Fallen Soilder

[steves]

On Saturday night, we were driving past the local WalMart, and I spotted a kat that had tipped over sitting on the edge of the parking lot. I was driving slow and checking it out, and Kristin was like "What, are you going to go pick it up?"

It must have sucked to be that guy when he walked out...

I would have never touched the bike for fear of being blamed for it's demise. I'll only touch the bikes of people I know. Last summer I moved my engineering managers harley because his side stand litterly slit the pavement.

[HS2020]

I think you did right Steve. I guess you could have went in and had them make an annoucement so the person could come out and you help pick it up then. I know If I had come out of the store and saw someone picking my bike up I would think they were the ones that had made it fall.

[macgyver]

+1 HS2020 I also think you made the right decision in not touching the bike. It's just a natural instinct to believe if you see someone touching your car or bike that their intentions were bad even though in this case they would have been good.

[KatanaSoldier]

Good decision but I would have picked it up for the rider. You had a witness with you anyway in case the guy would have saw you. Wally Worlds usually have cameras too if the guy really wanted to make an issue of blaming you.

Either way, I feel for the dude. I use my center stand every time now after hearing of all these guys bikes falling. It is so easy to engage.

[WildKat]

Yeah as much as I would have wanted to go over and pick it up, with the way today's society is being all law suit happy every 5 minutes..you could have found yourself on the wrong end of a perfectly good intention.

Im with the others,the only thing else I would have done is maybe have someone make an annoucement in the store but other than that, its just too risky these days.

[Kat-A-Tonic]

It's a sad world we live in when we are afraid of the reprecussions of doing the right thing.

[professorman]

I think he did the perfectly right thing. How bad would it be if you came out and saw your bike on the ground. you would be mad as hell, but if you came out and saw your bike upright, with cracked indicators, scratched up fairings. You would be wondering, what the hell happened to my bike? I sure would blow up at whoever I saw around the bike. Besides that, I do not think the bike was in any more danger than what it was in laying down, unless a car ran over it. You did the correct thing.

[ErikY.]

Either way, I feel for the dude. I use my center stand every time now after hearing of all these guys bikes falling. It is so easy to engage.

My bike's previous owner had it fall off the centre stand on a hot day
It in fact fell on the right side, mashing the muffler
I use a puck on questionable surfaces now.
Cheers,
Erik

[tdrcomm]

Wow! Something like that never crossed my mind.

I'm really torn on this even if I put MY bike in that position.
I understand that we are in such a suspicious, untrusting, society that it may be safer legally to just let it be. But the rider in me wants to help a fallen bike/rider. It seems so wierd to walk by a tipped bike and ignore it!

Yes, I would be going out of my mind wondering what happened to my bike if I got back and saw it upright but with scratches and cracks everywhere. And if I got back to the lot and saw folks looking at my bike on the ground, stepping over and walking past, not stopping to lift a finger to help would make me feel angry and pissed (maybe more at what happened, not them though). If I did pick it up I'd have to wait till the owner got back to explain what I came across. It's only right. Hopefully I'd have a witness or two.

In the early eighties we had a huge molestation case in LA called the McMartin Trials. Preschool owner and son accused of molesting over a hundred kids. It was total paranoia in the beach cities. Me and some guys were playing football in the park behind my apt and I saw this little toddler fall off his Big Wheel and scrape his knee. He was screaming like someone took off a leg! I look around, don't see mom running up and he's about 10 feet away so I go over to him, calm him down, brushed his pants off and told him that he was a "big boy for not crying a lot" and helped him back on. Mom runs up the walkway and comfort her little rugrat and thanks me. When they take off one of my guys come up to me and reams me a new one, "Are you crazy??!!! Don't ever touch a kid like that!"

(BTW, all of the McMartin defendents were found not guilty.
The kids told the prosecuters and parents what they wanted to hear and imaginations took over from there. Lives were ruined.)

I think you did the right thing, but why does doing the "right thing" suck so bad, nowadays?

[rwcreigh]

I think you did right Steve. I guess you could have went in and had them make an annoucement so the person could come out and you help pick it up then. I know If I had come out of the store and saw someone picking my bike up I would think they were the ones that had made it fall.

+100000000

[KatanaSoldier]

Opinion, I don't give a crap if the guy thought I did it or not. I still would have picked it up. Again, it is your choice and I don't fault you. If a guy came out and blew up and was irrational, he would have learned the hard way to back off. Then he would have learned that it was not me who knocked it down in the first place once he woke up.

With it being flat, it had more chance of getting run over. It is hard enough for the old timers to see the bikes in the space when they are upright! I have some friends that can tell you they have experienced that.

I don't blame you for not doing it though. It is personal choice. People don't want to get involved. It seems like that is a sign of the times. Just please tell me you are not a paramedic or fireman or something, LoL. Maybe there should be a downed bike good samaritan law, LoL.


On another note, there is no way in $hit a puck is more stable than a center stand. That guy who had his bike fall had some serious bad luck or bull$hitted about engaging his centerstand in the first place. What was the surface, water LoL?

[GytRDunKat]

I'm not sure if I would pick it up... If it fell over because it sunk... it would probably sink again and tip over a second time... then your just causing more damage. That's if it was, in fact, that the side stand sunk. Pick it up and put it on a crushed soda can, and then go make an anouncement.

[JZ67]

I think he did the perfectly right thing. How bad would it be if you came out and saw your bike on the ground. you would be mad as hell, but if you came out and saw your bike upright, with cracked indicators, scratched up fairings. You would be wondering, what the hell happened to my bike? I sure would blow up at whoever I saw around the bike. Besides that, I do not think the bike was in any more danger than what it was in laying down, unless a car ran over it. You did the correct thing.

+1

[ErikY.]

On another note, there is no way in $hit a puck is more stable than a center stand. That guy who had his bike fall had some serious bad luck or bull$hitted about engaging his centerstand in the first place. What was the surface, water LoL?

LOL! I called him on it too, trying to get him to admit to dropping it, but he swore it was just soft asphalt on a hot day
Cheers,
rik

[meanstrk]

On another note, there is no way in $hit a puck is more stable than a center stand.

Gonna have to call BS on this one. If the surface is soft enough for the kickstand to sink, it's soft enought for the centerstand to sink too. A puck (In my case I carry conduit box covers) spreads the load evenly and prevents the stand from sinking.