I went down yesterday-but all is well

[MidWest XL]

It was the weirdest thing. I'm leaving work yesterday afternoon, taking my normal route home and come to an intersection. I look both ways and begin to take off. I'm taking a slow left hand turn onto the main roadway, still in first gear. As I'm making the turn, about 3/4 of the way through, I notice that the back end felt loose. Just then I thought to myself, "that felt weird" and by the time I got "weird" out I was on my side. I slid for about 20 feet or so I guess. Thankfully there was no traffic. Damage was minimal to me and the bike. It didn't even tear a hole in my jeans and only had minor wear on the back of the forearm and elbow on my leather jacket, which would have equated to some nasty road rash had I not been wearing it (I'm wearing a jacket from here on in - F it). It was the weirdest feeling, almost surreal. I looked back at my path and didn't see anything on the road's surface, but they've been revamping a golf course adjacent to the road. It happened so quickly and there was nothing I could do. I went to pick up the bike and remembered how hard it might be to do so from reading posts on this forum, but it came up without any problem, probably adrenaline. I made it home alright, but my clutch lever was tweaked a bit and if I gave it too much throttle the clutch would slip so I figured it wasn't disengaging all the way. I pulled into my driveway and the lever popped back into place and straightened itself out. I'm going to take a little trip around the block to see if it did indeed pop back into place whern I get home from work.

[Takingabreak]

Good to hear your ok, look the bike over everything to can check, and make sure it is 100%.
If you don't feel up to safety checking it yourself, have the dealer look it over.
That clutch thing just don't sound right.

[RedRider]

Glad to hear you weren't hurt.

The rear end might have slid out due to a light coating of sand on the road. Sand is used frequently at golf courses as a top dressing.....maybe they spilled some on the highway during transport....

[jade44V]

Wow, that sure is strange. Glad you weren't hurt!

That must have been some freaky feeling...

[PlanB]

Glad to hear you're ok, but I'd sure go back to that spot and walk it to try to find out what happened...that does sound weird! My first two thoughts was that your belt drive had decided to puke right there...either that or some oil from all the trucks working on that golf course may have left a present at the spot you hit...keep us updated if you figure it out, ok?

[xena]

Glad you weren't hurt!

[Predator]

Glad it wasn't too bad for ya.
I'm with the others, i'd go back to see what's up.

[Jimbo999]

I agree............Go check it so we all know what caused it.

[Bikerdude]

Happy to hear that you are alright. I would be wanting to get to the bottom of what the heck happened back there. I HAVE to understand things..what caused this to happen. I just HAVE TO KNOW...
Let us all know what you figure out caused it..and again..glad your in good shape...:banana :smoke

[82ndJumper]

Good to hear you are ok, check the bike out good. Also check out that road.

[gripdad]

Coolant (antifreeze) is also something to watch out for on a road surface. Cars sometimes belch it while waiting at an intersection. It is slick as snot which is why you can't use it on a racetrack.

[txsporty]

Glad to hear your OK!!!:clap :clap :clap

Let us know what you find out about the cause!!

[Preacher]

Glad to hear you are ok! Glad there wasn't a lot of damage to the bike too....

[gilx]

Wow, thats scary...glad you are OK.

Ya gotta go back and find out what happend or it will mess with your confidence. Gravel, sand, dust, oil, leaves all can dramatically alter the friction we need. Not only do you need to find out what caused the fall, but how to recognize it and be able to take the appropriate countermeasure. Hope this doesn't sound too preachy...but knowledge is survival!

[MidWest XL]

Thanks for the kind words and advice. I'll take my bike in to get checked out this week. The obvious damage is limited to the derby cover, rear turn signal housing, a flat spot on my shifter pad, a flat spot on my clutch lever and a flat spot on the chrome strip of my aileron grip. I looked the road over pretty good when it happened and on my way home from work yesterday and I really didn't see any sand or anything that may have contributed to the slide. I didn't, however, look at the intersection I was at prior to take off very closely. I'll look at that when I head back to work tomorrow. I have been reliving it over and over in my mind trying to figure out what caused it and I remembered something. I may have done it on my own! As I was making the slow turn I noticed a manhole cover in my path, I rode around it, but right after, leaned a bit more into the turn since I was heading toward the edge of the road. I'm thinking that it was my fault because of that slow-speed lean. It was just then that I said to myself "that felt weird". But I swear I felt that rear end slide. Maybe that was just a byproduct of the dynamics when a bike goes down? That's the only thing I could come up with since the road did seem clear.

[bshadbolt]

Regardless of the cause, you got off lightly. If you can find out it will be good for future reference, if not, thanks your lucky stars that you're ok and ride on.

Cheers,

Brett

[cantolina]

Glad you're ok...

I had something similar happen the other day...

I go by a dairy farm almost every ride outta town....on the way back the other day, I was in 4th, getting ready to make a LH curve up a hill past this farm...

I noticed the cows**t on the road, and made a mental note, but it had rained that morning.....

As I hit the dung, the ass-end spun just a tad...I kept her up, but what a pucker-factor...

I'm WAY more careful by that farm now....

If I ever DO go down there, I'm gonna SUE his ass.....

[MidWest XL]

After checking the area over carefully, I didn't really find anything that I could say was a direct contribution to the slide. After review, I concluded that I was taking the turn too slow and, addiing that "extra lean", simply tipped the bike over. Dumb ass. But I guess that's how you learn, so I'm very happy that my "first" lesson, although laying the bike down was part of it, was kind to me and allowed me to come out of it relatively easy.

Life's lessons - you have to listen to them to learn.

[Randum77]

Man, atleast you aren't hurt bad at all. The would be first on my list. Second is if you can stand riding the bike with the scars on it. All in all, it's good you looked over the area throughly. This will help you see things in the future that you normally wouldn't have. :)

[Sandman]

Good to hear that you're okay Midwest. Sorry bout you laying it down though, hope you get it back like you want it soon!

[andyman1958]

Wow, glad you're all right. Your story brings me back to my incident in July....:hidechai I really wonder if what they say about Sportsters is true, that is, about the high center of gravity. I still can't remember what happened to me, but all I know is it happened lightning fast, with no warning. I was riding, then I was down. Never had that happen on another bike in all the time I've been riding, always had some indication that something was wrong, and had time to correct it. Just have to be careful, I guess. Anyway, glad you're ok. Bikes can be fixed, it's a lot tougher when you get injured too.

[harnoir]

Something doesn't add up:

You took a slow turn, 3/4 of the way through it you were still in 1st gear, but when you went down you slid 20ft? Maybe it should have been a slow turn. Did you gun it coming off the apex?

[cello77]

I just laid my bike down. Is there anything I need to look for that may be a problem? when I am trying to "waddle" my bike, it seems a little bit harder to do. Am I just paranoid? I was at a stop sign and was about to go but realized a car was turning into my lane so I stopped but put the wrong foot down first. I was on an incline and the bike just hit the point of no return. My derby cover is scuffed and my throttle got a little nick and my front brake handel broke off at the end but that was it to the extent of damage I could see. Should I be looking for something else? It was my first month of riding.

Thanx.

[Shamdog]

Midwest -

You say you saw a manhole cover and went around it. Which way did you go...outside or inside. Maybe, if you went inside, you cut it too close and the rear wheel hit the cover. With the bike in a hard lean and the touchy throttle in 1st gear, you nicked the rear tire onto the cover and that broke you free???

Just a thought.

[ed_in_az]

Good take on it there Shamdog. Metal manhole cover would likely cause a slide while turning and applying throttle. It must be the torque, cause even my 883 will break that back tire loose pretty easy in a turn. Twice Saturday, in turns I felt the back slide a few inches. It felt creepy. Musta been sand in the road since it was an old road, and almost paved.:laugh

[xlhflh]

I think there is a distinct feeling associated with falling at slow speed. If it was a surprise, my guess is that the rear slipped. I'd suspect the hanhole cover.
Glad it wasn't too bad for ya
Bob

[kmssporty05]

Very scary. As was mentioned earlier, microscopic sand particles from the golf course could have contributed to this. Glad you are ok.

[MidWest XL]

Something doesn't add up:

You took a slow turn, 3/4 of the way through it you were still in 1st gear, but when you went down you slid 20ft? Maybe it should have been a slow turn. Did you gun it coming off the apex?
After hind site, it looked to be around 4 to 6 feet. I guess it just seemed like 20 ft at the time. I knew that sounded goofey after talking with a few friends - 20 ft is a L O N G way.
I got the front wheel just around the outside of the manhole cover. But I must have been going too slow.
On the advice of the forum members, I took the bike into the dealership to get it checked out. I was expecting maybe $100-$200. I got a call when they had completed the estimate: $1,603.59.
Of course, after I talked with them, they told me they looked over the entire bike from head to toe. My tire had a scuff on it, so they figured in a tire, my front fender had a rock chip on it and they figured it in. They even found some blemishes I had never seen. I asked them if everything was good mechanically and they said the bike was fine. So I had them replace the clutch lever & rear turn signal housing and I paid $130. My wife almost fell over when she saw the estimate on the kitchen counter.

[oakies]

I'm taking a slow left hand turn onto the main roadway, still in first gear. As I'm making the turn, about 3/4 of way through, I notice that the back end felt loose. Just then I thought to myself, "that felt weird" and by the time I got "weird" out I was on my side.



The same thing happened to me recently on a slow turn..My rear tire went over a rock in the road...I didnt go down but it sure felt weird.

[Sport-Ed]

Glad your good Midwest...feelin for ya..literaly!:doh

I went down this weekend at about 35mph. Broken wrist and hand, although I think of myself as good also....considerin!

My estimate of damage was around $1000 of bike rash, mirror, clutch lever... It didn't involve tires or fenders though....

Ed

[merc]

Very glad you are not seriously hurt.
Thanks for sharing this with us-we all learnt somethin'

[smoke]

Missed this post the 1st time around. Glad you made it out ok! Always great when you can ride away!

[streeteagle2]

I went down on my '66 XLH a few years back turning into my apartment complex-really bummed up my leg. I was down so fast it was like I hit a sheet of ice, except it was August. I later found out it was sand, not that much, but it does'nt take much to cause a loss of traction. Sand from the golf course may have caused your spill-not easy to spot!

[mikeLI_77]

My wife almost fell over when she saw the estimate on the kitchen counter.

Man if i were you i would have also almost fallen over also from seeing the estimate.

Glad to hear your ok. At least you were able to figure out what happened so in the future you can take measures to not repeat it again. It may suck that you had to fall but it does become a good learning experience in the end.

I also had my rear slide out a few inches last week when coming home from work. I know what it was though because even in my car my tires spin when i try to turn out of my parking lot at work. was making the left at about 5-7mph trying to keep it slow because i work for a village and all the trucks that come in and out of that parking lot drop dirt and dust all the time so in the middle of the turn i felt the back go out and before i could even think "oh crap" it caught again and i was off. scared me for a second and then just kept going.