Learned the Hard Way... How NOT to Park the F6B

Lesson Learned the Hard Way and ended up in the ER
Just laid down my brand new bike,,,on top of my foot, The passenger peg, which was in the up position dug into my ankle. I was home along and the only way I could get free was to drag my ankle out from under the bike, Doing that, the peg stripped the flesh off my ankle, down to the tendon and bone. :yikes:

While waiting in the ER last night to have things stitched back together, I had time to analyze what went wrong.

Here is what happened:

I parked on a very slight slope, facing down...and I mean VERY slight just so the water will drain away from the house. I sifted into neutral as always before turning off the bike,,,like I have done with the five other bikes I have owed.

When I stared to dismount, the bike started rolling forward and pushed the side stand backward.

Since I was leaning to the left while dismounting the bike leaned left after the side stand moved up. Once the lean gets more than 15/20 degrees there is no way to recover, It is going to GO down!

What I learned the hard way

1, Never park with the bike pointing "down slope", no matter how slight!

2. Shift back into 1st Gear before dismounting.


Of course, I could go to an aftermarket side stand which is shorted and will give more lean to the bike when parked but the downside is it will be more difficult to pull it back into he riding position.

So the moral of the story is ..."Much to your chagrin falls the F6B." :icon_doh: You knew that was coming.

Man that had to hurt....
Hope you heal up and since your ankle softened the fall no damage to the bike...:icon_redface:

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Originally Posted by oldxtreme

Lesson Learned the Hard Way and ended up in the ER
Just laid down my brand new bike,,,on top of my foot, The passenger peg, which was in the up position dug into my ankle. I was home along and the only way I could get free was to drag my ankle out from under the bike, Doing that, the peg stripped the flesh off my ankle, down to the tendon and bone. :yikes:

While waiting in the ER last night to have things stitched back together, I had time to analyze what went wrong.

Here is what happened:

I parked on a very slight slope, facing down...and I mean VERY slight just so the water will drain away from the house. I sifted into neutral as always before turning off the bike,,,like I have done with the five other bikes I have owed.

When I stared to dismount, the bike started rolling forward and pushed the side stand backward.

Since I was leaning to the left while dismounting the bike leaned left after the side stand moved up. Once the lean gets more than 15/20 degrees there is no way to recover, It is going to GO down!

What I learned the hard way

1, Never park with the bike pointing "down slope", no matter how slight!

2. Shift back into 1st Gear before dismounting.


Of course, I could go to an aftermarket side stand which is shorted and will give more lean to the bike when parked but the downside is it will be more difficult to pull it back into he riding position.

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I hate that happened to you and what you had to do to get free. I had a similar incidence a long time ago. Not anything like yours but still :yikes:. I can guarantee that you will never let that happen again !!

Sorry to hear you got hurt, and I hope you heal quickly.

Unfortunately, there are 4 rules all learn when riding a 2-whl GL1800. Some learn them sooner, some later. In spite of what they teach in motorcycle safety training classes, here is rule #4.

- always be in 1st gear when parking
- put the side stand down to kill the engine (never use the kill switch)
- with then engine off, let the clutch out, and allow the Wing to roll, whichever way it wants, to take up all backlash in its drivetrain
- then set the side-stand

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oldxtreme

Lesson Learned the Hard Way and ended up in the ER
Just laid down my brand new bike,,,on top of my foot, The passenger peg, which was in the up position dug into my ankle. I was home along and the only way I could get free was to drag my ankle out from under the bike, Doing that, the peg stripped the flesh off my ankle, down to the tendon and bone. :yikes:

While waiting in the ER last night to have things stitched back together, I had time to analyze what went wrong.

Here is what happened:

I parked on a very slight slope, facing down...and I mean VERY slight just so the water will drain away from the house. I sifted into neutral as always before turning off the bike,,,like I have done with the five other bikes I have owed.

When I stared to dismount, the bike started rolling forward and pushed the side stand backward.

Since I was leaning to the left while dismounting the bike leaned left after the side stand moved up. Once the lean gets more than 15/20 degrees there is no way to recover, It is going to GO down!

What I learned the hard way

1, Never park with the bike pointing "down slope", no matter how slight!

2. Shift back into 1st Gear before dismounting.


Of course, I could go to an aftermarket side stand which is shorted and will give more lean to the bike when parked but the downside is it will be more difficult to pull it back into he riding position.

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I have always worried about that happening so I leave it in first gear even if it seems pretty flat. I hope you heal fast and feel better soon!

Glad to hear you will survive. How did the bike fair? You can always tell the new riders when they are fresh from riding school because at every stop they are looking for neutral before parking the bike, mabey Steve can tell us why they teach that. Just not necessary to park or crank. And now you know, never park pointing downhill, much better to back downhill into a parking spot.

Ouch oldxtreme. :shock: Heal well bro... and hopefully quickly and without issue.

Some interesting comments about parking your bike in this thread.

I’ve never killed the engine with the kickstand, nor made a habit of parking my bike in gear. I HAVE parked my bike in gear though, if I perceive that I’m on an incline.. but NEVER facing downwards...

Normally I do like to stay in neutral at a stop, providing that I have ample stopped cars behind me...

Ya know that won't happen with a Harley. At least not my 90 Ultra; the side stand locks when there is weight on it.
Just saying😎
But you do have my sympathy. I dropped the Ultra and trapped my leg, no one around just like you. I figured I'd pull off my(laced up) boot or my foot. Fortunately I was wearing loggers and no damage was done.

Thanks for sharing your story oldxtreme. Get well soon.

Many, many years ago while I was called out to work overnight, my dear wife was on her way out the door in the early morning, and passed through our open garage heading to work. She walked through the space between our parked car and my previous BMW. Her sweater caught the end of the BMW handle bar pulling the bike over and off it's center stand. The bike fell over pinning her between the parked car and the bike. She didn't have the strength to get out from under. After 15 minutes of calling for help a passerby walking his dog was able to free her.

You just never know when shit can happen.

OUCH!

Hopefully the scratches are not deep, wish you all the best for a speedy heal!

:shock:

Ouch! Hope you heal fast, that's a painful lesson to share!




Mike

Ouch!!! Hope you heal fast. Now where's the pics? Everyone loves pics!!

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Originally Posted by 2wheelsforme

Glad to hear you will survive. How did the bike fair? You can always tell the new riders when they are fresh from riding school because at every stop they are looking for neutral before parking the bike, maybe Steve can tell us why they teach that. Just not necessary to park or crank. And now you know, never park pointing downhill, much better to back downhill into a parking spot.

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We don't teach that!
We teach them leave the bike in gear when you park.
We teach them to put it in N when starting.

Not sure who might be teaching otherwise.
Cheers,
Steve

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 53driver

We don't teach that!
We teach them leave the bike in gear when you park.
We teach them to put it in N when starting.

Not sure who might be teaching otherwise.
Cheers,
Steve

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Yep. Always park in gear and start in neutral.

Sorry this happened to you. I learned several years ago not to park the bike nose first into a decline. Simply because my Roadstar (at the time) was too heavy to back up even a small incline. This bike is even heavier.

Heal up, unfortunately it happens.

I never park my B facing down angle but I always leave it in neutral. I've tried stopping with a down angle on the B to close the gate and it's a no go. I have to park at the bottom of the driveway and walk back...For another day or two anyway, working on installing a gate minder between work shifts. I've always left my manual transmissions in neutral unless parked on a steep hill too.

One vote for no pics, sounds gruesome. Glad it wasn't a 127 Hours situation, but it still sounds rough.
Regarding parking in neutral or in gear: you have to imagine what's the worst that could happen in either scenario and choose accordingly.
Leaving it in gear has far fewer negative outcomes.
When I was young and motorcycles didn't weigh as much it wasn't a big deal. Now I'm older with a bad back and quickly learned with my top-heavy ST1300 that it's best to have it held in place by the transmission when parked.
The F6B is heavier that the ST1300 but the center of gravity is lower, still a beast though! Weighs about as much as two 55 gallon drums of oil.

Well, I finally got enough courage to crutch it out to the garage to to see what I did to the bike, knowing that flesh and bones heal but scratches and dents never do!

The good news is that my ankle served as a pad for the bike and no dents or scratches anywhere:icon_lol:

I did figure out that my ankle was trapped under the passenger peg. Ironically, the day before this happened, I was looking at those pegs and planned to remove them since I never ride two up.

After 50 years of riding, there are still things to be learned! 1. Bike in gear & 2. NEVER point down hill!

By the way, when I did get help, picking up the bike like is shows in many Goldwing videos, really works! It came right up with minimal effort. I am so glad I watched those videos even though I "knew" I would NEVER drop this bike! And I didn't for almost two weeks:icon_rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by druggr

Sorry to hear you got hurt, and I hope you heal quickly.

Unfortunately, there are 4 rules all learn when riding a 2-whl GL1800. Some learn them sooner, some later. In spite of what they teach in motorcycle safety training classes, here is rule #4.

- always be in 1st gear when parking
- put the side stand down to kill the engine (never use the kill switch)
- with then engine off, let the clutch out, and allow the Wing to roll, whichever way it wants, to take up all backlash in its drivetrain
- then set the side-stand

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I meant to write rules #1, 2, and 3.
Rule 1 - GL1800 only like pavement ... stay on the payment.
Rule 2 - When braking, and coming to a stop, make sure the bars are always pointing straight ahead at 0mph.
Rule 3 - If coming into a curve to "hot", never stand them up and brake ... push harder on the bars, and go deeper into the curve.

Yep, we need a Golden Rule Book for Goldwings! I made my contribution to the "BOOK" early.

The interesting point is that all of these rules are probably lessons learned "the hard way", by seasoned bikers. :shock: I doubt that a Wing is anybody's first bike.


Taxfree4, chagrin, I feel and thanks for not mentioning how the Indians got scalped by the Yankees:icon_frown:

Sorry for your experience. I had a similar event with my 2012 full Wing. Parked on my drive at a slight downward slope with engine running, kickstand down. Luckily, I was not near the motorcycle when it slowly inched forward and fell on its left side. I had gone back into my garage to retrieve something. I have never parked the F6B or my previous Wing in that slight slope situation again. Heal well and fast.

Man, that sucks. Glad you're not out of the game though.

Personally, I always park in N unless on a slope. It's a convenience thing, and yes, safety should be more the concern, but if you pay attention to your parking area, things generally turn out fine. But...sometimes bad things happen. So far I've been lucky. And unless absolutely necessary, I NEVER park facing downhill. That's just asking for an issue.

I don't know why Honda hasn't gone to the kickstand like HD uses. Once there is weight on it, it can't roll forward off it. Such a simple safety feature. Maybe they are afraid people will become "dependent" on it stop thinking before parking? IDK. That doesn't seem likely though since the car manufactures (Honda included) now make it easier to not pay attention to the roads with brake assist, and lane deviation avoidance and such.

Again, glad you'll heal up and be able to get back on the B.

Seems like an easy enough fix, if Honda is aware of the problem. Thinking about it,:idea: all Honda would have to do is to embed a ball bearing so it drops into a detent when the side stand is fully extended. To engage and disengage, it really becomes a "kick stand" that you have to force back with a toe or heel, not a "nudge stand". Sounds like I am not the only one to have this beast decide to wonder off on its own!

For sure, if facing down hill, I will turn around because it has to be going up hill in the opposite direction!

Besides up and down hill, as tall as the side stand is, you got to make sure that the lateral slope is to the left, not the right. You got a real problem if when facing up hill the slope is to the right:yikes:

Find a different spot to park!