How to pick up your dropped bike?

[kilgh]

What is the best technique (if there is one) to get your bike vertical again?

[Hitcher]

Piece of piss. Even girls can do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4MPyX0QCYw

[hellokitty]

Piece of piss. Even girls can do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4MPyX0QCYw

good technique - thanks for that.

[MsKABC]

Yes, that is a good technique - thank you Hitcher. It would not work quite so well if the bike was dropped on the same side as the stand, but you will have that problem with any technique.

An alternative method is to stand approximately in line with the front forks, pull the underside handlebar forward and use it as a lever to pull the bike up. I have used this method successfully on my GSXR-750, standing in gravel, and I weigh a whopping 58kg. I won't tell you how I am in a position to know this...

[Hitcher]

Yes, that is a good technique - thank you Hitcher. It would not work quite so well if the bike was dropped on the same side as the stand, but you will have that problem with any technique.

It should work just as well on the stand side. Once you've got the bike up and balanced, reach back with your right heel and fold the stand down, then lean the bike on it.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Piece of piss. Even girls can do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4MPyX0QCYw

That is fantastic! Thats a Harley Sportster too, so its a 200+ kg bike!

excellent. Tempted to go give it a whirl right now.

[SMOKEU]

If you can't pick the bike up yourself, then it's probably too heavy for you to be riding it in the first place, or so 'they' say.

Just see whatever works best for you, last time I had to pick a bike up I just grabbed the handlebar and pulled it up.

There is no 'one size fits all' approach for picking up a dropped bike, it all depends on the angle it has fallen on and the terrain it has fallen on.

[oracle]

Thanks for that link. Thinking of getting a bigger bike now and I struggled to get my little FXR back up (being a learner I'm realistic that I may have to pick up a dropped bike again)

[MsKABC]

If you can't pick the bike up yourself, then it's probably too heavy for you to be riding it in the first place, or so 'they' say.

What a load of crap - explain that reasoning... if you can? There is no correlation between the ability to ride a bike fast or slow and the ability to pick it up. There are people everywhere riding bikes they wouldn't be able to pick up, and they ride them really well....at least until they...er... "fall" over.

[steve_t]

LOL. Where's crasher?

[SMOKEU]

What a load of crap - explain that reasoning... if you can? There is no correlation between the ability to ride a bike fast or slow and the ability to pick it up. There are people everywhere riding bikes they wouldn't be able to pick up, and they ride them really well....at least until they...er... "fall" over.

Well, if you've binned your bike in the middle of nowhere then you have to 'get it up' again somehow.

[MsKABC]

Thanks for that link. Thinking of getting a bigger bike now and I struggled to get my little FXR back up (being a learner I'm realistic that I may have to pick up a dropped bike again)

It's very unusual for a bike to...er..."fall" over somewhere where there isn't someone nearby to help you pick it up. In my situation, it was isolated, I was riding by myself and my bike was partly on the road just around a blind corner. It was essential that I pick it up by myself to prevent hazard to other road users. The adrenalin pumping through my arteries at the time probably didn't hurt!

[MsKABC]

Well, if you've binned your bike in the middle of nowhere then you have to 'get it up' again somehow.

That's no different from saying if you crash your car in the middle of nowhere then you should be able to push it out of the way or push it home - WTF?

But on that note, read my previous post.

[Crisis management]

If you can't pick the bike up yourself, then it's probably too heavy for you to be riding it in the first place, or so 'they' say.

I have lost count of the number of people I have helped pick up bikes for, anything from 250kg BMWs to 100kg trail bikes, if being able to pick up your own bike in 'normal" riding conditions was a prerequisite to ownership then we would all be riding postie bikes and even they are heavy when you're underneath one.

Beware the adrenaline rush too, lots of muscle injuries that way, either learn a way to do it yourself or lie down and pretend to be injured, you get a good response that way.

[kilgh]

Piece of piss. Even girls can do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4MPyX0QCYw

Wow! Thanks! That's awesome. I'm gonna try that!

Last time I just grabbed the bars and hauled it up. But I was thinking surely someone must have a better way...and they do!

Thank you Hitcher!