How to Pick Up a Motorcycle…

Lucky for me, I’ve never had to pick up my motorcycle <knock on wood>.  They always say that it’s not IF you will lay it down, it’s WHEN.  Well… I hope that WHEN never happens to anybody.

About 10 years ago, a couple girlfriends and I headed downtown for the premiere Harley event – Hot Harley Nights.  We finally found a place to park and were all dismounting our bikes when “WHEN” happened.  Unfortunately, my friend’s strength was no match for gravity and momentum, and she strained with all her might to keep her bike upright.  There were four guys watching this moment unfolding and were rushing to catch the bike before it met the pavement. Only they couldn’t run fast enough…  so my friend laid her bike down as gently as she could.  These guys muscled the bike upright and a full chrome inspection ensued.  Luckily, the scratches were barely visible but my friend’s bruised ego was much more noticeable.

I often flash back to that day when I get a little top-heavy and struggle to maintain an upright position.  What if those guys wouldn’t have been around to help her (us) get that bike back up?   What would happen if I were to dump my bike when I was alone?  How would I ever be able to lift over 800 pounds?  I’d rather not find out but I would like to be prepared.

I had my chance to practice picking up a motorcycle at the International Motorcycle Show in Minneapolis, MN.  Rhonda, from Harley Davidson, nicely laid down a Sportster for me and took me through the steps of getting it back with the shiny side up… mostly on my own.  Here are the steps she gave me:

1.  Make sure the engine is off.  - Yep that’s a pretty good idea…

2.  Put the bike in gear. – If the back tire rotates when you spin it, you’re not in gear so push the shifter down until you hit first gear.  This will lock the tire so the bike doesn’t have the tendency to roll when you get it upright.

3.  Put the kickstand down.  - I didn’t think of this one… once you hoist the bike back up, it’ll basically rest on the kickstand so it doesn’t start to tip the other way.  Novel idea!

4.  Check for loose gravel around the bike, especially where you’ll be putting your feet.  - You’re going to use your legs, not your arms, to push the bike up so you don’t want any road hazards to slip you up.

5.  Sit on the side of the seat. – To you, it’ll basically be on top of the bike as it’s lying on it’s side.

6.  Place your feet about shoulder-width apart with knees bent at about a 40 to 50 degree angle. – You’ll feel where it’s comfortable and you should be able to figure out where you’ll have enough leverage to push.

7.  Rock back and forth.  - Unless you’ve done this a couple times, it’s going to feel awkward.  Just push back a few times to feel how the bike will respond to you.

8.  Left hand goes on the right handle bar and the right grips under the fender.  - It was most comfortable for me to grab the throttle palm down so I didn’t have the tendency to pull with my left.  Every bike is different when it comes to what you can hang on to with your right hand so just grab onto something that won’t come off the bike when you pull up on it.

9.  Put your butt into the seat, squeeze your  thighs, push through your heels, and walk backwards. – Take baby steps and the bike will basically roll itself up.  The bike I was up-righting had an engine guard so it was much easier to “lift” it once the engine guard connected with the pavement.

10.  Almost at the top, turn your body and skooch down onto the seat so you can get both hands on the handlebars. – This way you can guide the bike back onto the kickstand.  However, if your bike did not start on it’s right side, you’ll need to now find the kickstand with your foot and put it down so the bike can stand freely.  Just don’t let momentum take it back the other way!

11.  Give two thumbs up… a sigh of relief… and now check out the damage!

You can watch the video too!

I’m thankful that I’ve never had to pick up my bike.  I’m also thankful that I got to practice something that I hope I’ll never need to so.  However… I’m not so sure that picking up a Sportster will be anything like picking up a Street Glide!    Hopefully, I’ll never find out!  Until next time… keep the shiny side up!

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