The kickstand debacle

Everyone makes mistakes, but it's important to learn from them - this forum is for stories of things that went wrong, and what you learned from the experience
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Scooterpie
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The kickstand debacle

Postby Scooterpie » Sun Nov 22, 2015 12:10 am

I had an oops a few months ago when I got my new bike. I was parking and thought I had kicked it fully into the fully engaged position, only to find myself sitting on the ground beside the bike. Ugh. I bent the shifter abd had to take. It off & pound it back into shape. Ugh. The kickstand is in a different position than my old bike, so now I double check and give it a good nudge with my foot. So embarrasing.
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VStar
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Re: The kickstand debacle

Postby VStar » Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:10 pm

Similar for me, too, Scooterpie. Hubby & I pulled into one of our favorite farm markets on a busy Saturday, I tried to park next to him in a space that was only really wide enough for 1.5 bikes not 2. I was busy ignoring my little voice that told me to go around to the side of the building as I had done on other visits so when I pushed down the kickstand, I didn't brace my foot against it as I moved to dismount, as I normally do. And it happened, the stand slid back, the bike fell onto it's crashbar, pinning me against Hubby's bike. A fellow biker came over immediately and helped Hubby right the bike. I felt very stupid, no one else really noticed, I won't do that again.
I've been there before. Can I get there, again?
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OldMare
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Re: The kickstand debacle

Postby OldMare » Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:30 pm

Well, new and old alike do this one! When my hubby was getting back into bikes, and I hadn't even thought of learning to ride myself yet, he took me for a ride on his 'new' bike. We pulled in the barn and he put his feet down so I could get off, then he got off and took a step away and we both jumped as the bike came down to our side. He didn't put the kickstand down wrong, he just plum forgot it! Now I won't even get into the embarrassing things I've done. At least yet! 8-) :lol:
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Rogue
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Re: The kickstand debacle

Postby Rogue » Mon Nov 30, 2015 9:03 pm

Guilty on this one! I did it my first season and on what was probably my 2nd or 3rd ride. Even now I give that sucker a hearty kick to make sure it's ALL the way down before I lean the bike over to get off.
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trackaddict
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Re: The kickstand debacle

Postby trackaddict » Tue Dec 01, 2015 4:01 am

SO done that!! And gotten it stuck on something, so it flipped up and I didn't realize. Doh! It's only bad when the bike actually falls on you... and leaves bruises in the shape of the bike and whatever you fell against. Not like I'd know... :oops:
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woodlandsprite
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Re: The kickstand debacle

Postby woodlandsprite » Tue Dec 01, 2015 5:25 pm

omg. I nearly dropped my bike on myself - got distracted, forgot to put the kickstand down, started leaning over as if to get off, and quickly realized I better fight it to get the bike back upright so I could get the kickstand down!!
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NevadaWolf
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Re: The kickstand debacle

Postby NevadaWolf » Tue Dec 01, 2015 7:03 pm

I've had the kickstand fold up under me when I pulled into a restaurant parking lot. Pulled up, kickstand down, dismount, and bike decided to take a nap right there. Luckily I got away so was able to get the bike up easily with the help of a guy who saw the whole thing from inside the store.

I've also forgotten the kickstand entirely. On what proved to be a bad start to a bad day, I was waiting in a parking lot for other riders. It was raining and my spot was getting flooded, so I started the bike and rolled to a nearby spot by an island filled with basalt rocks. I balanced myself using the curb on the left side and mucked around for a second or so before thinking I should get some breakfast, Dismounted and promptly found myself pinned beneath the bike with my foot caught on the curb. The rocks made it hard to push down to get repositioned so I just laid there helpless while I thought about how to fix this. Finally, someone else ran over and lifted the bike enough for my to get my foot out. Ugh.

Also have had my pant leg catch on the kickstand. Pulled up beside a gas pump and go to put my foot down as I stopped. Pant was caught on the peg used to pull the kickstand down and I couldn't get my foot down in time. Habit had already started leaning the bike and since there was nothing to stop me, I fell right into the pump. Unfortunately, I was on a phone call at the time so all my dad heard was "Hang on. Wait, what? S***. Oh, F***! Ow, um, call you back." He thought I had been hit.

The most embarrassing one though was when I was in my garage checking the oil. Bike needs to be upright so I squat beside it and pull the bike up by the handlebar and balance it with my hand on the seat. One day I was a bit closer to the wall than normal so getting low enough to see the sight glass was hard. In the process of moving around to get low enough to see, I pulled the bike too far towards me and it crashed right on top of me. I was stuck up against the wall with a 400lb bike lying on me. Yay....
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4catsand2dogsmom
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Re: The kickstand debacle

Postby 4catsand2dogsmom » Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:39 pm

Last October while on the a road trip to BABES RIDE OUT 3 I pulled into a gas station. Everything was fine until it was time to get back on. I had all my camping gear on the back of the bike so I had to get on my bike different. Instead of swing my leg over, I had to hold it up straight and scoop forward. Well somehow I knocked my kickstand back and bike went down. Lucky I was able to get out of the way, Some guy help me pick it up and I look down. I had bent the gear shift. I was 150 miles from home. Lucky the girl I was with was like I know someone who lives close by so he came over and helped me straighten my gear shift.
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Velocita
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Re: The kickstand debacle

Postby Velocita » Mon Dec 14, 2015 4:44 am

The worst one for me was when I was doing my road test for my riding license 10 years ago. We got to the part of the test where you back it to the curb, put the kickstand down and walk away from the bike.

Everything was going swimmingly until I swung my leg over the bike to get off and the kickstand flipped up. The bike was just past the angle to be able to save it so my only option was to lower it ever so gently to the ground.

Unfortunately, once your bike touches the ground the test is over. I had to ride back to the testing centre and book a second test. Thankfully the testing official was nice and didn't make me feel like an idiot.

Turns out there was actually something wrong with the kickstand; it's just too bad we didn't know about before that day ;)
Not all those who wander are lost. ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

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