[never2loud]

After reading all of the wonderful bios on “A Little about Yourself”, it seems that more than a few of us have just started to ride.  And, well, when I was “just out of the crate”, I had some funny/embarrassing little miscues on my bike that stick with me to this day (no matter how hard I try to forget  [laugh])

My “favorite” has to do with… you guessed it, filling up at a gas station.  I had had the bike for about nine days (I’d been trying to ride every morning for an hour or two while our son was in school) and the gas light came on.  No biggie – I’d filled up once before… no worries.

So I cruise over to a different gas station this time, put my turn indicator on, brush the rear brake, down-shift to 2nd, and turn in.  Spot an empty stall (the place is really busy), and eek my way over… But my approach is a little too direct so I have to turn some more… brake, get as close as possible to the pump...

Then I fell over.  In front of God and *everybody*

My bike is now on its side, completely un-amused, I’ve bailed out, and I’ve got a very nice elderly lady appearing from the other side of the pump going, “Is there anything I can do to help, honey…?”

CRAP!  I need a hole I can hide in and I need it NOW!

Everything turned out O.K. – no damage to the bike other than an infinitesimally small indent on the tank.  I was able to pick it up, casually fill-up [laugh], and be off again on my mostly merry way… Fortunately, that’s been the worst of it for me, although I still have the occasional brain-fade-moment from time to time. 

So! anyone else care to share a NOOB tale of woe?

 

[WOLF!]

just the usual 'forget to put my foot down at a light with pretty girls watching' sort of thing.

 

[SheMonster]

You mean other than dropping it the very first day I had it?  I had only been riding a couple of months when my then boyfriend on his 996 and me on my trusty new lil' Monster went to a BBQ at a friends house.  Pulled up into the upward sloping driveway and parked there.  Lots of people at this party, and basked in the glow and admiration of everyone there with the "atta girl!" and "wow, cool bike" and "that's so hot!" etc. etc.  As I cooly just smiled and nodded, oh yeah, its a wonderful thing, I am SO cool   8) 

When it was time to leave everyone wanted to see the Ducati's take off.  So, out to the front they all went, probably 15-20 people, and this my first experience backing down an angled driveway.  Well, yes, you guessed it, with everyone watching in anticipation of seeing these beautiful motorcycles roar off, got going backwards a little too fast when I bumped over the curb and the bike flattened out both feet came off the ground - KA-BOOOOM went the lil' Monster, dropped it right there at the end of the driveway.  I have never been so grateful for a full face helmet and tinted face shield in my life.  :-[ 

 

[uberwench]

My first visit to the gas station was going well. A group of guys were pointing and [thumbsup] ing. I was feelin' pretty neato. Come time to leave, start it up, am going to have to ride right by the group to leave. Put it in gear and

...engine dies...

sidestand still down. :-[

 

[theresaf]

Ah, well, I already mentioned my most embarassing moment in the ...A little about yourself post myself.  Gosh, was I part of the inspiration? 

Anyway, I'll elaborate a tad bit more.

My first long-ish ride from Boston, MA to Newport, RI on the still-new 250.  I was still petrified of the h-way, so we (my husband and I) took (rather crappy) back roads a lot of the way and took almost twice as long to get there.  We had trouble finding my friend's place once in Newport (her parents had a condo), so we pulled over to wait for her to get there in a car so we could just follow her the 2min to her place.  So far so good.

We take off, her in her car, me, my husband riding his bike behind me.  Not 50 feet down the road is quite litterally a 90-degree turn in the road with some people walking, not on the sidwalk, but in the apex of the turn.  Tired and inexperienced me was looking at them as I went into the turn, realized I wasn't going to make it, panicked, grabbed the gas instead of the break, went up over the curb, missed a lamp post, scraped up against the 6-ft rough stone wall abutting the edge of the sidwalk, and fell over.

The embarassment didn't hit until much later -- at that point, lying on the ground beside my bike, I was sooo pissed that i smacked my head on the ground in frustration, and then realized I probably just put some lovely chips in my helmet -- grreat.  Anyway, my friend saw it in her mirror and called 911, my husband, poor thing, was probably traumatized for life.  I wanted to take my helmet off and then realized what a crowd I had around me.  Those people I was so worried about - ya - big circle around me and them yelling for me not to take my helmet off.  I appreciated the notion, but I didn't hit the wall with my head and didn't want anyone to cut it off me!

Then there was the ambulance, the fire truck, the police car and the big, burly fireman with the old-time curled down mustache who very quietly informed me that he had to cut my jeans (see, my fear about my helmet was not unfounded) to take a better look at my scraped-up knee.

It was quite the scene -- hopefully never to be repeated.  I'm also pleased to say that I was back in the same spot for the first time earlier this summer, and that turn was a piece of cake  ;D

Other than dropping a couple bikes in parking lots in front of my husband and stalling while pulling out of a party (I hear ya uberwench & SheMonster), I still get that little voice inside my head "don't mess up - don't mess up" sometimes.  Anyone know how to get rid of that? 

 

[theresaf]

Thanks

One more little part I forgot to mention -- As I was lying on the ground, I couldn't really see the bike. All I could envision in my head was the fairing completely missing from the side of the bike that scraped on the wall with oil spilling out and cut hoses and naked bike scraped up... so, I asked my friend and my husband "How's the bike?". They both looked over at it, smiled a bit, and said "not much wrong with it really, just a couple of scratches and turn signals". I stared at them in disbelief and said "Oh, you've got to be effing kidding me!".

I felt the bike should at least *look* the way I *felt* [cheeky]

 

[Binky]

I have two, one for each bike!  

I was just getting comfortable on my Buell Blast, so much so that I guess I felt I didn't really need to pay such close attention anymore.  Riding with some friends in the canyons, I came to a curve that was a little tighter than I anticipated and I grabbed a handful of brake, straightening up the bike right off the road.  As soon as the front wheel hit the soft dirt, it jerked the handlebars right out of my hands and sent me flying off the bike, literally like superman!  My friends riding behind me came running up and after making sure I was ok, gleefully relayed how funny I looked flying off the bike like that!    Thanks guys!  Lesson learned, no more front brake in the middle of a turn, just lean a little more.    

The second one was on the Monster, in a gas station.  Couldn't quite make the turn to get in front of the tank so had the brilliant idea to dip the bike a little, a little more, uh oh, too much!  Of course I'm thinking, "DO NOT DROP THE BIKE!"  But it was kinda heavy at this point, so slowly I let it go, first onto my thigh and then carefully onto the ground where it sustained just some minor scrapes on the pegs and handlebars.  I ended up with a lovely purple bruise on my thigh, but the bruise to my ego was much worse!   :-[  I didn't even get any gas, after a guy came over to help me get the bike up, I just sped off!  Lesson learned:  If you're going to dip the bike, you better have some speed going!   :

 

[LaBellaMonster]

I have soooo many stories it is hard just find one. Here is my favorite.

A long, long time ago (lol) in a land far away, I lived in the village of Cambria with my Kawi enduro. I was returning home from a spirited ride through the hills. Cambria has some incredibility steep hills, some of which are so steep that they closed the roads to traffic.

I ride up this street and I miss the shift to first and instead find neutral. I can not get the bike in gear and crash on the side of the road in among the rocks, twigs, shrubs, pine trees and blackberries bushes.

I am okay. The bike is okay, but there is no way I can get on my bike and get it home.

The bike is so tall that I literally have to stand on things to get on it, and then I have to kick start it, and now I am on this incredible hill.

Solution: The dad and his little lovely 4 and 6 year old girls have to help push the bike up to their driveway (about 125 feet up hill about an 20% grade).

Without the help of those little girls, I could not have moved my bike. (lol)

From their driveway, I stand on a log, get on my bike and finally ride away.  shheeesh

 

[mangeldbug]

nothing really too embarassing yet. But I plan to start commuting soon, and I work where all the hospitals are in Pittsburgh...high traffic area! Lots of potential for embarassment!

This is the only story I have so far:
My husband and I were doing a 2 day ride through PA taking the scenic route. We had been riding for close to 200 miles with no gas station sightings and I was getting mighty worried about the little monster running out of gas. Finally we happened upon Bezette, PA. Hallelujah! I am not used to a ride that long without a break, plus I was tired, dehydrated and hungry. After gassing up, I was attempting to park in their awkward hilly parking lot so we could eat. My husband was also hungry and cranky and telling me how to park and getting me frustrated. I circled around for another try and when he started telling me what to do again, I hit the brakes and stopped mid turn on the hill. OOPS! I know better than that, too. I fought like crazy but couldnt hold it up...BUT I was able to hold it enough that I basically placed it on the ground. Not a scratch. Of course there was a group of local ******** that were standing around watching this whole scenario from the beginning. :

 

[Mostrobelle]

These are great! [laugh]

OK, here's mine...I'd had the Monster for about a year. I'd been learning to ride it slowly, just taking it out on weekends and on lonely roads so I could go at my own pace and get a feel for the big bike without the hassle of Bay Area traffic and hills and so on and so forth. During this time, my primary bike was a little GS500 which I was using to commute to my new job in San Francisco. The GS was getting on in years--it was old and beat up when I got it--and the boyfriend decided it was time to do an overhaul on it--which meant it was going to be out of commission for a while. He felt I was good enough to ride the Ducati into work.

Needless to say I was petrified. Bay Area traffic is hairy at best but I have to go over the Bay Bridge to boot! I'd done it many times on the GS, but doing it on the Duc was a whole new ball game. I barely ate or slept for a week prior to my first morning ride into work on the M900. The mere thought of splitting lanes on my shiny red gem made me nauseous.

So the day came...I geared up, hopped on, prayed (and I'm not religious) and took off. I could barely see straight I was so terrified. I took my time and needled my way through traffic. I got a thumbs up from a woman on Harley as I was coming through the toll gates which boosted my confidence. I was starting to get the hang of it!! So I get into the city, thinking that the worst is over. I saunter into work with a smug look of satisfaction and accomplishment on my face that I wear for the entire day.

And then it comes time to leave. I go out to the bike which is parked on the street with at least a dozen others. I was hoping no one would be around to watch, but of course, there's this one older guy standing there getting geared up--and so I try waiting him out...to no avail. He comes over and chats me up. I answer his questions, exchange platitudes and try not to look nearly as flustered as I am. He's not leaving...still...it's been like 10 minutes....

OK, whatever. It's at this time I also realize that there's a big white bus directly across the street from me, and it's full of passengers and double parked, naturally. I've got like 50 people staring at me. So I finally hop on deciding that my nerves hadn't got the best of me in the morning and I wouldn't let them get to me now.

I pull out and give the bike some gas--a little too much because I'm nervous and the bike is geared pretty tall, so you need to give it a little juice to keep it going...Suddenly I realize that my normally slightly "sticky" throttle is completely stuck. In the split second I have before I realize that impact with the bus is in my very near future, I manually try to roll the throttle back but it was too late. I turn hard but the bike has too much speed and as it slams into the side of the bus, it also slides nearly completely underneath it!!

So I'm standing there on the street...absolutely stunned....worst fear has been realized to the 10th degree.

Moto dude comes over and asks if I'm fine--and amazingly--I was. I tweaked my thumb a little bit, but considering that I was in jeans, a mesh jacket, and $30 platform boots from Shoe Pavilion, I was pretty lucky.

The bus wasn't so lucky. It got a good jolt from the bike slamming into it and people inside were totally freaked out. Turns out a lot of older people were on it that day. They were all piling out and probably wondering if it was an earthquake. [laugh] The bus driver is cool and is scratching his head trying to figure out how the heck to get a motorcycle out from under a bus.

We finally pull the bike out and get it upright. The bus driver takes off and the moto guy is gone. I'm left alone to survey the damage. It ain't pretty. Tank dings on both sides, tweaked bars, mirrors destroyed, battery is leaking, bent front rim, pegs are gone, etc., etc. To add insult to injury, I find a meter maid and ask him if I'll be ticketed if I leave the bike without change in the meter for a couple of hours in the morning until I can get a tow truck. Of course, he just shrugs... bastid. My evening ended three hours later with me taking--yeah--A BUS--home after walking through downtown San Francisco with helmet in hand wondering if a) I'd return to 13 tickets on my bike and b) if it would survive on the street over night. :-\

Got to the bike first thing the a.m and all was fine--well, it was as I'd left it the evening before...whew!

With the subsequent trip to the shop, I learned that my sticky throttle was actually pretty bad. I also found out that I had no clutch fluid in my clutch. Hey...I'd only ridden one other bike and it used a cable. oops... The gearing was completely wrong for the kind of riding that I was doing in town and didn't help matters. I got all that stuff worked out on it, and when it came out of the shop was like riding a different bike! It was actually easy! [thumbsup]

I'm not sure which was worse--crashing in front of 50+ people or facing the mechanic at the shop when I told him that I didn't know that the clutch was supposed to have liquid in it. I thought it was a dry clutch! I didn't know that some parts needed fluid. [cheeky]

 

[Cookie]

Just the usual teenaged boys in a car riding along the girl on a bike on the highway stories (well, around here some of those are more scary than funny).  It's funny because I happen to be quite a bit older than them, so in my middle aged manners, I find it a little amusing.

Except for the time I got home and realized my jacket had ridden up, and my low riding pants had ridden down a bit too much.

Sigh.  Still have a helluva suntan on the top quarter of my bum...   

 

[ninahale]

On my crappy old '74 Kawasaki starter bike, I rode up to a huge mpls monthly scene and promptly forgot about the kickstand. Slowly, slowly laid it down about 1/4 inch from a very nice new Triumph, and then pure shamed-based adreneline got it back up fast before anyone noticed.

Then the first weekend on the new Monster I was out in the country at dinner and when I turned it on the fuel light came on, and the engine went out for some other reason. So I'm sitting there going crazy trying to find the reserve tank switch (duh) for about 20 minutes, getting more and more frantic that I can't find it. Finally I "amazingly" started it up again and "drafted" to the nearest gas station.

 

[DuCaTiGiR]

JUNE 2005

WoooHooo! I just finished the BRC and have my permit & a certificate to get my motorcycle license. I can't wait to get home, park the car, and get on that beautiful brand new Monster620 waiting in my garage. I've been dreaming of this moment, for two long months. You see, I've promised myself I wouldn't ride it until I learned the right way, on someone else's bike. I've got butterflies, am so nervous, and can't wait!

I gear up, my boyfriend gears up, and we're ready to go. Problem is, I never thought about the driveway. Let me describe my driveway. It's very, very steep, with a crazy switchback, and loose gravel. Why have I never thought of this before now? Why, oh why is the BRC course in a flat paved parking lot? I'm about to go for my first ride, and I can't do it. I can't. I don't want to drop it in my own driveway. My BF offers to ride my bike to the bottom, then off we go, and we have a great ride. Same thing happens when we return. I pull in and stop before the turn. I can't do it. He ride's his bike to the top, and then mine.

I rode like this for two weeks. Unable to go anywhere without an escort, my own personal bike valet. How embarrasing!  :-[

ps. i'm okay with it now, but still get those butterflies

 

[etoups]

just the usual 'forget to put my foot down at a light with pretty girls watching' sort of thing.

Same concept - though it was with all the boys at Hattar watching. Very embarassing. I had just taken my new 620 for a test drive - was feeling very confident. Next thing I knew, my new bike was lying on the ground.

 

[DarkRider007]

yesterday at a very busy outdoors outlet shopping mall-I thought it would be cool to park my bike right infront of the walkway entrance next to a Kwak,I pull in to park my Duc for everyone's viewing pleasure (or so I thought), I hadn't noticed the uneven surface-came to a complete stop and right when I was ready to kick the side stand down, the bike tips over to the left side, all you heard was VRRRROOOOOOOMMMM (as a result of me trying to rescue it from falling and utillizing the kung fu tiger grip on the handle bars)...I heard one guy say " damn, that's gonna be expensive to fix"...so the lower left side fairing of the bike is scratched...picked it up, smoked a cig, and TRIED to look unphased and cool about it-then I left after about a minute.......

 

[SheMonster]

The number of "cool points" you lose is directly proportional to the number of people who witness it. Trust me, I know.

 

[never2loud]

The number of "cool points" you lose is directly proportional to the number of people who witness it.  Trust me, I know. 

Ha!  Absolutely.  Kinda like, If an SBK falls in forest...  [laugh]

 

[4feet11inches]

after two months, i dropped my baby on a slow turn...glad i installed the slidders. just wish i could get some longer legs.

 

[Mostrobelle]

yesterday at a very busy outdoors outlet shopping mall-I thought it would be cool to park my bike right infront of the walkway entrance next to a Kwak,I pull in to park my Duc for everyone's viewing pleasure (or so I thought), I hadn't noticed the uneven surface-came to a complete stop and right when I was ready to kick the side stand down, the bike tips over to the left side, all you heard was VRRRROOOOOOOMMMM (as a result of me trying to rescue it from falling and utillizing the kung fu tiger grip on the handle bars)...I heard one guy say " damn, that's gonna be expensive to fix"...so the lower left side fairing of the bike is scratched...picked it up, smoked a cig, and TRIED to look unphased and cool about it-then I left after about a minute.......

I liked that you smoked a cig right after. [laugh]

 

[Ducky]

+1 on wishing I have longer legs.