The perils of inflating tyres

Yesterday I was due to drive back to University in Bath after a weekend back home in London. After tightening the chain i noticed that the rear tyre was rather low on pressure and also could do with replacing sooner rather than later. So after loading the bike up with the tank bag etc I made my way to a petrol station to fill up and also get some more air into the tyres.

I managed to sort the front tyre without and problems and then pushed the bike forward so that the hose could reach to the rear tyre. I was aware that the bike was leaning quite a bit as the surface had an incline and was a bit weary of the bike potentially tipping over. Anyway as I was trying to fill up the rear tyre there seemed to be a problem with the machine so I got up to press a button and hear a loud BANG behind me and immediately knew the bike had tipped over.

I quickly ran to the bike and had to give it an almighty lift to get it back on its feet (all the squatting in the gym finally came in useufl ). Anyway to say I was pi$$ed off was an understatement but luckily the bike got away ok. The right hand mirror, crash bung and brake lever seemed to take most of the force and there was only one little mark on the fairing.

Anyway I think the brake lever has bent down a bit so Ill have to give that a look today or soon, also on my way to university today I thought i heard a banging noise after going over some bumpier patches of road. I stopped and had a look but found nothing and after picking my mate up it happened again but this time it was alot louder. Turns out the exhaurs bracket bent back a bit after the bike tipped and was banging against the rear brake calliper, sorted it out by bending it back.

Is there anything else worth checking after something like this has happened?

Hopefully this will be the only time the bike falls of its feet, all part of biking experience i suppose.....

Aaarrrghhh, sorry to hear of your misfortune. Glad to hear you got it upright - it's amazing what can be done when needs must!

In the cold light of day, ie not immediately after the event, give the bike a careful visual check and test everything is still secure. Since you've ridden it since and found the problem with the bracket I don't think you'll find anything else serious. It might have smoked a bit on first start after the event, but that should be gone by now.

They're tough old things. Mine spent a few hours in the vertical position balanced on it's nose and, after cosmetic( ) repairs eventually started and ran fine. Although it did turn the shed into a smoke house for quite a while

Put it down to experience. Worse has happened to others on here and all riders have tipped it over more times than they care to repeat. It's an avoidable hazard - apparently. :rite:

greencat wrote:
Mine spent a few hours in the vertical position balanced on it's nose

may or dare I ask how?

I mean I find my cats got a balanced chassis but........

Ouchy..

Go from lock to lock on the handlebars, one of the clip-ons might have got bent and it isn't easy to spot.
There should be enough clearance between them and the tank not to trap a hand...about an inch and a half, iirc.

MrNutt wrote:

greencat wrote:
Mine spent a few hours in the vertical position balanced on it's nose [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

may or dare I ask how?

I mean I find my cats got a balanced chassis but........

There was a photo on here somewhere.... Chris & his 'cat fell out & played hide & seek

best game of hide and seek ever?

Sorry to hear that Kenndo1.

Plenty folks on here have done it unfortunately.
Some at the same speed as you and some a little bit faster.
Fingers crossed the damage is as minimal as possible and is easy / cheap to repair.

Good Luck
Rosco

Wooster wrote:Ouchy..

Go from lock to lock on the handlebars, one of the clip-ons might have got bent and it isn't easy to spot.
There should be enough clearance between them and the tank not to trap a hand...about an inch and a half, iirc.

Hi Wooster,

Thanks for the tip and I checked today and it seems the left hand side of the handelbars is bent (closer than inch and a half at lock). Im not quite sure which part it is though. I had suspected it wasnt ok as the brake leaver felt like it was lower than usual. Which part is the clip on?

Any advice is appreciated.....

The clip-on is the handlebar itself, it's just two steel bars that are clamped to the top yoke.

They're expensive though, so if it's not too bad you can either leave it as is, or slacken it and rotate it.
(Not sure if it's an MOT fail...some might not check it)

(Checking this is also a good tip when buying a second hand bike the owner claims has 'never been dropped' )