Putting down your bike... like a boss.

fatcat · May 14, 2011

My '97 vmax is my first bike and people told me I was crazy but there was no other bike I ever wanted. I've been riding it a year and I love it more and more every time I am on it. I got cut off the other day by an old lady and both the bike and I sustained minor damage but I can't wait to get back in the saddle. Happy to hear you are alright.......keep on rollin'

midmoraider · May 26, 2012

So.... After dumping the bike a few weeks back with my 6 yr old daughter on the back I thought I had learned my lesson. Apparently not. I decided to take a circuitous route down to the lake of the ozarks and the road I mapped out was shut down due to bridge construction. Not having any kind of signal to check my phone for maps, I winged it and grabbed a county blacktop that went in the same general direction. About two miles down the pavement ended. As I went to whip a u turn the back end kicked out on me and down goes the bike again.:bang head:

Bent shifter and scratched up stator cover, luckily the same one as before. Gonna have to get a shifter from Sean and a new cover from python. Everybody be careful out there.

texas-ss-tornado · May 26, 2012

Man, that sucks. Good luck finding a non-bent shifter, rare as hens teeth. Sean or Kyle will be happy to straighten your old one though!!!!

thundermax · May 26, 2012

Glad you are ok, could have been worse. Happened to me too in January on my first vmax, a black 98. Gave it gas on gravel with my front tire turned. Down hard, sprained left knee, had to replace stator cover, broke a windshield just put on brand new an hour earlier. Now it is April and I still consider I am in training, having realized my limitation. I am not so macho as to say "I was riding a 750 four in '75 before you were born" means a damn thing. Have got great respect for my vmax's abilities, weight and mass and my limitations.

DMAN999 · May 26, 2012

I guess it's time I make you feel at least a little bit less embarrassed.
I laid my bike down last year at Thunder in the Valley in front of everyone at the Days Inn.
My Max was out in the parking lot and it started to rain pretty hard so I jumped on it cranked it up and headed for the hotel covered hallway to get it out of the rain.
I hit a patch of oil that was left by a truck earlier in the day (the worst part is I knew it was there and just got in a hurry).
My Max went down and I panicked and almost picked it up with it still running and in gear.
Luckily Goose (a VMaxer, I met on the way to Thunder) hit my Kill switch before I could lift it up enough to have the Rear Tire Grab Pavement and do any Real Damage by sending my Max rocketing across the Parking lot.
(Thanks Goose!!!!)
Luckily there was No damage to myself or my Max due to the quick reaction of a Fellow Vmaxer.
I've been riding my VMax since 2001, so lack of experience was not the problem.
I simply failed to respect the power of my VMax for a split second and that's all it took.
So, don't feel too bad it can happen to any of us, even the most experienced VMax Rider can forget for a split second how powerful these Bikes really are.

Sonoran6 · May 26, 2012

midmoraider said:
Bent shifter and scratched up stator cover, luckily the same one as before. Gonna have to get a shifter from Sean and a new cover from python. Everybody be careful out there.

I dropped my bike in a parking lot about a 2 months ago, thought the kickstand was all the way down, and it wasnt... bent my shifter. I was able to bend it back to normal by heating it in my coal forge I use for knife making. Sanded the discoloration off, looks like new. You could try bending it VERY SLOWLY since its cast aluminum. I used a vise and a pair of channel lock pliers. Twisted it down first. Then bent it back out.