I am just sick

**KnoXouT** · 05-06-2010, 08:38 AM

I was pulling out of my garage last night for an evening ride when I noticed my kid had left his ball glove and hat in the front yard. I threw out the kickstand on the Rebel and walked over to pick up the gear. As I was picking stuff up I heard a crash. Turned around and the Rebel was laying on it's side. I picked it up and started inspecting the damage:

Broken clutch lever
Broken left rear blinker
Tank ding from the clutch cable guide
Left side shock hozel is dented
Headlight bezel is scuffed
Left side exhaust is scratched and dented
Left foot peg pushed into the engine case and scratched it
left grip torn
Left mirror broke

Are you friggin kidding me? It fell over in the driveway but the damage makes it appear as it was layed over at 45 MPH. I am in the process of painting the bike now anyway but I am just sick that this happened. How could it just fall over?

**Twister** · 05-06-2010, 10:11 AM

Gravel, concrete, asphalt or grass? Was it iddling/neutral or was it off/1st gear? I learned to leave mine in 1st by gently laying it down. Had it iddling/warming up as I was tying a pack to the rack, not knowing I pushed it forward and as the bike started to move forward and down to the left I grabbed it by the rack (trying to pick the bike up with my left hand and standing on one leg) of course I didn't lift it but I eased the fall. No damage. a) make your kid buy you a bell b) you can make up an amazing story about a 45 mph fall.

JunkyardDog · 05-07-2010, 01:43 AM

I don't know why it fell, but if it fell on the left side, then you probably didn't get the kickstand all the way down. If it was running, it could have easily have slipped into gear. Another reason I like centerstands. I can leave a bike warming up on the centerstand, and not have to worry about something like that even if it did accidently get into gear.

As far as the damage, that is fairly common from even a 0 mph tip over on concrete or asphalt. Probably one of the reasons I've never dropped a street bike. I know the consequences, and am extra careful. People claim that sportbikes will sustain a lot more damage if they fall over, but that is not necessarily true. Sometimes that bodywork protects a lot of other very expensive parts.

In order to properly repair your bike, you would need to replace every single part that so much as got a scratch on it from the fall. The tank alone is several hundred $$$. If you add up all the parts needed, and go to bikebandit and price them, I'm guessing you easily have over $1000 worth of damage.

I'm sorry to hear about what happened, and if it happened to me, I would be sick too. Jerry.

**KnoXouT** · 05-07-2010, 09:01 AM

My driveway is concrete but I was at the edge of it so it fell into a landscaped bed filled with small shrubs and Lava rock. The bike was in neutral and iddling.
I just finished ordering a new clutch lever and mirrors from Bike Bandit so I am already at $40 and still need a new rear blinker...

**macbff** · 05-08-2010, 01:40 AM

Sorry to hear that your bike fell over. I was always afraid that it was possible for that to happen. I'm still new so don't know all about things such as this yet. Is it even possible to add a center stand to a Rebel? Might be a good mod to put on one of these things to to stabilize a bit.

Sorry again!
Shawn

JunkyardDog · 05-08-2010, 09:53 AM

Unfortunately a centerstand is not possible for the Rebel, unless somebody wants to fab one up. No centerstand was available for my Yamaha XT225 either, but a member of the XT225 forum was in the fabricating business, and designed and built one that fit and worked very well. Requests started pouring in, so he set up a jig and starting making them. I think probably most of the 2000+ members of that forum, including myself now have one. Invaluable accessory. Not only will your bike not fall over (on a solid surface) but it is now possible to repair a flat on the tube type tires, and so much easier to lube/adjust the chain.

As for the Rebel falling over, it's not likely if you take the proper precautions. I don't go off and leave mine running, and I make sure the sidestand is down on a solid surface. The sidestand actually is a more stable way of holding the bike up, both sidestands and centerstands can sink into soft ground or hot asphalt. But the centerstand gets the wheels off the ground, making it safe to leave the engine running, and a whole lot easier to repair a flat or do chain maintenance.

I have searched high and low for a Rebel centerstand, no luck. You can get a centerstand for both the Nighthawk 250 and the VLX600. But not for the Rebel or any other Shadow.

It's to bad centerstands went away, most real riders know how important they are. Especially if you have tube type tires. Jerry.

**Colours** · 05-10-2010, 02:10 AM

Is your drive on an incline?

not sure about the 250's but I have found I have had to be careful with the 125 even parking on a slight downhill incline, i think twice in the year i have had the bike, the kickstand was backed up a little. Perhaps the vibration of the bike idling combined with the kickstand not fully locked brought ithe bike forward and down?

im pretty new at riding..only one year in...wish i had done it 6 years earlier when i first thought about it.. haven't dropped the bike yet but i guess there's time with some of these unobservant drivers in this city

**KnoXouT** · 05-10-2010, 08:54 AM

The drive is fairly flat but I think I failed to turn the front wheel to the left which allowed it to roll forward a bit (from the idle vibrations) and fall. It's the only thing I can figure. Lesson learned as I will ALWAYS check it's stability before walking away in the future.

**mad hatter** · 05-11-2010, 12:25 AM

thinking you may be able to get the blinker from Jack's
sorry this happened!

**Fridgitator** · 05-11-2010, 02:13 AM

There are a few patterns available to make an adapter to fit a centerstand on the Reb. Of course they require a stand from another bike, and some metal fabricating skills. The last one I saw was on the rebel riders Yahoo group. I'm watching for a centerstand in decent condition before I try to design an adapter.