GRN I don plan on attacking the calipers asap. On my Superduke the Brembos, and they were known to lock up if not cleaned thoroughly and regularly. Very powerful brakes, but mintenance heavy.

I'm glad you're OK, GP. That took alot of "keeping your head" to decide to get off before becoming a casualty out in your street. Good for you.

I always enjoy learning on someone else's shoulders. It's a clear view, and free. You get what you pays for...

Let's see, what did I (re)learn?...

"All Brakes will be triple checked for pressure after *any* maintenance, or movement, of any of them. No exceptions. (Touch one, and check'em all)"

"Lo speed get-off's suck. Pay attention to the ground you're stopping / putting your feet down on."

"Think the kickstand is down? Check it again. (Every time getting off, check / kick it forward twice. *Every Time*).

These are cheap lessons. Every one of them has nearly bit me in the past, usually the time I forget to do them. I ignore them because they were so cheap to learn, and so they became "un-valuable" to me. ...until I nearly pay dearly to be reminded.

Thanks for posting, GP. I need the reminders. Again, I'm glad you're OK, that's what really matters *to me*.

"Think the kickstand is down? Check it again. (Every time getting off, check / kick it forward twice. *Every Time*).

I do that on the busa--now. Dropped twice. Kickstand failed, once with the bike pointed uphill. I don't even dare let it idle on the kickstand anymore.

Rook:

How does a kickstand fail? What do you mean?

Good question. The first 'fail' was my fault, I think. I prolly did not make certain that it was pivoted all the way to the stop. It stood for a few seconds and then rolled over like a big ol' canoe. Second fail, I was being much more careful. I made sure the stand was all the way forward and just for reassurance, I noted that it was parked on a slight uphill grade. I left it run while I went to shut the garage door and then this feeling of dread ran up my spine. Call it intuition, call it second sight, whatever. I turned around and over the busa went right before my eyes. I'm looking at the underside of the exhaust while the engine chugs to a stop. I can't really explain how that happened but that is why I no longer trust it to idle on the sidestand. I'm just very careful with it now and no further problems. I check it several times before leaving it supported on the side stand. Busas are known to have this problem. Sometimes owners file a groove in the stand to allow it to pivot forward a few more degrees before it locks. I also have an aftermarket sidestand with a very small hoof-like foot on that bike. It is round and does not stand flat on the ground and it's angled in such a way that the rounded edge might actually encourage it to roll forward so the stand might not stay locked. I have to do some work on that. For now, I'm just super careful and I never hurry leaving the bike stand on its own.

Thats horrible!

Time to get rid of that devil's kickstand (hey, *you* said it was hoofed :)

Better yet, ride the 14! Yup, thats the ticket...

My garage entry foots onto gravel and sand. Guess how careful I am when I get off?

Geez, I hope I did not jinx anything...

Geeesh. My nightmare. Sorry to hear it dude. Blaaaaa sucks!

I don't know if I can blame it all on the side stand but I think it had something to with each of the falls.

stay away from these.

Your much better with one of these.

Yep. It finally happened to me.

UGH! Been there done that got the T-Shirt. Pain in gut just reading this.

To add to my misery about 10 of my neighbors were outside watching my fail. However they did come over and help me get the girl back upright.

My Story almost the same. My brand new 2007 went down the driveway without me. My neighbors watched me chase it as the kick stand folded in and I flipped over the top of it. From here proceeded to lose my cool,,,, was in the process of whipping my helmet into house bay window. What stopped me was all the eyes in the neighborhood watching me come unglued.

Hope she is all back together now.

I like the more straight up and down kick stands on sportbikes. They seem more.. ..sporty. I guess the idea is if the kickstand comes down somehow and if the safety shut off switch doesn't work for some reason, the kickstand will be more likely to fold back into place if it drags rather than pole vaulting the bike end over end. I believe they are responsible for an awful lot more tip overs than happen with cruisers, however.

Romans-thanks for letting me know I'm not the only unfortunate one. Still waiting on the lower to get here but she will be whole again soon.
Rook-I believe lawyers have a big part to play in kickstand engineering

I agree with mebgardner's comment thanking you for posting ... it's a good reminder that we're never very many degrees away from the bike leaning over farther than we're able to stop. The big ZX feels amazingly agile when upright and riding at speed. I imagine, but haven't tested yet, that at parking lot speeds, or stopped, she gets really heavy really fast in a lean. I hope I don't find out ... knock on wood.