My motorcyle WAS perfect! :(

The story:
So, for those of you just joining us, me and three coworkers all got Connies about 3 weeks ago. Due to final exams and other stuff I did not get a chance to get on mine until this past weekend, though the other guys have been riding quite a bit.

My first time out went well this past weekend. I did some slow speed parking lot work and then tooled around on some back roads for about 45 miles. A pleasant, though somewhat intimidating experience. I felt my confidence was improving with every intersection, which is good as I naturally approach things with quite a bit of apprehension.

So today after work I went for another ride. A bit more traffic due to the time of day and whatnot, but everything went great. Got over to my girlfriend's place and parked it in the parking lot and put Charlotte on her sidestand. I was pretty hot... it's Atlanta during a ridiculous heat wave.

I was trying to get my helmet in the Givi trunk (it's a big helmet, XXL - I have a big skull to hold my larger than normal brain). Couldn't get the thing to latch right. Pushed a little too hard on the trunk and over she went. Like slow motion... I tried to stop her *snort* Yeah! Right! Then she hit the ground with a crunch. I was moving to pick her up before the sound of metal clinking around on the ground (the sickening sound of broken pieces) stopped. I just knew the entire apartment building was looking at the pretty new motorcycle and the strikingly handsome chap getting off her in the parking lot. I almost heard the collective *gasp* as they all watched her topple followed immediately after with a *chuckling* "Man, she WAS perfect! What a BOZO!" Using Skert's technique (thanks Skert!) and my significant mass, I got her up off the ground pretty quick.

The damage:
Scuffed right mirror. A nice little scrape on the pipe. A broken side bag antler and a badly scraped up Connie bag. Some scuffing on the black body trim and a scuffed foot peg. I guess it could have been worse. She could have hit the car in the other parking space... or worse, I could have been on her in traffic.

The lessons:
1. Lock the front wheel towards the left (same side as the side stand). This keeps the center of gravity lower (yeah... I had it locked the other way). Especially when you are on a slight (ever so slight) incline to the right.

2. Put the side stand down AFTER you have stood up off the seat. This allows the suspension to fully extend into the up position, putting additional weight on the side stand and your "three points of contact". I didn't do this either... I put the stand down while my significant mass was fully on the seat, fully compressing the rear suspension. I'm not sure I can explain this right, but I think it had something to do with it.

3. GET MURPH'S TIP OVER BARS! Nuff said!

4. Lastly, when you are hot and frustrated by some mechanical anomoly, rather than hotter and more frustrated, walk away, cool off and come back and look at it when you are not so hot and frustrated.

She was perfect too. As clean as a showroom model. Out of all four Connies that we bought, she was the cleanest (sorry guys, a baby is never as pretty as she is to her parents). Not a single scratch, spec of dirt, smudge of road grime... nothing! She had been meticulously maintained. 15k miles and she didn't look at mile over 500.

Now she's got some battle damage. Problem is that it wasn't much of a battle. Not even a skirmish. Kind of like going through combat only to get wounded in a training accident after the war... "What a BOZO!"

So, thanks for reading. I'd like to think I'm not the only Bozo out there, but somehow at this moment, I feel really alone!