How often is your bike knocked over?

[phase17]

My bike has been knocked over three times in the past 2 months all by different people. I'm going on my third set of sub machinery handlebars because they are bent every time. Is this a common thing? I see Ducatis and BMW bikes parked in my area all the time. It makes me wonder if these people with expensive bikes have the same problems, or if the GS is just so small cars don't see it.

[mister]

if the GS is just so small cars don't see it.

1st... where are you parking that gets it knocked over?

2nd. No, it isn't so small it is not seen. It is a motorcycle and car drivers don't give a flying fug about motorcycles. It's the same reason they will look right at you and pull out in front of you anyway. You're small so fug you, you'll be able to stop/move (of course, they also pull out in front of trucks and emergency vehicles, but for different reasons).

Michael

[tt_four]

I'd start parking between the Ducati and BMW.

I'm also curious to hear how you park. I always see people parked wrong and I just look at their bike wondering how long until it's going to get knocked over. If you're parking in a lot, make sure you park at the front of the spot so people can see your bike when they're looking for empty spots. I often see people pull into parking spots front first and all the way up to the back of the spot. When cars drive around looking for spots they just look at the edge of the space, and with the rage people drive in, if someone tries to whip into the spot still going 25mph, they're never going to stop in time to see your bike.

When you park on the side of the road you're supposed to park perpendicular to traffic, with your back tire touching the curb. I know it sounds counter productive to have your bike sticking out towards traffic, but you want the widest part in view of people driving, especially with drivers habit of pulling into parallel parking spaces front end first.

[RyanMidd]

Mine was knocked over once by a driver who admittedly backed in without looking. If possible, share a spot with another bike in a parking lot, with both your bikes at a 45-degree-ish parallel.

On the curb, your FRONT tire should always be UPHILL, meaning you'll probably back up at a 45-degree angle to the curb until your back tire touches it.

Most importantly, however, all in one motion, you should pull your handlebars all the way to the left (or the kickstand side), and give it one or two big, hard tugs after the stand is down. The tugs help settle the bike in case there are any loose rocks, etc.

I once watched somebody with a huge Harley locomotive flip his stand down and hop off. He was about 6 feet away before the bike hit the ground. The repairs probably cost more than my GS.

TUG FIRST, then get off.

[mister]

If you HAVE to face down hill - sometimes you cannot park perpendicular to the curb cause the hill makes a sidestand too unstable - face down hill and put the stand down while still in gear. But I wouldn't park like that for long, I'd rather walk a little extra distance after parking on the flat.

Once I pulled up at a gas station and instead of My routine of stand down, get off, turn off key, I turned off the key first. Then got off - I always get off holding the handle bars - while leaning it onto the stand I had yet to put down. It's amazing how fast your muscles work to save the bike from falling. Once saved, I put the sidestand down and carried on - I did Not look around to see if anyone was having a good old belly laugh.

Michael

[dohabee]

My bike has been knocked over one time and I did it.

bike was on center stand and I was sitting backwards on the passenger seat.

when I hopped off the back the bike rocked forward and rolled off the stand smashing my 1hr old bar end mirror.

When I park I face whatever direction is necessary to make sure the bike leans toward the side stand.

If I'm on any kind of a hill I leave it in 1st.

[mullan]

My bike has been pulled over deliberately once, and 2 other times it was attempted (only I chained it to a post so tight that it couldn't fall).  Handlebars were bent too.  Damn riffraff.  Mirror broken for no reason too.

[tt_four]

Don't try to bungie anything on to your back seat if your bike isn't resting well on the side stand either. I'm always careful how I park, but the only time my bike fell over was completely my fault. I backed my bike down my friends driveway, and put it on the sidestand. It was leaned over enough to not fall, but it wasn't at much of an angle. I was pulling pretty tight on a bungie to hook it on the right passenger peg, and it was just enough to tip the whole bike over. I had to ride 35 miles home with no right side peg. I think I kept my foot on the passenger peg the whole way.

[phase17]

Seems like people where I live just suck at driving. I always park correctly with the rear tire touching the curb and the bike on a slight angle perpendicular to traffic facing uphill if there is a hill. The two times my bike was hit and the person driving the car was nice enough to let me know they claimed that could not see it through their rear view mirror.

I have been vary cautious with how I park. The street parking where I live is very tight and crowded, I usually try to park at the beginning of a street or before a driveway so it much less likely that cars will back into it. This was the case with my most recent knock over, so either someone was completely drunk and drove directly into my bike or someone who hates motorcycles tipped it over on purpose.

All in all I'm afraid to buy that SV650 this spring.

[yooblonder]

My GS fell over last month while working all day in a busy hospital in Glasgow.  I first thought it was deliberate malice, but soon realised the wind (80 mph) caught the fairing and blew it over.  By the time I arrived back at the bike, some kind person(s) had picked the bike up.

Damage:
- The right bar-end broke off;
- The mirror casing cracked;
- One indicator stopped working;
- The fairing and exhaust got scratched - not too badly.

Lesson I learned... If parking on the side stand on a really windy day, lean the bike away from the wind - against natural instinct? - so that the sde stand keeps the bike up.  Perhaps the centre stand would have kept the bike up for longer???

[noiseguy]

I parked next to a guy on an old twin basher of some make several years back. Bike was parked facing slightly downhill, not touching the curb, in a pull-in parking spot. When I came back to my car, the bike was sitting on it's side. Owner came out and we looked at it; it had rolled forward on the side stand, tucking the stand over and knocking it down. I helped him pick it up and he went on his way.

I've made sure since to park the bike uphill / into traffic and butt it back to the curb.

[yooblonder]

... it had rolled forward on the side stand, tucking the stand over and knocking it down.
I've made sure since to park the bike uphill / into traffic and butt it back to the curb.

Great point re the side stand.

Parking and facing the traffic is illegal in some countries - as we discovered on a recent holiday to Australia.  You can't cross a road and park, gotta turn and face the direction of the traffic.

[mister]

... it had rolled forward on the side stand, tucking the stand over and knocking it down.
I've made sure since to park the bike uphill / into traffic and butt it back to the curb.

Great point re the side stand.

Parking and facing the traffic is illegal in some countries - as we discovered on a recent holiday to Australia.  You can't cross a road and park, gotta turn and face the direction of the traffic.

Some jurisdictions are more lenient on this issue than others. Some are right arseholes/assholes even going down cul-de-sacs in quiet suburbs to issue parking fines for people parked facing the wrong way. You must have been where the Parking Nazis hang out.

Could be worse. Could be in Washing DC where people get booked for parking in their own driveway!

Michael