Dropped Motorcycle What To Check: When Embarrassment Hits

Motorcycle drops happen. The embarrassment level goes up. It even skyrockets when there are people watching you.

What do you do next?

“I don’t know what to do!”

“You can act like a motorcyclist!”

Here is a checklist with the procedure steps of what you should do and check when you DROP!

Save it, print it, and carry it like the Bible in your moto-jacket. The next time you drop your bike, pull it out and go segment by segment.

Turn the engine OFF, immediately! (Ignition or the kill switch)

When you drop your bike, your right hand will accidentally pull the throttle lever. The still revving engine is BAD when dropped. The oil will go places you don’t want it to go. And don’t get me started on the still-spinning wheel!

Check yourself!

There are a huge amount of articles saying what to check when dropped, but most of them forget one important ingredient.

YOU!

Check if your ankle is okay.

Check if there are NO fractures or any unimaginable pain.

Check if your boot is still there. (I’ve seen cases when motorcycle drops, the rider’s boot gets trapped under the bike.)

(**”I almost died!” – Ralphy from Simpsons hanging on the wind cock**)
Prepare for the embarrassment surge!

When you drop your bike, the first thing going out of the window will be your confidence. Then your pride. And last, the embarrassment comes in for the party.

You hope you don’t discover what comes NEXT.

People will immediately start to look at what happened. (**Awww, what a pity, he must be just a noob**)

That’s okay. Dust yourself off and play it cool. Act like your job is dropping motorcycles all day.

Pick the bike up!

Use your brains, not brute muscle! There are better and smarter ways of picking your bike up.

Put in the first gear, if you have access to the shifter and clutch.

Don’t forget to use leverage (think of it as a tire flip). Motorcycles are HEAVY (the definition of the word) machines. The last thing you want to get is early back pain and tipping the bike to the other side.

That’ll quadruple the level of embarrassment!

When everybody sees how you’ve managed to pick up such a heavy bike, self-esteem goes brrrrrr!

Check the bike for damage!

“Small motorcycle drops, don’t do shit!” ~ DanDan the FireMan

You aren’t likely to do much engine damage dropping your bike at low or no speed. Breaking some plastics and maybe bending a shift-shaft, brake or clutch lever is what to look for.

1. Check for possible fuel leaks!

My motorcycle has an old dual-carb injection and when dropped, it turns into an ocean oil SPILL.

2. Check for any oil leaks!

Drops at the stop sign or on your home’s dryway are ALMOST harmless. (The word almost should be taken with great suspicion). Don’t take it for granted.

If there is oil slowly dripping from the bottom of the crankcase, wipe it clean and use the Flex tape. (**That’s a Lot of Damage ad playing**)

Better yet, get yourself some Flex tape and keep it right next to your First Aid kit.

If they could tape the whole freaking boat together, then I don’t see why you can’t tape your bike’s cosmetics.

3. Check the pads, levers, handlebars.

Hey, the drop isn’t a drop if you haven’t bent a shift shaft or your brake pads!

Seriously. Even if they are bent a little, bend them back. There is no need to go all desperate because of a little shaft.

Try to start your bike!

Okay, there is no real damage, except for the damage of humiliation. Your bike is up. Nothing leaks. No broken bones or torn ankles.

Start it up!

It will roar like it never fell.

But, what to do when…

Whm-whm-whm-whm. No spark.

What happens if it doesn’t want to start at ALL? (**Don’t worry, slowly try to… PANIC!**)

Do your damndest to figure out why your bike doesn’t start after the drop.

Mine was squirting like an octopus and that overflowed the carbs and piston chambers. It took half an hour for all that fuel to evaporate and level itself.
Take it home!

Unless you’ve dropped it in front of your home. Then rush into your house and act like nothing happened.

When you manage to get it rolling home after the drop, that’s when you’ve WON THE GAME!

Going Beyond the Embarrassment With Motorcycle Drops!

I always hear death-worrying questions from beginner motorcyclist:

“Am I done for if I dropped my bike?”

“Should I sell my bike immediately after I’ve dropped it?”

“Is the engine destroyed when the bike is dropped?”

But the CRUCIAL question is “Why did you make the drop?”

I remember when I first dropped my cruiser. The feeling was like something had died inside of me, combined with getting beaten up by the school bullies. I thought about immediately ditching the whole motorcycle thing. But…

NO!

I don’t consider it mine if I didn’t drop it at least a couple of times! All those scratches to an extent add a piece of character to my bike!

I learned a thing or two about why I dropped my bike, after the incident. It was a WAKE UP CALL to perfect my riding skills.

It should be your wake up call, too! Become safer and better trained. Your life is of the utmost importance, rather than worrying about samo gears and sprockets.

Choosing to give up the struggle and dumping your “totaled” bike by the road for trash men to pick up, is BENEFICIAL.

For me, of course.

I’ll happily pick it up for you. Free of charge! Just call the +1-PICK-UP-MY-DROPPED-BIKE number and I’ll be there in no time!

“The best way to make sure you don’t drop your bike is not to ride it. Don’t even polish it! Just park it and smile while you walk by.”
~ quote by the wanna-be expert, beginner rider.

What’s the Difference Between Dropping and Low-Siding a Motorcycle?

Drops happen at low-LOW speeds, in parking lots, home dryways, and at turning right at the crossroads.

They are like small blimps in time that should NEVER have happened. Like the new Justin Bieber album — never should have happened.

(**Justin Bieber fans go berserk**)

Fun fact: Motorcyclists suck at turning right. It’s a part of a curse called riding. Only thing we could do is be prepared and geared up to the teeth!

Low-speed drops are related to the friction zone! It’s that sweet zone of your clutch and throttle.

When you’ve mastered it, you can forget about dropping your bike EVER AGAIN!

Low-siding your bike is when you try to enter a corner at speed, but your tires slip under you in the direction of the corner.

It’s when you want to look BADASS, like the fellas in MotoGP but have shit-worthy tires and skills. My low-siding was precisely like that! The only badass thing that happened are the bruises I received.

(Guess who bought better tires the next day?!)

I have several friends that have low-sided bikes. One of them into a deer, with his brand new R1. That bike is still running strong today and still has deer hair stuck between the tire and rim.

But, don’t get me started on the PAIN that low-siding brings (**writing the next check for the body repairs**):

Naked standard bikes = Minimum pain
Half-faired bikes (cruisers, ADVs) = Medium pain
Fully faired bikes (sport & super-sport) = Pain overload!

Here is how to prevent it: Down-sifting with better tires before entering the corner will TERMINATE the low-siding.

Also, having sliders and crash bars will make it look like you can make an upsy-daisy. But it will save your motorcycle body from having the grinding experience of asphalt.

Dropped Motorcycle What to Check – Any Takeaways?

Learn the skills needed to banish the DROPS from your riding experience. Let’s be real, nobody likes the humiliation that it brings.

Your bike would be totally okay. It would be fine even when low-siding. If you don’t trust me, trust the DanDan the Fireman’s quote at the beginning of this article.