Becoming one of "those guys"

This past Saturday I became someone I never wanted to become...one of "those guys".

You know the ones...the guys who make a dumb little mistake that they say they never will.

You guessed it...I dropped my Versys IN THE DRIVEWAY.

I had the bike parked in the garage behind my car, as I was  using it to commute to work ALL WEEK(that's another milestone).  Saturday morning I had some things to do which required the cage.  I pulled the bike out of the garage without starting it(mistake #1) wearing flip flops(mistake #2).  As I went to set the bike on the kickstand, I realized all to late the kickstand was up.  I tried to save the bike from falling over, but it was too far over.  I DID manage to prevent it from FALLING over, and it turned out to be more of a graceful set down.

To say I was mad was an understatement.  I was PISSED.  Luckily, I had mounted a set of SWMOTECH crash bars 3 weeks ago, and they did their job.  Well worth the $230 I paid for them. No scratches on the bodywork, engine, anywhere really.  The only blemishes were on the crash bars, the mirror and the footpeg.  It seems like the shift lever may have bent slightly toward the engine, I'm still trying to verify. 

I had to have assistance picking the bike back up, but I think that was because I was so mad and not paying attention.  A note here: IF you drop your bike on it's side, you pick it up with your back TOWARD the bike. I'm glad I learned this in my MSF course. 

Another casualty was my back.  About an hour after everything was done I had a really good pain in the right lower side.  I believe I pulled it trying to save the bike from falling over, not when I picked it back up. With heat and ibuprofin I was back to normal Monday evening. 

So, friends...never attempt to move your bike in anything less than sneakers...just like ATGATT.  You never know what will happen.