Dropped this top-heavy PITA today

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Hot Rod, your original post made me laugh; not at you but, yes at you! :yahoo: BTW, where the hell is the ,,, key?

 
Just getting back from being gone almost a full week for the IBA National.... damn, I missed a number of good dogpile threads! <_<

'Tis a bummer about you flinging your FJR on the deck - twice. On the glass-half-full side, I bet you really scrutinize the slope of your future parking areas.... :D

As a LD guy, you best believe we do fill our bikes up on the center-stand. Admittedly, I will, in a 24-hr "sprint" type rally, use the Toecutter method and re-fuel on the bike. This is not a optimal situation, however.... you can easily run the risk of a gasoline spillage or other mishap. Risk may be low, but your day can be ruined if you're sitting on the bike and it decides to do one of those "fuel geyser" numbers we have read about recently.

Finally...... Duff, this quote of yours is deadly accurate, and is outstanding:

C - You can NOT start a thread by calling an object of affection, passion, investment and constant attention by almost EVERYONE on this forum a PITA and telling how bad it is without a passionate response by all the other owners!
Truer words.....

 
As a LD guy, you best believe we do fill our bikes up on the center-stand. Admittedly, I will, in a 24-hr "sprint" type rally, use the Toecutter method and re-fuel on the bike. This is not a optimal situation, however.... you can easily run the risk of a gasoline spillage or other mishap. Risk may be low, but your day can be ruined if you're sitting on the bike and it decides to do one of those "fuel geyser" numbers we have read about recently.

That is exactly how I learned not to be sitting on the bike when you open the tank......it only takes once to learn that valuable lesson. The geyser covered me and the bike. I was doing the chicken dance and praying no one lit a cig...I could have charged admission to that show.

 
The geyser covered me and the bike. I was doing the chicken dance and praying no one lit a cig...I could have charged admission to that show.
Huh? Did you always prior to this event just twist the key and pop open the gas cap without letting it vent? :scratchhead: Man, that's one of the first things pappy taught me when learnin' me to drive... "Son, always open the cap sloooowly. Otherwise, you'll find you're chances of getting your girlfriend to talk to Mr. Mic will be greatly reduced."

 
The geyser covered me and the bike. I was doing the chicken dance and praying no one lit a cig...I could have charged admission to that show.
Huh? Did you always prior to this event just twist the key and pop open the gas cap without letting it vent? :scratchhead: Man, that's one of the first things pappy taught me when learnin' me to drive... "Son, always open the cap sloooowly. Otherwise, you'll find you're chances of getting your girlfriend to talk to Mr. Mic will be greatly reduced."
:lol: :lol:

Yea, I just stuck the key in and opened the cap.............and woooooooosh, gas shot up about 2'

I pushed back down on the cap and it just covered the back side of my shield and instrument panel...this experience lasted for what seemed to have been some 5-10 seconds or so.........it had to be at least a half gallon gas...maybe more.

I look at opening this cap a lot differently now.

and w/all due respect to Mr. Mic.......................he had no chance of carrying on a conversation w/anyone that particular day...matter of fact I might ought to try and teach him sign language..seems his only friend has lost the ability to communicate. :(

its a quiet lonely world.

edit: just thought I would mention.........though I had my gloves on, the gas as I recall did not seem to be all that hot...good thing! I know there has been some mention about gas boiling, etc. I am not sure what the boiling point is for gas......whatever.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I droped her 3 times and its a 06 the firs time it was not moving just a deep incline on the right side . On the gas stuff i use the kick stand untill it half full and then use my feet .when full kick stand

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I would never put gas in a bike while sitting on it. 20 years ago I saw a guy doing just that, and fuel spilled over catching him, and the bike on fire in an instant. I could care less if I get the last.3 gallon in it.

 
Lesseee I park my bike and it falls over several times and it is not my fault..... Hmmmmmm time to enter the learning curve..

OK - tomarrow we will start with colors and personal reponsibililty. Then we will move on to problem solving

 
"I challenge most of you here to try that without bitching about some type of damage to your tender colons."

You can bitch about the FJR all you want but don't talk about my colon like that!!!! Mines hard as a rock.

 
Depending on the atmospheric conditions, composition and grade of fuel, the boiling point of gasoline is between 40 and 400 degrees farenheit. On average, you will find it boiling at 100 degrees.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fuels-bo...oint-d_936.html

https://www.chemcool.com/regents/physicalbe...matter/aim2.htm

https://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord...ifier=AD0743989

https://www.howstuffworks.com/question105.htm

https://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part1/

Remember Mr. Vapors and Mr. Spark are not friends.

 
Wow, This is a top heavy bike that demands absolute attention at slow speeds. I dropped it once on a very slow turn. A little rear brake and got your butt on the outside of the turn and nvever touch the front brake at hese slow speeds. I have a 29" inseam in boots.

 
Wow, This is a top heavy bike that demands absolute attention at slow speeds. I dropped it once on a very slow turn. A little rear brake and got your butt on the outside of the turn and nvever touch the front brake at hese slow speeds. I have a 29" inseam in boots.

+1 I learned this the hard way a month ago. We normally leave our driveway turning right. It is a long drive way made of white crushed rock and as a result loose gravel is pushed left. Every time I come home I look at the loose gravel and remind myself to never come in from the other direction. Well one evening I was having a little fun running up and down the road in front of my house moving through the gears and thought "well it's time to call it an evening". You guessed it, I came in from the forbidden direction(First Mistake). The minute I realized I was in the really loose gravel I am certain I hit my breaks even though I was in a straight line. (Second Mistake) I slowed to a crawl (Third Mistake) and I put my foot down to find no footing (Fourth Mistake). I only had just enough control to lay the bike over on the loose crushed rocks. Yes it scratched up my fairing and side bag pretty good. A little rubbing compound made it look good enough that most people didn't notice without getting really close. I just had the fairing and side bag painted this week and put it together tonight. Looks great and hopefully lesson learned.

Lesson's learned. #1 NEVER slow to a standstill on an unstable surface unless you have no other choice. #2 DO NOT panic and simply grab your brakes. Think don't just react. #3 PAY ATTENTION even when you are having a good time and in a safe environment. #4 IT IS ALWAYS my fault if I break any or all of the first three. #5 PAY ATTENTION ( I know I already said this but it really bears repeating! :)

 
"If this bike wasn't so top heavy, I don't think I would have had a problem,"
I agree the thing is tOOOOOOOO damn top heavy.

Thanks, Now I don't feel so bad about droping my bike.

Once the dead cow starts to drop just get the Hell out of the way.

I'm fine on the twisties, and open road, but stop and go traffic and these uneven driveways scare the hell out of me.
Cut your big bike teeth on a K1200LT like I did. Makes this bike feel like a bicycle.

The FJR is not particularly top heavy. Just pay attention to the angle of the ground your stopping on, keep the bars straight, and look straight ahead. Also, try fueling up while in the saddle rather than putting it on the side stand.

 
As an aside, none of my crashes have been my fault. But I don't blame inanimate objects. I blame somebody else. My last one..........all Groo's fault. Really.
Everyone knows: It's Always Groo's Fault.
I've ridden with him, I know what ya'll are talking about. ;)
Damn... I gotta stop skipping so many threads if I'm going to be taking flak like this... :blink:

Back to the original topic... I dropped my '05 a few years ago at a gas pump, back when I stood next to it to take it off the centerstand. Ground was sloped up towards the pump, and once the bike came down, it immediately tilted away from me and went over. Ever since I've still gassed up on the centerstand, but now ride the bike off. Much easier to control... and I'm much more aware of the sloped surfaces near the pumps...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
As an aside, none of my crashes have been my fault. But I don't blame inanimate objects. I blame somebody else. My last one..........all Groo's fault. Really.
Everyone knows: It's Always Groo's Fault.
I've ridden with him, I know what ya'll are talking about. ;)
Damn... I gotta stop skipping so many threads if I'm going to be taking flak like this... :blink:
'bout time you showed your guilty little face around here. I was beginning to wonder if you caused your own crash.

 
'bout time you showed your guilty little face around here. I was beginning to wonder if you caused your own crash.
A promotion at work will do that... has severely cut down on my daily surfing time...

 
I, being so damn talented, have devised a number of methods to ensure Frank stays on the rubber side.

1) Take it off the centerstand whilst astride the beast.

2) If walking said beast, do so from right side with sidestand deployed.

3) Manly grunts always impresses the wimmins, also deludes self into "able to lift mammoth vertically" mode.

4) Deploy sidestand, and once deployed, push forward using toe of stylish riding footwear to ensure stand in place.

5) Develop habit of pulling back slightly on beast before sidestand touches down to once again ensure proper deployment.

6) Observe grade surrounding landing site-before beginning landing procedures.

By using plain old common sense, there is no reason for the bike to be in such a position as to invite discussion amongst observers as to oil pan cleanliness and overall condition.

Thank You

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top