High heels and v-stroms don't mix

One of my friend's daughters set up a surprise birthday party tonight for her mom. The country club is about 20 miles away and my truck was really low on gas so I thought, I'll take my new buddy - a v-strom 650 adventurer that I bought last weekend. Put on a pair of jeans, sequined top, shrug (ask your wife/girlfriend) a bunch of pearls and threw my heels into one of the boxes. Off we went down the freeway.

Arrived at the country club, put on the heels and threw my boots and other riding gear into the box, grabbed my purse and helmet (forgot my lock dang it) and off to the party. Everyone was told to get there 1/2 hour early so we could hide in a corner to surprise my friend. I suddenly realized that if she saw my bike in the parking lot the whole surprise would be ruined. I asked her daughter which entrance they were going to use, and it was the one right by where I parked. Uh oh, move the bike!

I walk out to the parking lot, and think, hmmmm, I'm just moving it to the other side of the lot, why change my shoes? Sling a leg over the bike, put up the stand and........noooooo!!!!!!, we start tipping to the left!:eek1 I'm pushing with my leg as hard as I can, but with the heels on I just can't get quite enough oomph and over we go!!! Crap!!!!!

Now I'm laying in the parking lot in 3 inch heels, sequined top, pearls and a big black bike.

Shit.

Weird thing is the first thing I think is "dang, I don't have my camera!"

Next is, "crap, I haven't tried to pick up this bike yet and I've never tried to pick up a bike this heavy, crap, crap, crap" "I am sooooo not going back into that building to find somebody to help me....."

I kicked off the heels (little short boots), so now I'm standing in the lot in my socks, back up to the bike, grab the front and back and amazingly I lift it up! Yay me!

Still have to move the bike. Sling a leg over, leave my heels laying on the asphalt (hope nobody runs them over), and ride to the other side of the lot in my socks. I find a dark spot to park in and start to push the bike backwards to park.

It's really hard to push a v-strom backwards wearing socks.

I get off, start to push it backwards and.............drop it!!!! :ddog

Okay, now I know I can pick it up. I pick up the bike, don't see any obvious damage - it's really dark, jog back across the parking lot to retrieve my shoes and head back into the club room. By this time my face and hair are a sweaty mess.....argh...... and I've never met most of these people before.....:loll

Damage, scuff on a corner of the left box and my clutch handle is curved into a very interesting shape - kind of looks like something you would have done custom on a cruiser.:loll I'll do a good look over tomorrow morning when I have more light. One slightly scraped elbow. All clothing survived, all sequins still attached.

The silver lining to this evening:
1. I now know I can pick up my new bike
2. There were no witnesses!

Welcome to the horizontal club. You're in good company!

That's a great story - sort of reminds me a little of Laurel and Hardy. Only the pride got hurt!

Funny stuff.

I still don't understand how the heels women wear have such cultural staying power since they're just silly (and many can't even walk effectively in them... that's when I just totally write that gal off as not worth talking to)... but way to overcome adversity.

I can't say that I'd be able to lift a heavy bike while in socks - twice even! - without hurting myself.

If you don't have pictures of the dropped bike, at least pictures of the shoes please :)
Glad you did not hurt yourself!

I agree we need a picture of you in your outfit and the bike! Did you tell anyone at the party?

That's why I only ride in flats...

Should have stuck to your sling-back Sidi's

"...my truck was really low on gas so I thought, I'll take my new buddy - a v-strom 650 adventurer ..."

"Weird thing is the first thing I think is "dang, I don't have my camera!"


You are a rare woman indeed, with a truck and a motorcycle! What an outstanding ADVrider spirit! I'm glad you were able to get the bike back up (twice) without injuring yourself; the right technique and a splash of adrenaline works every time, but I have to say I've never tried it in socks before. This is the same spirit that endears me to my wife - she's adventurous and self-sufficient but still 100% woman. I was impressed when I learned that she and her sister built an addition on her house by themselves and neither had any experience doing stuff like that. But I really fell for her when I learned that she owns a chainsaw and knows how to use it to cut and haul her own firewood. She's a tiny lady and one of the toughest people I know.

I got a taste of the classic "oh shite" moment when getting off my fully loaded BMW RT one day after a very long ride home; I was in my own driveway, decided I didn't need to put the bike on the sidestand before going up on the centerstand, so promptly dropped it to the right as I got off. Like you said, there's that point of no return when you realize there's nothing you can do and just have to let it go. Adrenaline rush, run around, pick it up (like your technique), and promptly dump it to the left because I forgot to put the sidestand down. Again. Twice in 30 seconds... First thought was "where's the camera? Oh yeah, in the saddle bag lying on the ground." Then, "Did anyone see this???!?" Nope, safe. Lesson learned. Got a scuff or two on the saddle bags but nothing else.

Glad you're OK, hope the bike is fine (just some "character", like smile wrinkles), and hope you enjoy riding the wheels off the thing!

Doug

I'm glad nothing more than your pride was hurt, especially no damage to the sequined top and the heels! I would have done the same thing, its just too must trouble to change shoes just for that little ride across the parking lot.

BTW manfromthestix I have a V-Strom, a Ford F150, 2 other bikes and a chainsaw

I like your spunk!

I have a truck, a bike, and a Caddy. I feel right at home in or on all three!

Little bike. Great story. Make sure the bent lever does not effect you reaching it easily. If you think you need to replace it you have nothing to lose if you want to try to straighten the bent one.
Take it off your bike , remove any plastic bushings or adjusting knobs that could melt. Get some nice thick leather work gloves on and heat the lever with a heat gun, propane torch or even a natural gas stove top for about 30 sec. Put it on a solid surface and Gently tap it with a small hammer to it's original shape. OR put it in a vise and slowly press it back to shape. It is a risk because it could break ,but like I said if it needs replaced...nothing to lose.
If it is one of those bends where just the ball end bent it will probably break but you could be lucky.
After you get it to the original shape heat it up again and the dip it in cold water to quench it.
I have done this method many times , riding trials = bent levers, most of the times it works.

Jack

Thanks all for the support, laughs and kind words! I'm heading off to the movies, one of my friends wants to see Twilight....sigh, what you do for friends... I'll have to post some damage pics and shoe pics.

Laurel and Hardy would have been proud.

Apparently, you can ride a v-strom in socks, you can pick up a v-strom in socks; but never, ever try to push your v-strom in socks.

haha...thanks for sharing the story and laugh of the day, glad you're ok.
and yes..pics pls. lol

Are you starting to see a pattern here.....




http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20207287&postcount=805

And, the pics...........

The offending shoes



Hiding behind the bike seems like a good idea



My new clutch handle shape



Thank goodness for engine guards



The left side box rack is a little bent inwards, but I don't think it's going to hurt anything. Had to bend the rack lock latch out a bit. Both boxes seem to be a little loose where the screws go from the rack and into the box. I tried tightening the nuts, but there's a piece between the rack and the box that just spins. Anybody know - is this something I need to remove the boxes to fix?

I can explain that one! I hit the tree you can see in front of me (with the bark missing) with the left side of the quad. At least I was actually moving on this one! :loll

I had no idea that mud could get inside your helmet.

Had about 60 miles back to the cabins after this, my legs and right shoulder tightened up after about 20 minutes and ouch!

So, when we got back...

I would say "ride hard or go home", but in my case it's probably more like "ride like an idiot or go home".

Um, the post above the atv one on the dropped bikes pic thread is mine too......Lets just say I've been having fun.

Best story of the day!! Thanks.

I'm going to take it to heart and learn from this.

Cute heels.