Quote from: RedShift on January 12, 2006, 05:41:55 PMYour first scratch is the deepest...

It's also the most noticable too.

I've never dropped a motorcycle.  *knock on wood .. I've had mine for about 9 months, and put over 4,000 miles on it, and have come close a few times, but never dropped it. 

I did, however, total a 2005 cbr600rr  back in october..

1968:  Riding a 55cc Honda to high school in Tucson.  Saw a fat friend walking to school.  Gave him a ride.  In the middle of Broadway Blvd., he leaned back and said "Where do I put my books?"  The front wheel immediately leaped up to the point where the bike was almost vertical.  I let it go, and it went bouncing about 50 yards down Broadway while we sat on our asses in the middle of the street.  Fortunately, there was little traffic.  My friend started crying and whining that he had torn his pants.  Amazingly, the bike sustained very little damage.  My second was on a 350cc Honda in 1970.  My girlfriend had picked up a new guitar and I had strapped it over my shoulder between us, failing to realize that this would make it almost impossible to turn the bike.  On the first hard curve on a gravel road, we went down like a rock.  But my most memorable was on a 125cc Yamaha in Tucson during a heavy rain.  Two kids waved me across an intersection, telling me there was no problem.  It was actually about a 5-foot hole, and I found myself under water.  I got out, but my brother-in-law had to come help pull the bike out.  Or there was the time ... oh, never mind -- I've had about 20 drops in silly circumstances.

my first was trying to put the bike on the center stand. I tried to do it while straddling the bike (big mistake). I got both sides of the stand down, but couldn't get the bike up on it. When it started to fall, my foot was on the stand, not on the ground. I got my foot out, but it was too heavy and too late. I basically set my bike down on it's side.

The worst was the time I pulled to the shoulder, put the bike in neutral (left it running), stepped off, took two steps, and the bike just fell over on it's own. I figure the kickstand wasn't out all the way and it just rolled off on it's own.

I've had about 8 near drops after pulling the front brake while in full lock in a parking lot. Last time I did that I pulled so hard on the lever to get the bike back up that the bolt holding the lever tight loosened and the lever went spinning around the bike. Saved it though.

The first drop was just stupid... I was turning around in someone's driveway because I wasn't confident enough to do a U-turn within 2 narrow lanes and I let the clutch go when I was backing myself up. I was new so I grabbed the front brake before the clutch, stalling myself and jerking the bike to a halt and I tipped over. Luckily no one was home at that house and I don't think anyone else saw... The second time was arguably just as stupid. I tried to do a radial burnout while standing beside my bike and it started to turn too fast and I had to let it down or else she woulda gotten away from me.

I didn't even start mine up for the first time before dropping it.

Just bought a 2005 GS500F (blue/white) last weekend. Due to incompetence by Chaparral (San Bernardino) I had to wait a week to get a helmet in the mail.

I took it off the center stand in preparation for its maiden voyage and...it just tipped over away from me. Fortunately, the fairing didn't crack. There's a small scratch on the right side of the engine cover, and another on the end of the right handlebar.

I consider myself lucky. And wiser. I will now always keep my cycle leaning *towards* me as I manoeuvre it while not astride it.

OMG. Before you even saddled up for the first time! Yeah, my wife dropped my 2005 trying to walk it around... She's never handled a bike before, either.I assume she didn't lean it towards her but I wasn't watching so I dunno... But luckily she dropped it on the side that I already dropped it on so it didn't really do anything that wasn't already there... Oh well, it was bound to happen sometime... Can't keep it new forever...

I'm happy to see that I'm not alone on the stupidity drop. I was trying to bump start my 05 F about a month after I got it, I guess I didn't get a fast enough run the rear locked up when I dumped the clutch and I lost my balance. Put a small crack in the upper part of the right fairing, and a few barely noticable scratches elsewhere, also broke my short stalk signal which was only about a week old . lesson learned make sure you don't turn the to the parking lights when you lock the bars, and don't try to bump start without help.

So, I was out of the country for the a couple of weeks ago for a few weeks and didn't ride at all during that time. I came back  and went out for a spin (mind you I am a newbie with MSF+ 3 months and ~1500 miles of experience). Things were fine for the first hour or so of errands but then whilst in the parking lot of an apartment complex looking for a friend's place i did a U-Turn to the right instead of to the left (which I have practiced before) and over i went. I was able to jump off the bike at the last second and I was moving at a really slow speed so there wasn't much damage to the bike if any at all (maybe an extra scratch). I am nonetheless pissed at myself. There goes my perfect record (at least in my mind).

I know its not a big deal. I guess I just grew too complacent and cocky trying to do a more "difficult" maneuver while I was out of practice. Mind you I was in full gear and I have a super clean 2002 GS500E that I bought used, and I was super careful and aware while riding in the actual streets during the afternoon.

Luckily nobody saw, but it still left a scar in my mind.

has not happened yet