scooter damage from falling over

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ucandoit
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scooter damage from falling over

Post by ucandoit »

I put my 125 buddy on the side stand and left if warming up on my concrete driveway, which is slanted. When I came back after just a minute it had fallen and the engine wasn't running. I can't believe I took a chance and let it happen, but I did. I even sort of suspect my cat of causing this, but that is unlikely. Anyway, it took two of us to set it up right again. I actually wonder if I could right this scoot by myself. There is probably a good way to do that.

Anyway, The only damage I noticed was the left mirror/brake ensemble was loose, which I tightened up.

Is there any other particular damage/or things I should check and look for that commonly occurs after such a fall? Perhaps something serious. I started it back up and it ran well, no wobbling, brakes working, no leaking fluids noticed.
avescoots1134
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Post by avescoots1134 »

I wouldn't worry about it. I scraped up a Buddy 170i that was t-boned (the guy survived) and it started and drove onto the truck.
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ericalm
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Post by ericalm »

If it's starting and running okay, should be fine. Occasionally with a drop you'll get oil in the air filter or gas in the evap system (flooded charcoal filter) that will cause difficulty starting, rough idling, or stalling.
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babblefish
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Post by babblefish »

I hate to admit this, but this exact same scenario has happened to me twice. Both times it bent the right brake lever, but I was able to straighten it out. Planning on replacing that lever soon as a safety measure. Scraped up the body work too, but oh well. Other than my pride, no permanent damage done.

As far as picking it back up, I didn't have any problems with that. If I can pick up a 500lb sportbike, my Blur is a piece of cake.
Anyway, I saw a small woman pick up a Harley by herself by using this technique: Stand with your back to the bike (up against the bike), bend your legs down (stoop down?), grab the bike with both hands with your arms straight, then just stand up. Use your legs to pick it up, not your back. Be careful to not pull it over so much that it falls over on the other side with you on top of it.
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ucandoit
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Post by ucandoit »

Babblefish. I think I saw the same youtube of that woman picking up the Harley and the technique she used. Hope there isn't a next time, but I will try her approach.
george54
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Post by george54 »

ucandoit wrote:Babblefish. I think I saw the same youtube of that woman picking up the Harley and the technique she used. Hope there isn't a next time, but I will try her approach.
Harley has had a woman at the recent years Progressive M/C shows doing that live. She does make it seem quite easy.
avescoots1134
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Post by avescoots1134 »

If you haven't done it already, it's time to drill a small hole into the top of the gas cap so it can vent. Usually the emissions problems show up after the bike has been knocked over.

When my Buddy was apart, I installed an emissions-free Buddy 50 fuel tank. :D
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babblefish
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Post by babblefish »

george54 wrote:
ucandoit wrote:Babblefish. I think I saw the same youtube of that woman picking up the Harley and the technique she used. Hope there isn't a next time, but I will try her approach.
Harley has had a woman at the recent years Progressive M/C shows doing that live. She does make it seem quite easy.
Thats where I saw her do it. Pretty amazing, this physics thing :)
Unfortunately, I didn't know about that technique and used brute force to pickup my near 500lb sportbike :(
Some people can break a crowbar in a sandbox.
george54
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Post by george54 »

I did a similar thing as the OP with my BMW K1200LT. I was sitting on the bike, engine running, in my driveway, and I'm all set to start off. I decide to dismount and check for something in the topcase trunk. I put the sidestand down and got off. The driveway is so very slightly slanted. I opened the trunk, checked, and then closed it and pushed in the latch to lock it. My pushing that latch with only two fingers started the bike forward in very agonizing slow motion. Came off the sidestand and went forward, then s l o w l y down on its left side. It was so slow I even had time to run up next to it and think about grabbing it. I then realized it weighs 800 gazillion pounds- they don't call the LT the "Light Truck" for nothing- and I stopped myself. I'm standing there looking at it wondering how I'm going to pick it up when a friend who also rides, drove by in his car. I flagged him down, swore him to secrecy and asked for help. Both of us righted it. It was completely undamaged since it fell onto the wood railroad tie at the edge of my driveway and the neighbor's thick lawn.
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babblefish
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Post by babblefish »

george54 wrote:I did a similar thing as the OP with my BMW K1200LT. I was sitting on the bike, engine running, in my driveway, and I'm all set to start off. I decide to dismount and check for something in the topcase trunk. I put the sidestand down and got off. The driveway is so very slightly slanted. I opened the trunk, checked, and then closed it and pushed in the latch to lock it. My pushing that latch with only two fingers started the bike forward in very agonizing slow motion. Came off the sidestand and went forward, then s l o w l y down on its left side. It was so slow I even had time to run up next to it and think about grabbing it. I then realized it weighs 800 gazillion pounds- they don't call the LT the "Light Truck" for nothing- and I stopped myself. I'm standing there looking at it wondering how I'm going to pick it up when a friend who also rides, drove by in his car. I flagged him down, swore him to secrecy and asked for help. Both of us righted it. It was completely undamaged since it fell onto the wood railroad tie at the edge of my driveway and the neighbor's thick lawn.
Yep, thats the rule...if nobody saw it happen, it didn't happen...lol

Back in the 70's I had a Kawasaki 500 Mach I. One day, I was sitting on the bike getting ready to kick start it (no electric start), but instead of getting a firm perch on the kick starter as I put all my weight down, said kick starter went up the leg of my bell bottom jeans (everyone remembers those, right?). Well, all of my weight is now on one side of the bike, but I can't put my foot down to catch myself from falling over since my leg is trapped with the kick starter lever up my pant leg. I remember thinking "this is gonna hurt" as the bike slowly (or so it seemed) fell on its side taking me with it, craftily using my leg to protect its crankcase. So there I was, laying on the ground, by myself, with my leg trapped under a 500 pound motorcycle, contemplating the meaning of life and whether or not I should take up walking as my main mode of transportation. I could swear I heard the ants walking by laughing...
But, since nobody saw it...
Some people can break a crowbar in a sandbox.
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ericalm
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Post by ericalm »

Image
Ah, I haven't posted this in a long time!
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MikeR
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Post by MikeR »

avescoots1134 wrote:I wouldn't worry about it. I scraped up a Buddy 170i that was t-boned (the guy survived) and it started and drove onto the truck.
You and your cat uprighted the bike ???????????????
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Tazio
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Post by Tazio »

Never trust the side stand, especially with the engine running. My rear wheel spins quite fast for a minute or two when first started from cold. It could kick the clutch enough to dump it. In Minnesota it was probably cold enough. :D
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but the glory is forever!
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Re: scooter damage from falling over

Post by Dooglas »

ucandoit wrote:I even sort of suspect my cat of causing this, but that is unlikely. Anyway, it took two of us to set it up right again.
My cat is never much help with jobs like this. :wink:
mukaiboston
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Post by mukaiboston »

Do the bikes have an automatic shut off when they fall over? My engine also stopped running when I slid on some ice a couple years ago. It wouldn’t start until it was upright for a few minutes but then I never had any further issues aside from a few scratches
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