Okay, I was test riding the S40 at 11 last night after installing a rubber mat damper in my loose rear pulley hub. I made a left turn on a wrong street near home and found myself going up a fairly steep incline on a very narrow asphalt road, lined with trees, dark as the inside of a cow. A "Dead End" sign came into view.

I slowed, downshifted to first and attempted a very tight U turn in the narrow road. First mistake: I over banked at very slow speed, tried to put a foot down, because of the grade the road wasn't where my foot thought it was and the bike tumped over. Next mistake: flustered and pissed, in the deep darkness I lifted the bike up still running, not holding the front brake and not realizing in the dark that it was still in first gear and the rear wheel was turning. When the tire hit the pavement, the bike jumped forward. Holding it by the grips, the sudden forward movement caused my hand to twist the throttle as I tried to hold on to the bike. It yanked itself out of my hands, throwing me over the high side of the bike onto the pavement. The S40 did its own wild weave and smashed down and slid on its right side.

I was wearing boots, jeans, gloves, helmet and a T-shirt. I hit and rolled, and jumped back up without a scratch.

Now 200% pissed, I finally mustered the wits to hit the kill switch on the still-in-gear bike, went around, applied the front brake and lifted the bike up again. Total damages: broken off right rear turn signal, brake lever bent forward, right foot peg bent back 90 degrees, scratched muffler, right mirror torn off and the cast master cylinder keeper that holds the mirror broken.

The whole little performance took less than 10 seconds and the repairs will set me back maybe $200 for ebay parts, more for OEM new parts. The damage to my confidence and enthusiasm is higher. Oh, how it hurt to see my pristine white S40 slam to the ground and slide.

The takeaways: 1. Do not make rash decisions in surprise situations. 2. Do not attempt tight stunt turns in the pitch dark with no horizon reference on a steep upgrade. 3. When the bike goes down, use the kill switch always, especially in pitch dark when you cannot see the rear wheel turning if the bike is still in gear. 4. Hold the front brake firmly when lifting the bike back up.

And five: Fate Is the Hunter, as Ernest K. Gann wrote in his book by that title, the best aviation autobiography/novel ever written. That means, accidents happen when a whole bunch of otherwise insignificant little details pile up and you aren't able to sort them out. In this case they were: distracted riding  paying attention to the rear hub after attempting a repair, a wrong turn, a steep up grade, a tight tree lined street in complete darkness, a too-tight turn in a narrow road, putting a foot down on a down slope and the ground not being there, leading to a tip over, failure to recognize a spinning back wheel in the dark, failure to use the kill switch, acceleration caused by the bike jerking itself out of the hand holding the throttle causing a rev.

The self-debrief after this kind of pooch-screwing is painful. Had I gone on up the hill to a better turnaround spot, there'd have been no problem. Known the difficulty of a tight U turn on a steep grade, no problem. Known the disorientation of doing it in pitch dark, no problem. Used the kill switch immediately upon laying the bike over the first time, no problem. Seen the rear wheel turning, no problem.

If this account helps one other rider I guess it was worth it. I certainly learned a lot of lessons the hard way in the time it takes to utter a couple of unprintable oaths... and rode away poorer but wiser. I thought I was a smooth and competent rider. Now my tail is way up between my legs.

PS: If you think the Savage has good torque off the line, try it with nobody on the bike. Charles Atlas couldn't hold the frickin' thing back. It's gonna go, and you're gonna stand there and watch it go. Do not try this at home, kids...

Great write-up Sonny and glad to hear it wasn't any worse than it actually is.
No paint scratched up I hope?
Sounds like your own body is unscathed and that's a huge take away.

1/ Fortunately you are ok, 2/ the white paint is ok. I had a similar experience a while ago. I rode up to see friends about 100 miles away and had my pack mounted on the pillion seat instead of on the luggage rack, supposedly this gives the bike better balance. My friends drive in front of his garage was somewhat cambered and  the weight was on the wrong foot and the bike still in gear when it tipped on me. I couldn't get the bike off me and completely forgot the kill switch. and couldn't reach the key. My friend eventually dragged the bike off me and I discovered I had quite a deep cut in my leg which the doctors wouldn't stitch up and as a result took several weeks to heal. Only damage to the bike was a broken rear right indicator with was repaired with duct tape and clear.  tape.

Broad daylight, rolling, effectively flat terrain, and wide enough for cars to pass, as long as everybody scooches over.. gravel...slowed, under ten MPH,
One Finger, lightly on the brAke. I slid to a halt, still seated, feet on pegs, absolute riding position,, just not properly oriented with the horizon.
When it goes wrong, it's quick and merciless.
Step one
Don't make it worse.
Shut it off. Quickly.
That's the only thing done quickly, unless you are in danger, then, get clear, if you leave it running and it gets hit ,better it than you.
Assess the situation. Dark?Carefully walk around,
Anger, embarrassment, never your friends in these moments.

And, yes, it could've been worse,
There's no shame in getting off and walking it thru a turn...
Well, I might not run Tell aBout it...but, it'd be better than needing to file this report.
Good lessons for all. Thanks for sharing.. maybe you sAved someone from a crash.

Hey Sonny. I feel for ya, but sure glad you did not get hurt. It is amazing though how much you can learn from a spill, and I certainly appreciate your pointing out all your observations. I dumped my bike earlier this year because I was trying to ride at the skill level of some of the more seasoned riders on this forum (no, I'm not calling you guys old, but I wouldn't call you young either). I learned we all need to ride our own ride. Learn from it and thump on my friend.

Ed L. wrote on 09/15/15 at 15:06:30:


Yessir, I rode it the mile or so home after making sure the basics were working, sitting on the broken off mirror, with the turn light dark and danging by the wires, and a big steaming turd in a cartoon thought bubble over my head.

Sonny wrote on 09/15/15 at 15:34:20:


It is so easy to worry too much about what you should have done....but you just need to learn from it and move on.  Dropping a bike can happen to anyone at any age and skill level.  Last week my Honda ST1100 was in the drive and I wanted to put it in the garage, so I started it up, clicked it into gear, let out the clutch and started to move and I instantly popped my feet up onto the pegs and leaned to the right to turn the bike around.  The cold engine stalled....and the bike stopped while I was still leaning to the right with my feet on the pegs - and by the time I got my foot off the peg there was no way to catch a falling 750 pound motorcycle!  Luckily the thing has tip over bars and nothing got hurt - but it sure surprised the heck out of me as I never expected to drop the darn thing in the 50 feet I needed to ride to the garage!