Most Embarrassing Moment With Your Bike

    • Moderator
    • 1364 posts
    July 14, 2009 5:40 AM PDT
    Ok, Well just last Saturday I went up to the local independent shop I hang out at. Did some B.S.ing order some parts. Walking out to the bike, There were some other riders parked by mine. One cat started talking to me about the paint and a little KISSTORY. He and his buddies fired up there rides and headed out. Put my cell phone in my bag, got on, fired up the bike and started heading out to the Hwy, They were having a huge swap meet in the parking lot. People are looking at me and something feels different. In my mirror I see Patty (co owner) at the door waving very fast. Well you guessed it. I tap the top of my head and no helmet... Couldn't hear what was yelled from the shop but it must have been pretty funny because all the people in the parking lot were laughing and a few were pointing....
  • December 23, 2009 5:20 AM PST
    Ok, did another dumb one. Decided to take a ride around the neighborhood with my Santa Suit on last Saturday. Figured the kids would love it. There was a little ic on the street, but I figured if I went slow and straight, should be no problem. Well the slow was no problem, it was the straight thing that didn't go so well. Going down the street at about 15 mph all of the sudden the back tire broke loose and swerved the bike. Before I could do anything, I ran right in to the side of the mail truck. Well, at least I did what I set out to do...all of the neighborhood kids had a smile on their face!
    • 75 posts
    December 23, 2009 5:58 AM PST
    I used to ride with a group of guys and, unoffially, I always rode tailgunner position. Among other things, that meant that I was also usually the last to park. This particular day I, and a couple of others, were just back far enough behind everyone that most were parked and waiting when we got there. I backed up to the curb, threw my kickstand down but leaned my bike the wrong direction. Bummer...

    Another time, just this past summer, I took my 17-year-old daughter to pickup her new glasses. My daughter is about 5' 7" and a little bit plump. She asked if I was ready for her to get on the bike, I said "no" because I wasn't prepared. I wasn't even holding the handlebars because I was putting on my gloves. Not having heard "no" she stepped up, with her full weight, on the right passenger peg and pulled me and the bike down in front of a handful of people about 15 feet away, 2 of which came running over to ask if I needed help standing my bike up. I think the look on my face must have said it all. It's hard to balance an 800-pound motorcycle when you're feeling about 6 inches tall.
    • 1 posts
    December 23, 2009 6:04 AM PST
    HwyLvr wrote...
    Ok, did another dumb one. Decided to take a ride around the neighborhood with my Santa Suit on last Saturday. Figured the kids would love it. There was a little ic on the street, but I figured if I went slow and straight, should be no problem. Well the slow was no problem, it was the straight thing that didn't go so well. Going down the street at about 15 mph all of the sudden the back tire broke loose and swerved the bike. Before I could do anything, I ran right in to the side of the mail truck. Well, at least I did what I set out to do...all of the neighborhood kids had a smile on their face!
    Man, since it sounds like you didn't get hurt, that is really funny.  Too bad you didn't get a picture of Santa Down!
  • December 23, 2009 6:20 AM PST
    My husband, brother and I took a road trip to Big Bend last summer. I had been riding a lowered softail for the last few years but had traded up to my 09 Street Glide. We had been in Big Bend for a couple of days and was really enjoying ourselves, the sights are amazing. We were running down river road and came up on a look out and without thinking I pulled in...crosswise on a steeply sloaped pulloff. Come to a stop and down I went. Of course my husband turns around and yells to my brother... wait!! "Get the Camera!" before they manhandled my bike back up. To add insult to injury, we made it to the top of McDonalds Observatory and you guessed it... Steep grade, and a turn around... and I didn't even need to stop this time... down I went and it just had to be on the opposite side.
  • December 23, 2009 7:42 AM PST
    Way back in the late 80s when I had no sense what-so-ever, I was drinking at a party and insisted I was OK to ride. My girlfriend disagreed with me and wouldn't give me my helmet (that was locked in her car) so I said I'd go without it.
    She gave in and got my helmet and followed me home in her car. I rode perfectly... until the last red light, 1/2 block from home... I stopped and forgot to put my feet down.
  • December 23, 2009 7:57 AM PST
    Riding down Townson Ave in Fort Smith,Arkansas with a girl from work on the back.A buddy was riding next to us and shouted that she needed to show her tits..a few blocks down the street I looked back and discovered that she was not only flashing,she had taken her shirt completely off...I'm all for naked chicks,but the Fort Smith Police dont have a very good sense of humor..I yelled for her to get the shirt back on before we ended up in jail..lol. Not sure if that is Embarrassing,but it was for sure a panic moment.
    • 1161 posts
    December 23, 2009 11:19 AM PST
    I dont have a bike, So a friend was loaning me his 1995 Ninja 750. So since i had not ridden it yet i took it out to get use to the Clutch and (Sport bike) foot pegs. No problems going around the block a few times feeling (better) about using it. Then was going to talk to my friend, Started a quick turn around and slowed down, started from the far side of the road and got almost all the way around and I put my foot down to try to steady the bike. I thought I had it and wam the bike and I both are on the ground and the bike is on my leg and foot. Right infront of his house with every one out side watching the motorcycle going around the block. He had to help the Noob get the bike off the ground.  And it was also on my birthday.
  • December 23, 2009 12:06 PM PST
    Ahhhh....there a few stories I could share ( turn the gas on, the kill switch on, etc....LOL), but the one that just mortified me I couldn't control. I was trying to get my first sportster started in a college parking lot when everyone was leaving. Mid-kick the kick-stand broke. The bike fell down, I fell. I was so embarrassed I yanked the bike upright, straddled it, kicked it once (thank god it started!) and took off. To this day I don't know (1) How I picked that bike up and (2) how I got it to start with just my leg. Normally, I had to stand on the kicker and use ALL my weight to get it to turn over!
  • December 23, 2009 12:21 PM PST
    I had just bought my brand new Vulcan 2000. I picked it up at the dealer and rode it home ahead of my wife. I decided to go around the block before she got home and had to stop at the top of the hill. The street had just been paved and had a lot of asphault gravels on it. Soooo..... my foot slides out and the bike goes down, I jammed my leg under it to keep the tank from getting dinged and was pinned. I had to yell for my neighbor to come out and help me get the bike back up. This is one heavy bike! I then pulled onto the carport and got off.....kickstand still up, rider pinned face first against the wall. Luckily, all before the wife got home.
    • 1780 posts
    December 23, 2009 11:13 PM PST
    Ok I too have had a moment in which I went to move my wife’s bike which was setting in front of a bunch of bikers. As soon as I let out on the clutch I went down. Now that wasn't bad enough, so I jumped up and looked around to see if anyone saw that.....they did. So I started the bike up again and did the very same thing, this time breaking off one of my wife’s mirror’s..........Moral of the story ......Don't forget to remove the front brake lock stupid!!
    The Dragon
  • December 27, 2009 2:18 PM PST
    a few years ago, was on a v-star 1100 right after having back surgery, about a month or so afterwards, doc said go ahead so off we go, we were running backroads around san antonio, three of us, i got distracted for a second, didn't see the pothole, bang, i damn sure felt it. we get to deer crossing, a little biker bar and pull in to get a beer. i roll up, managed to get my feet down, had to stall the bike cause i couldn't sit back up straight to hit the kill switch. a woman walking by asked me if i was alright, i said" ma'am, i would greatly appreciate it if you could put the stand down" bless her heart she did. i thought she had walked off when i let myself fall off the bike. she walked back up to me laying on the ground and asked me if i really needed another beer. didn't bother explaining the recent back surgery.
    • 190 posts
    December 27, 2009 3:09 PM PST
    Well, after reading all of this, I suppose i can share. I got my Blue in July, and in November, I dropped her, I usually pull her up and around to face down the driveway, but that last time was after heavy rain and the grassy part I have to negotiate was probably to wet, so I drove straight up and parked her. Some days later the weather was nice and I thought i'd take my daughter for a spin. So, I start her up and start backing down the driveway (kinda long) and get a cramp in my right leg, towards the bottom, I decided to strech the cramp whil on the bike, but with some uneven pavement she started to go over, I caught her but couldnt kepp her from goin compleatly down. and neighbors saw. and I used the method from the garage womens parties method to upright her. yes embarasing. good news only a few scratches and now I can buy that #!skull derby cover. (Sorry blue). I hope i learned my lesson.
  • December 28, 2009 3:01 AM PST
    Gotta say that I've had a few embarrasing moments on my bikes, but the one that was the first & the worse happened few months after I bought my brand new 86 Honda Rebel. It only had 11 miles on it, and I was in love! I'd been riding for 10 years already so I figured I knew what I was doing. One gorgeous day after a nice long ride, I rode the beloved Honda into the backyard to park it next to the tall, wooden fence by the back door. My backyard was right behind a huge private garden type estate, so nobody ever went back there. When I went to get off the bike...you guessed it, I forgot to put the kickstand down and the shift in weight slammed me sideways against the fence, my neck almost snapped, and the full weight of the bike had me pinned, helpless! After awhat seems like an eternity trying to get the bike off me, I was saved. Luckily my roommate came home sick from work and helped me get untangled. Of course, EVERYBODY had to hear about it, how my beloved bike tried to kill me! Needless to say, that's the first thing I check ever since is for the kickstand to be down.
  • December 28, 2009 3:53 AM PST
    FIRST embarrasing moment, was also my first ride. Whole family into dirt tracking in the old days. (like about 1970) My oldest brother bought me a Honda 50, brand new, for Christmas. Sat on it in the livingroom for two weeks waiting for the silver thaw and 2' of snow to melt. First snow free day we wheel it out for my first ride ever. Bunch of old school dirt guys standing around, including a multiple champ from Woodland Race Track (big deal in the day). I fire it up, smile, kick it in gear and wick the throttle. Just as the auto tranny slipped into third gear I T-boned dad's new Impala. Never saw it coming. Lesson one, look where yu are going.

    Latest embarrasing moment on a bike. Wheel the new Heritage into the living room morning of the 23rd. Dead battery! F!!! The delivery guy left the switch on all night. Charged it up all day. When I got home from slavery, the wife says "Fire it up!" RIGHT-ON! (Crank... fire... put put put put...) I pop the throttle and those new Rhinhards roar. The clock that WAS on the living room wall flew about ten feet. Oooops! Wife shouts "That's enough!" Crap!

    I am hoping my next embarrasing moment on a bike will involve nudity and cheering drunks!!!
  • December 28, 2009 4:24 AM PST
    I've tipped the bike over 3 times.  All 3 going 0 MPH.

    Use to live in Iowa (Land of the pot holes).  Came up to a stop sign.  Extended my left foot into a road crater.  The bike's momentun pushed us down.  When I picked the o'l Honda CB750C back up (easy to do when you're pi**ed), I ripped the seat out of my pants.  Then the bike wouldn't start.  One of the plates in the battery had broken off and shorted out a cell.  Had to push the dang thing 7 blocks back to home.

    If someone would have been filming that, I'd have made some real money on AFV.
    • 1161 posts
    January 10, 2010 6:31 PM PST
    good storys glad every one shares.
  • January 10, 2010 11:11 PM PST
    i have dumped them a bunch of times. One time at a gas station was pulling out came to a stop and put my foot down in an oil slick, down we went. Last summer at Sturgis I was at the Full Thrattle going to leave stoped put my foot down on some gravel it sliped down we went that has to be the most embarrissing so far. The most dumb ass moment was I had just finished the bobber and had only had it around the block a couple of times and I still needed to do some twinking on it so I had not put Lock-Tite on anything yet. I go to the gas station, fill it up and start to kick start it after the third kick there is a big klunk and the bike flops to the right. I am thinking what the hell. I start looking around and damn if I dident lose the front axle nut and the axle had backed 1/2 way out. Lady luck was on my side that day caus the speed limit just past the station is 45. Dont want to think what would of happend if the axle came out when I was moving
    • Moderator
    • 19067 posts
    January 10, 2010 11:26 PM PST
    Losing an axle while riding is right up there on my list of things I NEVER WANT TO HAPPEN. Glad it didn't happen to you there Bull.
    • 1161 posts
    January 11, 2010 1:04 PM PST
    omg no joke that would have gotten ugly bullmoose!
  • January 11, 2010 5:11 PM PST
    you can bet there isent a nut on that bike that dosent have Lock-Tite or a lock washer on it now.
  • January 11, 2010 6:58 PM PST
    I was the new district manager for our MRO, Modified Motorcycle Association of AZ, and was meeting the members at the local casino one Saturday morning for a big run the casino was putting on. I had to get up early and run off some fliers to hand out for one of our yearly runs, so I got a bit behind and didnt have breakfast before I left. Normally missing breakfast for most is not an issue, but I am diabetic. The ride to the casino was about 15 miles and it was a brisk autumn morning. So by the time I got to the casino I was a little tired, cold...and weak. I pulled up to where my fellow members were staged, came in nice and slow, put my feet down, came to a complete stop...just then my legs gave out and I fell over on my right side ever so slowly...in slow motion even...to the ground. Very quickly I am surrounded by my friends, pulling my sled up off of me, most of them not knowing if they should laugh at their new "leader".

    After that, I never missed another pre-ride breakfast.
  • January 11, 2010 10:00 PM PST
    We were at a rally in East Tennessee one late night. In the middle of a grassy field after the dew had settled, we stupidly decided that we needed to move the bikes to a different area. I'm riding ever so slowly being extra careful,when I notice another bike getting a little too close for comfort. I just barely touch the rear brake (BIG MISTAKE), on that wet grass I spun around so quick my head was spinning. Before I could even realize what had happened, there were at least 5 guys around me to help pick up the bike. Later one of my buddies said that he thought I was trying to show off and do a donut!
  • January 11, 2010 10:44 PM PST
    last year at a rally in march it had been raining earlyer that morning . i had just finished the slow race and won .my 13 year old girl says take me back to the tent,so i fire the fxr i was riding at the time she got on the back i put it in gear let the cluch out it moved about 1 foot in the soft wet ground and it died.the next thing i knew i was looking at the sky and my daughter standing there looking at me laughing .when the bike and i fell over she just steped off. could have shot her.but had to laugh with her and every one else.
  • January 13, 2010 12:07 PM PST
    It was my first year of riding in groups. I was with a big group that had a large ratio of guys in it & it was decided to stop for dinner. The guys were giving me grief before we left about being a girl not having a clue about riding, that I belonged on the back, not on the front. Trying to pump myself up & just be natural & telling myself that everything was going to ok, we came to the parking lot and the driveway ran along top of the parking lot, at the bottom was 180 degree, right hand turn. I turn the handlebars, they wouldn't turn any more, at the last moment I realized I was not going to make the turn & I tipped the bike over & rolled the bike over me 2 times down the bank some 25 foot. I stood up. Was very very pi**ed off that this had happened in front of God & country watching, I picked up the bike, put the kickstand down. Shook myself off. Started up the bike & parked it with the group. It took about 10 minutes for the surge to end, then I got the shakes & couldn't stand on my own. All the guys didn't know what to say, to pat me on the back or tell me to go home.

    Lesson: Handlebars will only get you so far. Don't under estimate the power of a turn. Haven't rolled a bike since.......