A fellow rider dropped her bike...

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guitar guru
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A fellow rider dropped her bike...

#1 Unread post by guitar guru »

...while I was coming up on the left turn onto my street yesterday. I was behind her by a couple cars and a guy in a truck next to her helped her get it back up. When traffic moved and I got up to her she asked me if she was supposed to hold the throttle wide open if the engine is flooded when starting it, because her bike was not starting. It was a brand new R6. I told her I think the best thing to do is wait a couple minutes and try starting it again. It was a very gentle drop while she was waiting at the red light. I asked if she needed to make a phone call or anything and she said she had a phone and it's the reason she dropped the bike. Her phone fell somehow and she dropped the bike as she was trying to pick up the phone :frusty:.

I said again I think the best thing to do would be to wait and start it up in a couple minutes. So she decided to waddle off to the side of the road and wait there. I asked if she needed any more help but she said no. As she waddled over I saw why she dropped the bike in the first place. She could barely touch the ground with her toes. I rode away when the light turned green.

Now before anyone says anything, it was her second bike (her first one was a beater), and she was wearing helmet, jacket, and gloves, so she wasn't a newb, she just made a poor bike choice for her inseam height.

My question though, is did I give her correct advice? Can fuel injected bikes still flood when dropped? What could other problems be in a situation like that were there was no external damage and the drop was gentle?
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#2 Unread post by SuperRookie »

No carbs -- no flooding
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#3 Unread post by Andrew »

It was nice of you to stop and help. Same for the guy in the truck. If I were to go down I hope people help out like that. I can't imagine lifting my beast by myself.

Maybe a poor choice in seat height, but answering the phone? :yikes:
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Re: A fellow rider dropped her bike...

#4 Unread post by Gummiente »

guitar guru wrote:Can fuel injected bikes still flood when dropped?
Not from being dropped, no. But you can easily flood an FI bike by twisting the throttle while trying to start it, which my guess is that's what she did after stalling it. If her first bike was a beater, it was probably carburated and she may not have known the difference in starting techniques. But kudos to you for stopping to help. :righton:
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#5 Unread post by Kaiser Soze »

Was she hot?

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#6 Unread post by Gummiente »

Kaiser Soze wrote:Was she hot?
:frusty: Dammit, I'm getting old! Thanks, Kaiser, for voicing the question we all missed. :oops:
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#7 Unread post by gitarjunky »

I've had my SV tip over while virtually stopped when I first got it. My FI light would go red and it would just try to start for the first like 20 seconds. After about a minute I would try it again and it started right up and ran fine. I don't much about mechanics but I'm sure when the bike is laying on its side (a direction its never supposed to be) fuel just gets places its not supposed to be....maybe the injectors can't get the air/fuel ratio right after its been tipped to it side? Maybe someone who's a mechanic and actually knows what they're talking about should take this one... :laughing:
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#8 Unread post by Shorts »

I was reading on the other forum after laying it down, give it a minute and "turn the key off so that it can reset".

I'm ignorant on bikes. FI cars/trucks have a fuel pump. Do FI bikes have similar? Cause on vehicles, the pump is turned on to pressurize the system whe the key is turned to the on(and run) position. Turn it to off and the pump turns off and fuel pressure drops to residual in the lines. Is it the same on bikes?

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#9 Unread post by spinner »

When my bike tipped, it started right back up.
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#10 Unread post by CNF2002 »

Best advice would be to tell her to not check her phone while riding :lol:

Hope her bike was okay.
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