in a while but the adrenalin and embarrassment kicked in and up she went.

I don't plan on dropping her again but IF I do (or is it when?), I'm going to use the video technique.


BTW.....if you're a newbie, it's amazing how dropping the bike can be a swift kick in confidence department. I had a bike decades ago and I never dropped it so when I dropped the Wee, it felt like I was back to grade one on of bike riding. Even turning 90 degrees became a "I hope I don't drop it" moment PARTICULARLY if you're riding in the city. Anywho.....no biggie.

That is a great video and technique! I can hardly wait to try it out!

Well, ummm....I don't REALLY want to have to try it out because that means I would have dropped my bike. But you know what I mean.....

I had been riding for over 20 years, with extensive miles when I acquired the VStrom but still dropped it on my first ride out. Thought the kickstand was down and engaged all the way but it wasn't. Went down a second time all by itself on the lawn when I had washed it, walked away and the kickstand sunk in the soil. Doh!

I am very aware of engaging the kickstand now and where I attempt to park and haven't dropped it since.

 

[T-Hall]

I finally dropped mine last Weds. I was riding back from the Alps and misjudged my condition...I was going to take a break but kept putting it off... so I ended up dozing in the saddle doing about 70 mph. Not a deep snooring snooze, but one of those heavy lidded blinks that last about a nano-second too long. Jerked alert just as I was passing a roadside rest area... whipped into it at the last minute just to get off of the road. Hit the brakes hard and turned at the same time.... I knew what I was in for....while I did make the turn, as soon as I stopped the bike dumped to the right ... I managed to hold it up with my right leg and arrest the force a bit, but gravity prevailed and we hit the ground, albeit without enough force for any substantial harm. The tipover-switch which Greywolf mentioned did not activate... I hit the kill switch to shut it off. I took a break to collect my wits and then continued on into the next town where I stopped and had a proper meal and a couple cups of coffee. When I got home later that night I went over the bike with a fine toothed comb and found no damage other than a few scrapes on my Givi's.

 

[greywolf]

It takes a couple of seconds for the tip over switch to work. A couple of seconds seems like forever when the adrenaline is pumping.