Picking up a dropped GoldWing

Apologies for the lack of photographs to accompany this Page; these will be added as soon as practicable.

This Page tells you how to go about picking up a GoldWing which has ended up on the ground.  Most times a GoldWing ends up on the ground it will be because of rider error during slow speed manoeuvring; advice on hope to avoid dropping your bike and how to cushion its fall when dropping becomes unavoidable is provided in a separate Page in the Rider Education Section of this Website.

The advice on this Page doesn’t aim to cover all aspects of dealing with all possible scenarios in which a GoldWing might have gone down and need recovery.  What we’re dealing with here is dropping the bike inadvertently, usually as a result of a low speed manoeuvring error when the rider looses control.  We’re not trying to cover all aspects of all the more spectacular possibilities such a high speed loss of control or collision leading to grounding, when there may have been considerable damage to the bike and expert recovery and an engineer’s examination should take place before the bike is ridden again.

A GoldWing which has been dropped at slow speed will usually have suffered little if any harm and injuries to rider or passenger are also unlikely – except of course to the rider’s pride.

Picking up a GoldWing which has fallen to the ground is a daunting prospect if you have never done it before but don’t worry, it’s not as difficult as you might think.  Even a relatively small person can pick up a GoldWing without assistance if they use the proper technique, as described below.  As with many lifting tasks, it’s all about using the right technique.

When you have dropped your bike the natural tendency, especially if it’s never happened to you before, will be to get straight on with trying to lift it up.   This is potentially a mistake and could lead to additional and unnecessary damage to your bike.  Much better to take your time, take stock of the situation properly and then apply the lifting drill described on this Page carefully and methodically.

So it’s care and technique that gets a GoldWing back on its wheels without additional damage, rather than brute strength – although of course it does involve the application of strength too.  But a small person, male or female, can usually lift a GoldWing unaided if necessary, so it doesn’t by any means call for superhuman strength.

You may also need to fend off (or at least contain the enthusiasm of) willing helpers – at least until you are ready to tell them precisely what you want them to do.  Helpful bystanders gathering around and grabbing hold of and lifting with the wrong parts of the bike, such as the trunk lid or trim rails, could easily cause extra damage.

The following step-by-step drill for getting your GoldWing upright again should make life easier for you.

Step 1 – Stabilise the situation

Assuming you are not injured and therefore don’t need assistance yourself, there will be no great urgency in dealing with the bike, which will come to no further harm once it’s come to a rest on the ground for a while.  If by some freak happening the bike is engulfed by fire or some other life-threatening situation arises then there clearly would be a need to move quickly but in the ordinary situation of a GoldWing having gone to ground, there is no hurry at all about picking it up.

Unless your passenger looks to be injured or distressed, your first action should be to take stock of the overall situation, including where the bike is lying in relation to other traffic or pedestrians, the slope if any of the ground and checking, just in case, that the bike’s engine has stopped (it should do this automatically as the tilt switch kicks in) and there is no fluid, especially petrol, leaking from the bike – which there shouldn’t be.

Your passenger is unlikely to have been physically injured and may even have remained seated, wondering why the bike is leaning over further than usual but also what all the fuss is about.  A GoldWing doesn’t lean over all that far when it drops on to its crash bars and a passenger who is holding on to the hand-grips will not find it difficult to stay in position.

(Doing this is to be encouraged because it effectively prevents any risk of a foot or ankle injury as the bike falls.  Passenger foot or ankle injuries might occur if a passenger has tried to be helpful, or has responded instinctively, by sticking a foot down as the bike drops which has somehow ended up being trapped under something (rear crash bars or pannier) but this is pretty unlikely.  Briefing your GoldWing passengers before their first ride to stay in the seat, hold on to the hand-grips and keep their feet on the footboards whatever happens is good safety practice.)

Even though there has been no physical injury your passenger may have been alarmed by experiencing the bike going down, especially if it’s a novel experience.  Taking a few moments to ask your passenger if she/he is OK and making suitably reassuring and comforting remarks will safeguard against this possibility.  It might also reduce the risk of a frightened, frustrated or angry passenger deciding there and then never to ride with you again – or even worse that you’re not going to be allowed to ride again either!

Step 2 – Preparing the bike for lifting

Before you start lifting, it is important to stabilise the bike, so it won’t run away with you as it comes up to the vertical:

• The engine will have stopped automatically but turn off the ignition switch anyway.
• If the bike has gone right over and is resting on it’s mirrors or handlebars with the wheel off the ground, use the handlebars or passenger hand-grips (from the downed side) to rock it back over on its crash bars to get its wheels back on the ground.  (This is a rocking rather than a lifting manoeuvre, is  easily done and does not require much strength.)
• Next ensure that the bike is in gear so it will be prevented from rolling either forwards or backwards as it lifts.  (It may well be in gear already but if not move the gear pedal with your hand to engage a gear, reaching under the bike if necessary.)
• Put the handlebars right over so that the front wheel point down to the ground, so that the downhill handlebar grip is to the rear of the bike.
• Consider applying the steering lock to keep the handlebars in this position during the lift.  Although this is not essential, it will help to fix the handlebars in the optimum position for lifting.
• Finally if the bike has fallen to the right, put the side stand out so it is ready for use in holding the bike once it has been lifted off the ground.

Step 3 – Get into position to start the lift

You may not need help to lift the bike but if there are people offering to help it will be easier and safer to accept their offer BUT make sure they understand that:

• They will be lifting the equivalent of a 25kg sack of potatoes by leaning forwards and pulling towards them, so if they have a bad back or have any doubts about their ability to do this lift safely they should not offer to help. (A 25kg sack of potatoes is probably an exaggeration of what’s really involved but hopefully this warning will make it less likely they will sue you successfully if they do strain their back!)
• There are parts of the bike which are too weak to be used to lift it up, so in order to avoid causing damage they must grip only where you tell them to grip and lifting only when and how you tell them to lift (please).
• You will have your back to the bike as it is lifted from the ground and the aim is to raise the bike to a vertical position and then hold it there while you turn around prior to parking it on its side stand.
• They will be helping to lift a heavy motorcycle together, as a team, and sharing the load, so no need to be a hero and tryu to all the work themselves, just take a fair share.

There is room around a GoldWing for up to four people to help you lift but any more than that and they will get in yours or each other’s way and/or run out of safe places to grip the bike.  If you have more than four offering to help you. pick four (or less, as you feel is best) who look like they will do as they are told.  Politely ask the rest to stand clear so they don’t get in the way and don’t get hurt.

Your lifting position will be on the down-side of the bike facing away from it.  Your helpers will be positioned  (in order of priority, depending on how many you have) as follows:

1. Standing on the up-side, facing the rider’s seat, left hand on the passenger hand-grip
2. Standing on the up-side, facing the panniers, right hand on the passenger hand-grip
3. Standing on the up-side, facing the ignition key, left hand gripping the handlebar inboard of the brake or clutch master cylinder (i.e.not gripping the handlebar grip)
4. Standing on the down-side, facing the ignition key, right hand gripping the end of the handlebar grip (your hand will also be on this grip, inside his).

With or without helpers, your own position for lifting the bike is on the down-side, facing away from the bike in a sitting position with the very bottom of your back (i.e. the back of you “butt”) against the lower edge of the rider’s seat. Your knees will be half bent, your feet will be together and flat on the ground and you will be leaning backwards, one hand on the passenger grip and the other on the handlebar grip.

Brief your helpers (if any) to pull (from the up-side or lif (from the down-side as you start to lift yourself.

Step 4 – Lifting the bike to the vertical

If you are using helpers make doubly sure than everyone understands what the plan is – to get the bike vertical and then hold it there while you turn around before parking it on the side stand.

And then comes the clever bit, the pushing technique which you will use which makes all the difference.  Your grip with your hands and arms helps you to hold your butt’s position against the edge of the seat, so you are not aiming to lift the bike by pulling upwards; your arms and elbows will stay in the same position throughout; it’s your legs which move the bike.

When you’re ready warn your helpers you’re about to start and then, making a positive effort to lean backwards and to hold your elbows in the same position, keeping your back/butt in the same position against the edge of the rider’s seat, push away from with your feet.  Using your powerful leg muscles to push your feet away from you will cause the bike to want to move in the opposite direction, away from your feet, which due to friction with the ground will stay where they are.

Effectively your legs, as they get longer because your are straightening them, work like an extending prop between the ground under your feet and the edge of th rider’s seat.  You are not tryting to pull upwards with your arms, you merely hold your arms in a fixed position to help your butt stay in place.

The bike’s tyres will prevent the bike from moving sideways away from you so in response to the in response to the near horizontal force you are applying to the bike with your butt it will start to rise from the ground.

Keeping your arms and therefore also you butt in place, you straighten your legs (as a pair) almost completely.  When  your legs are almost straight (and not before) you start taking tiny steps backwards, one foot after the other, one inch or so at a time. Providing you have kept your butt in place by keeping your arms in a fixed position the bike will continue to rise.  You must also continue leaning backwards.  The effort required to keep the bike lifting gets progressively easier once you’ve got it started, especially as you approach the vertical.

Using this technique a rider can raise his GoldWing from the ground without assistance if necessary.

Step 5 – Parking the bike on its side stand

As the bike approaches a vertical position the force required to move it reduces markedly.  Although your position on the bike isn’t your usual one when you are holding it upright you will find it surprising easy to hold vertical, even if you haven’t got any helpers.  Don’t worry unduly about the bike going right over and falling the other way; that’s extremely unlikely to happen. You will feel the balance zone easily enough, even though you are back to the seat.

At this point you will need to turn yourself around in order to face the bike and grip both handlebars conventionally, so you can park the bike safely on its side stand.  Turning yourself around while balancing the bike vertically is easier than you think.  You already have one hand on the handlebars, so all you need to do is release your grip on the passenger hand-grip and roll yourself forwards so you can use it to to change hands on the handlebar grip, then transfer your free hand across to the other side, then stand up.

If the side stand isn’t already out, then of course you need to remember to put it out before you lower the bike on to it.

Then you can breath a sight of relief and thank your helpers before checking for damage to your crash bars, and another sigh of relief when you confirm that there isn’t any.