How many of you have dropped your scoot?

[jrsharp21]

I apologize for the newbie question. I have been gung ho on getting a scoot for the past two weeks. This is the first time I have clicked on the safety forum and now I have taken a step back. I am second guessing myself. It looks like everyone has a crash, drop, or accident story. Is it really that common? I will mostly be commuting to work and back. The streets are suburban area streets. No inner city traffic or congestion.

But reading some of these stories kind of makes me fearful. I am wondering if the $100-$150 a month savings in gas is worth getting a scoot and potentially getting hurt.

[okie34]

I was smart! I didn't drop mine, I dropped my wife's! ;D
Didn't hurt too much. A few cosmetic scratches on the scoot and a bruise or two for me. Dropped the darn thing right in the front yard!

Had the front brake on and was still holding the throttle. BIG mistake. I have since learned NOT to do dumb things like that.

JD

[90GTVert]

I crashed mine turning a corner too fast and laid it on it's side. Sprained my foot, road rash, messed up body panels, bent steering stem, etc...

A friend's girlfirend crashed his in the back yard last week doing 5mph on grass and ended up with a concussion and something in the steering is bent.

I don't think you should own a 2 wheeled vehicle unless you accept the idea that you will drop it eventually. I know there are exceptions, but most people will have at least one mishap, some many more, in their riding days. I don't care if you ride in dirt, grass, lonely roads, or big city traffic.. stuff happens.

All that said, don't be afraid of it. Look through here and find all the tips for safe driving. You can do a lot of things to avoid a crash and make your presence known to cars so they don't crash into you.

Jun 3, 2008 14:45:27 GMT -5 okie34 said:

Had the front brake on and was still holding the throttle. BIG mistake. I have since learned NOT to do dumb things like that.

So you were trying to do a burnout? lol

[jrsharp21]

I am very cautious driver so I imagine I would be very cautious driving a scoot. My big fear is of the uncontrolable while on the scoot.

Whenever I hear that someone got hurt or died doing something dangerous (bungie jumping, street racing, etc) I always say don't put yourself into that situation. Now it kind of sounds like I would be doing just that.

In reality all I want to do is get from home to work on the least crowded roads while using the least amount of gas.

[gusset]

Spend some time reading some of the online motorcycle safety forums, and get a copy of Proficient Motorcycling by David Hough. Sign up for the MSF Basic Rider Course. There will always be uncontrollable elements to riding, but those can be managed to a large degree, in how you approach riding and in knowing how to really control your ride.

In short, don't rely on bicycle skills, and don't simply try to figure it out on your own. There's a lot that isn't intuitively obvious about riding that makes it a lot easier and safer that you won't learn simply by osmosis or by racking up the miles on the odometer.

With all of the interest in scooters due to gas prices, and the resulting slew of "I've never ridden before and I'm buying a scooter" folks who are coming here for support, I wonder if there should be a sticky post in the general forum area that points people to organized resources that can help tell them some of the "things that they don't know that they don't know". I know that the "Read this first" sticky recommends the MSF course, but I think it might be a good idea to go a bit farther than that.

[xmirage2kx]

There are two types of riders: The ones that Have crashed and the ones that Will crash. Most of them you can walk away from. Ride safe and enjoy the ride.

[jrsharp21]

I am most definately going to take the MSF course. Especially since I have never ridden before. And from what I have been told, they set up their road course for you to pass so you can get your CA motorcycle license. The CA DMV course is supposed to be much harder to pass.

[WarrenS]

I took a few spills when I started back in the 1950's. I haven't had any problems since then. It is not inevitable. A close call is an almost accident. Learn from those and you will get the skills you need to survive.

[jprestonian]

This dude's Vespa GT200 is less than two weeks old, and he's already dumped it on its side. How sad is that?
.

[griff10]

>>There are two types of riders: The ones that Have crashed and the ones that Will crash. Most of them you can walk away from. Ride safe and enjoy the ride. <<

Totally disagree.

I've been riding for 40+ years and have over 100,000 miles of travel on two wheels and I've yet to have a crash. If I thought you couldn't ride without crashing, I'd quit riding and I'm not doing that.

Learn to ride very defensively and get decent instruction, you and your properly maintained machine are your only defenses on the road. Also helps alot to practice defensive maneuvers, just because you took a class last year means nothing if you haven't practiced what you learned.

Bill H.

[mafunsalow]

jrsharp21, I've been watching your posts, and like me you're doing a lot of research on all aspects of scooting. Thats a great thing. I understand your concerns.I went through the same thoughts you've brought up. I even went as far as researching insurance stats on crashes and fatalities. Even going into the Safety Course I was still debating if I was making the right choice.It was during the course that it all fell into place. Can't say exactly what is was that eased me,maybe a build of confidence or something,not sure. It taught me to be confident yet cautious. No different than driving a car,just freer. I didn't get mine to save money, or ride to work, I walk all of 100 ft to work. Mine is strictly for fun. I average 400 miles a week and love it.
now last week my neighbor, well used to be, his parents came and got his stuff as he was involved in a serious accident. A car making a left turn (most common accident) turned into him and the car next to him. He is in an induced coma right now. the driver of the car next to him was killed. He probably wouldn't be as bad shape had his helmet not have had cracks in it.But it was old and beat up from being dropped so many times. A good helmet they figure he would have a concussion and broken arm. I am not telling you this to try and scare you. Heck I haven't even had my license for a month yet and as sad as it is and as close to home as it is, it is not putting me off in the least. I even ride my scoot to the hospital to see him.I take from it how important a good helmet is, and be wary when a car is making a left turn. We may think we are safe in a car but in this accident the driver in the other car not wearing seat belt became the worst casualty. So if you learn from all these posts and a MSC you'll be find out it's not as scary as it seems.
Oh yeah, my drop story- I pulled into the garage and put the kickstand down. As I went to step off my boot was caught in the kickstand loop. My first step I went down with the scoot on top of me.DOH!!

[kaintuckdave]

Yes, a windy day, a kick stand and I wasn't on the scoot, I was locking the garage.

[jrsharp21]

Mafunsalow - Great post. Thanks a bunch for that. Gave you a Karma for that one.

It is funny now that I have been researching scoots how much more aware I am of motorcycles and scoots on the road. I drive more cautiously around them and respect their space more than I have in the past.

For me, it all comes back to my two kids (3 and 9). I always think if this is the best decision their dad can be making.

[jb]

When I was 16 I wrecked my little Honda moped. Like an idiot I tore out of my Uncle's front yard and ran full speed up and out of the huge Mississippi ditch at the edge of the road. The bike launched about 5 feet in the air. Myself about 3 and I landed flat on my back on a gravel road. The bike landed about two feet away on said gravel road. I learned two things from that. 1) I'm an idiot and absolutely deserved what I got since I was being stupid. 2) When a helmetless head picks a fight with a gravel road, the road always wins.

[Aerostudent]

Jrsharp21, Karma to you for driving nicer around bikes. Around here, most people seem to treat bikes as a nusance and go out of their way to tick us off. Just the other day I had a lifted F-250 (39 inchers or so, just huge) tracking by butt while I was doing 55 on a 45 road, he then proceded to pass me without going entirely into the other lane (2 lane road), he just kinda moved halfway over and went flying past me at what must have been 65+.

I have never dropped my bike (yet), but I probably will eventually. I have had a few close calls, but I try to drive safe. I know that eventually I will probably be in a minor accident (chances are, but not a totally certain thing), I just want to make sure that it's not my fault.

Aero

[mikenvegas]

I have yet to CRASH. But did lie it down in the garage. Just to see if i could pick up the beast. I have a Kymco 500 the weight is 473 and i'm at a mere 140. But i didnt have any problem lifting her back up to safety

[indy50]

Just this last march a elderly woman backed out of her drive as I was cruising down a residential street. She obviously didn't see me coming. I left the road and when my scoot hit the grass it went down. After replacing forks and mast of the body plastic, and a weeks worth of sore butt its all history. The only other time I wrecked was in 97, I was approaching an intersection and a teenage girl made a left turn right in front of me in a Lexus. I liad my Superglide down and bailed. The bike was totalled. I had a nice dose of asphalt rash. Her Insurance replaced my bike. I have been fortunate considering the many hours I've logged on 2 wheels. The more time you spend on the roads the bigger your chances of a mishap. Ride defensively and enjoy the ride! ;D

[earlwb]

I would suggest taking a MSF class on motorcycles to learn more about them and proper safety techniques, etc.

I prefer the old adage, that eventually you will go down, it is a matter of when and how hard.
So if one tries to be prepared for the eventuality, maybe it won't hurt so much or be too expensive (think medical bills).
The last accident I had was many years ago, circa 1993, when I dropped my motorcyle in the drive way leading to my home, the city had recently ran a paint remover machine on the road out front and it left a invisible triangular patch of little tiny asphault balls on the drive way. Naturally when you turned into it, and rode over it the tires would slip out from under you fast.
I bashed my knee up real good and damaged my helmet too.
More recently my scooter fell over way down in Durango Texas, I had parked it on a gravel parking area and a big wind gust caught it just right, and over it went.

[caitlyn20]

Jun 5, 2008 11:58:23 GMT -5 earlwb said:

I would suggest taking a MSF class on motorcycles to learn more about them and proper safety techniques, etc.

I prefer the old adage, that eventually you will go down, it is a matter of when and how hard.

Well, I went down on my very first ride. Glad I got that out of the way. Now I'm free to go.

[griff10]

Jun 3, 2008 18:18:06 GMT -5 xmirage2kx said:

There are two types of riders: The ones that Have crashed and the ones that Will crash. Most of them you can walk away from. Ride safe and enjoy the ride.

People need to learn to ride properly and then maybe this silly statement will finally go away.

I've ridden for around 70,000 miles in the past 10 years, can't remember the mileage on the bikes before that, but would add alot to the total, and have never dropped a bike. Well I did have one fall over in the garage when the side stand wasn't down all the way, but I wasn't on it.

If I believed that you were going to crash no matter what I'd sell my bikes and I'm not selling.

Bill H.

[nickiemcnichols]

3 times. The first time I was on my 81 Sturgis, decided to show off, it was my 1st weekend ride with my little brother, who was on his 80 Strugis following me. I wiped out in a turn, went into the grass ditch, just missed a steel sign post, bent the front fender, scratched her all to hell, got some really cute roadrash on one arm, which took about 2 weeks to heal. The bike took longer, I decided to trick it out and get a new paint job.
Later, I got stuck in some deep dry sand and fell over while I was stopped.
The last time, I was stopped at a light on my 80 Wide Glide, thought I was in neutral (the neutral light was whacked out) but I was in 1st, and I let go the clutch, she lurched and I jerked her right out front under me. I never rode in shorts, but that day I did, and got a really nasty 2nd degree burn on my right calf from the tailpipes. Broke off the clutch lever and scratched a mirror. The clutch lever flew across a 4 lane intersection. Took 6 weeks to recover from the burn, and it was very painful.
No more falling, I stay upright now.

[L8rgator]

I haven't fallen except when I was 12. However, I just got my new scooter 2 days ago, and have logged exactly 2 hours in the last 25 years so that's not saying much ;D

My husband got on our new scooter for the first time without the appropriate safety gear (I did make him wear the helmet and gloves through), and promptly made the throttle-on-while-grabbing-brake mistake, wobbling him to within inches of broadsiding the horse trailer in the grass. I'm hoping that scare will be enough to add some caution to his driving.

I personally am making it my mission to always wear boots, pants, gloves, helmet, riding jacket even when I'm put putting at 5mpg around the driveway. I've discovered 11mpg seems really fast for a newbie!

My husband wants me to lay down the bike to see if I can get it up again myself. I'm afraid to embarrass myself - because I feel like I can barely keep it up when I'm sitting on it. I should have picked something smaller than the 300lb MC-13-150 stealth/bali/big sheep/tank touring. I'm only a wussy 135lb 5'3" girl. But my class starts on Monday, so I'm sure I'll pick up some confidence there. And I fixed the bowflex so I can start working out just so I can ride safely!

[WarrenS]

You can lift it. You are not lifting all 300 pounds. Most of the weight is down by the wheels. Just lift the top half. ;D

[mortar235]

never dropped it but wedged it between 2 fences the first time i got on ;D . Got a couple scratches and a covered up crack to remind me of it

[vonspyder]

I had my first ever (and hopefully only) drop this past friday. was riding when a freak storm came out of nowhere, was slowing down when a gale blew my scooter out from under me. knee is still bruised and sore, small scrapes and bruises on my left hand and right arm. no major damage to me, and only a few small cracks on the rear molding (and very tiny scrapes on the front molding. muffler strap bent but not broken. scooter vibrated all the way home but still ran so im thinnking probably an alignment issue from the fall. luckily io always wear a helmet and thick clothes when I ride. no major nor permanent damage. respect the rain kids.

[bike4miles]

I dropped mine onece the 2nd day I had it. It was a controlled drop as I was trying to do full cranked u-turns at slow speed and lost balance. I held on to it as it went but I didn't have the footing to prevent it from hitting the ground. No damage really.

[texianmw]

I've been riding for 25 years and laid mine out twice in the early days. Lost some skin on a 750cc and real lucky in a 50 foot slide that I didn't go up under a car or hit my noggin in the curb. But I survived and learned. That's what it is. You learn or you quit. I won't quit. I am 62 and will keep ridin' as long as I am able. Only safer now.

Ride free, ride safe.

BTW, I rode thousands of miles on freeways and highways with not a scratch. Both times was in town at 35mph. Both times cagers were involved.

[enfanta]

I was pulling out the mechanic's parking lot (it'd just passed inspection, brand new scooter), found myself going over the center line and made all the mistakes: brake AND turn AND not looking at my escape route and over it went and me with it. Less than 30 miles on it. It's okay -- just cosmetic damage.

It's sitting next to my car while both of us wait for my fractured shoulder to heal. I'm registered for the MSF course. Hope my shoulder's ready in time.

I'm not giving up, though. I know I can learn how to ride well, I just need some instruction and a lot of practice. So, while I'm recovering I'm reading and memorizing "Proficient Motorcycling." The man seems to know what he's talking about.

[phoenixxen]

Read everything you can get a hold of concerning good riding tactics and safety.

Take a riding course.

Commit to riding a scooter or not because you don't want to be flinching while trying to negotiate traffic. While over-confidence can make you apathetic, under-confidence can keep you from finding the clear path to accident avoidance during an emergency.

Know your routes...It helps to know where the hidden driveways, gravel patches, pot holes, etc. are. Remember, the road conditions change constantly so keep alert!

Know your limits. Don't try to ride in the rain unless you are sure you are ready to. Practice wet riding in controlled conditions first to experience the some of the differences. Finding out too late that the drum break slips after you ride through a puddle can be deadly. So know how your scoot handles the changes in conditions before you decide to get out in the rain. Remember though that the rain can catch you without notice so get that practice in soon!

Keep your ride healthy! Learn your basic maintenance! Don't just rely on the shop to adjust everything for you. Yeah, I like the convenience of having somebody else do all the dirty work but it sure helps to know how to diagnose a potential safety risk before it becomes a risk to your life. Know your scooter and how to keep it running safely.

Never, loose your cool when aggressive cages challenge your place on the road. Let 'em go by.

Riding is fun. Practice safety please and keep ridin'!

[gfrphoto]

Not yet....

I have taken the MSF Basic Rider's Class, took it before ever trying to get on a bike... I've been told I've try smart so far.. Lets hope I can keep it off the ground due to my own error - people around here can't drive... So if I ever stop posting - I think you can all assume the worse.