Had Difficulty Picking Up My Dropped CBR300

[George7941]

I dropped the bike in front of my house on the sidewalk and as hard as I tried, simply could not lift the bike up. My neighbour was not home and I ended up using a car jack to lift up the bike to about a 30 degree angle and I was then able to muscle it up.

I was always able to lift up my previous bike, the BMW800. Two things helped - it had crashbars protecting the cylinder heads and so the bike never tipped over completely. It also had a nice sturdy grab bar in the middle of the bike. The CBR300 has absolutely nothing to grab on to except the handle bars at the front and grab bars at the very back, so your hands are really spead out while lifting the bike.

Also I was younger and stronger when I had the Bimmer.

I had to do something, did not want to drop the bike in some isolated spot with no one to help. Considered crash bars to prevent complete tipovers and adding a grabbar in the middle of the bike.

Youtube videos all recommend facing away from the bike while lifting it up, so I tried that out today. With my back against the bike and my butt pushing against the seat, I was able to lift the bike up without excessive effort.

Guys on the CBR300 forum remove the catalytic converter because it is quite heavy and lightens the bike up when removed. It does such a good job cleaning up emissions that I just cannot bring myself to eliminate it.

 

[IndyIan]

Glad you figured it out for next time, andI am surprised the bike is near 360lbs! But I guess street bikes are always quite heavy, even 300's.

 

[Chris142]

I think being that close to that wall made it harder to pick up.

 

[George7941]

No, I was able to pick up the bike in the driveway. I could not pick it up when it was on the sidewalk, far away from any walls.

 

[LDB]

Also I was younger and stronger when I had the Bimmer.

Guys on the CBR300 forum remove the catalytic converter because it is quite heavy and lightens the bike up when removed. It does such a good job cleaning up emissions that I just cannot bring myself to eliminate it.

Weren't we all.

I agree with you. And it might be illegal to remove it as well. And it may be "quite heavy" but can't be that great a percentage of 360 pounds total can it?

 

[oldcodger]

That is why i like 4 wheels.

 

[samven]

I have been thinking of getting a smaller bike for just this reason. I have a Yamaha Roadliner 1900 that goes 760lbs. 10 years ago I could set it back up but felt like I was going to give myself a hernia. At 70 there is absolutely no way I can lift it, and yes the only way to pick them up is with your back into the seat and using your legs only to push it up. Yours was in a very bad position being down that far.

 

[loneryder]

It's not IF you are going to drop your bike, but When. Everybody does it. I couldn't pick up my 950# Harley with the back to the bike method but younger guys could. The cops showed us how to do it but they were young.

 

[LDB]

I had a Heritage Softtail Classic. I could do the backward lift in my 50's, now at 67 I wouldn't try. I'd like to have a Vespa 300 which is kind of heavy but with a really low CG probably manageable. Or a Yamaha TW200 which is lighter still and really cool looking with the big tires. I read an interesting blog about a guy who rode the Vespa from NY to CA, all but about 40 miles on state highways and roads.

 

[George7941]

This was one of the videos I watched

 

[Kira]

We see "Americades" in my neck of the woods. These are large, presumably centrally organized cross-country bike tours for what appears to be seniors only. They attract groups numbering 2 to 10 riders....always on larger bikes. Good stuff.

Once, on a steep uphill incline at a common crossroads, an older guy toppled his bike. I suspect he stopped and rolled backwards.
I'm glad the geezer cleared the falling machinery.
By the time we drove by...in our truck, there were 12 people from 4 stopped cars eyeing the scene...deciding what to do.

We figured there were enough folk on hand, so we drove on.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I dropped my 1500 Goldwing once and remembered to do the backwards thing. Got it up much easier than I thought I would.

 

[tc1446]

As I got older I had to go from 2 wheels to 3 . I'm riding a Cam Am RT now.

 

[bonjo]

yes the wall or anything you can push you leg against is the ticket as youtilt the bike up rather than a vertical lift.

I can lift my yam XT 189kg with full tank on a flat but against a slope, no chance.

Lots of opinions on how to do it but in the end it depends on you situation: road incline, grab points on the bike.

whichever way, make sure you don't hurt your back and joints and the bike is not free wheeling

 

[Bailey28]

We picked up Harley Davidson Road King bikes at work by doing the same thing. Face away from the bike, butt in the saddle, grab the bar with one hand, grab the frame or saddle bag guard with the other and push with your feet. Works every time.

 

[Greenbeforeblue]

We picked up Harley Davidson Road King bikes at work by doing the same thing. Face away from the bike, butt in the saddle, grab the bar with one hand, grab the frame or saddle bag guard with the other and push with your feet. Works every time.

What he said ^. Make sure to lock the bars so the grip is closest to your hip. If it fell on the right side, put the sidestand down first so you can just rest the bike on it once you get it lifted.

 

[blueglide88]

Besides the butt against the seat technique, remember to put the bike in gear so it won't roll on you as you stand it up.

Ultimately, time is against us and someday none of us will be able to pick our bikes up so ride as much as possible and enjoy while you can.

 

[Merek]

I have a 2013 Ninja 650 and it's on the hefty side at over 460 lbs. I dropped it once in the parking lot where I made the mistake of trying to pull in and around to back it in but the lot wasn't very wide, I ended up locking the bars which a big no-no. It didn't really do any damage to the bike itself just had to replace one of the levers.

There are a lot of different techniques to lifting a bike back up so just gotta figure out what works best for you.

 

[cheesepuffs2]

Glad you figured it out for next time, andI am surprised the bike is near 360lbs! But I guess street bikes are always quite heavy, even 300's.

That's very light for a street bike. Even something like an air-cooled Sportster is about 550, let alone big touring bikes.

 

[troop]

Over my past 50 years of motorcycle riding, I had to pick up many a dropped bikes. Varied from dirt bikes > H-D baggers. That said, if I now were to drop/tip over my Can Am Spyder RTL, I doubt I'd be in any shape to upright it