Hi All,

OK I'm posting this under Women's Topics, as I have a feeling this is something many ladies - especially more petite ones such as myself! - go through with motorcycles.

What I want to know is, how do all you female riders out there handle the weight of a motorcycle? I'm not talking about actually riding the bike, but rather manouevring it - for example in and out of the garage/parking spaces - and picking it up when it falls over.

I'm assuming you're not all built like brick s***-houses (!), so what's the secret? Do you just get used to the weight of the bike eventually? Or do you all go down the gym and lift weights to bulk up your arm power?! Or are there special techniques for tackling the weight of the bike in such situations??

My beloved Suzuki Marauder tipped over today - stupidly, I was just sitting on it taking a rest after a good morning's riding and one minute it was upright, the next it was horizontal!! I didn't have the strength to pick it up and luckily two guys from the Vegemite factory opposite ran over and gave me a hand. Felt like an idiot though....

So really need some tips/advice on this, especially from the ladies, please!

Jeanie

Not a lady, but picking up a fallen motorcycle is all about technique, of which there are 2 main ones. Before trying to pick the bike up though, 3 rules (for either method).

1st rule, kill the engine using the kill switch or ignition key.
2nd rule, if the bike is laying on it's right hand side, lower the side stand before trying to pick it up, that way ones it's up you don't have to swap sides to put the side stand down.
3rd rule, if the bike is in gear leave it in gear, if it isn't in gear and you can put it in gear then do so, this stops the bike rolling when you pick it up.

1. Using the handlebars - To pick a bike up using just the handlebars you need to turn the bars so that the front wheel is pointing straight up, so if the bike is on it's left turn the bars all the way to the right, if the bikes on it's right then turn the bars all the way to the left. Once that is done, crouch down (bending your knees and keeping your back straight) so that you can cup your hands under the end of the handle bars, almost as if you are giving someone a boost up a wall. Once in the correct position just straighten your legs to lift the bike.

2. Using the seat and your bum - This is a good technique, and even better there is a really good video showing the technique on you tube, the end is a bit lame though. I think they would have been far better ending the video by shooting it with an unladen bike and showing success rather than failure. You Tube Video

Once you know how to pick it up you should hopefully start to ride with a little more confidence, which will help you avoid dropping it in the first place. What you absolutely must do however is not forget everything you have learned about riding a bike and start riding in a 'scared of dropping it way'. My ex girlfriend used to suffer from this, what she would find herself doing would be approaching junctions with a fear of dropping the bike, so in fear of dropping the bike she would use the front brake to stop herself, so that she could have both feet out to avoid dropping the bike!!!! Unfortunately this increased the likelyhood of her dropping it, as what would happen is she would be unbalance to start with, and by only using the front brake the forks would compress a she slowed, then spring back up as she stopped unbalancing her more and more.

Hope the above helps, just try not to get disheartened with any early set backs like this.

Greetings Jeanie

Check out this site

Pink Ribbon Rides

As they say technique is everything :-)

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Hey Jeannie

I dont know if this is of any help, but I am absolutely crap at picking up bikes, no matter what the size or weight, and I am crap at maneouvring a bike too. I have just come back from a year trip, and my skills have progressed utterly disproportionately to my saddle time i.e I'm still crap. I am terribly awkward man handling a bike, regardless of the techniques people keep teaching me! I have to admit that I get very nervous at the prospect of not being able to pick the bike back up, and as for maneaovering, I always have to be very pre-meditated with my parking. I am forever asking for help. I am not the most confident of riders, and knowing that I am crap moving a bike doesnt do anything for my confidence, but I reckon on the fact that there are just things you have to ask help with. After all there are some bikes that a single man couldnt pick up.

As for techniques, what I did once was to keep lying my bike down and trying to pick it up different ways. I am not very good learning from people that say "do it like this", I have to learn through pain and pulling muscles, until you find a technique that is right for you.

I am not sure that I am of any help, but I feel your pain!

Good luck!

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Don't be scared your life may end,
Be scared that it may never begin.......

HI Jeanie
I know exactly what you mean about being helpless. That's how I was at first, even two of us struggled to pick up Thelma (BMW R80GS), but we had to learn before we set off on our first trip.
And then when I was travelling solo I found that I could pick her up on my own, even with all the luggage on (almost 300Kgs) and I'm not very big and strong (5'6").
I have done a couple of workshops about it at the HU meets in England - but as you're mentioning a vegemite factory I'm assuming that you're in Oz and so it's a bit of a long way to travel
Get someone to show you the way to do it and have them stand by to help and advise - it might take a couple of sessions, but I believe you can do it.
Let me know how you get on - and not forgetting the effectiveness of adrenaline - when you have that
"oh shit I've dropped my bike" moment
make use of the adrenaline rush, to grab the bike and pick it up.
Good luck

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Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

I can only speak on the basis of observing my wife manouvre both her TTR250 and F650 Dakar which on our trip was loaded to a weight of 245kg and she rode it like a trooper.

But I noticed that most women are more cautious than morst men. Which when manouvring a bike can appear little clumsy. I'm trying to get her to man-handle the thing more, but she keeps trying to keep it completely and precisely vertical instead of leaning it towards her a bit more so she can lean her hip into it. This way you and the bike become a tripod which is much more stable.

As for picking it up, Steved1969 first method is my preferred method. Infact, I can't lift my Dakar up with the second method. It's about 220kg and I'm about 6' and 95kg.
The first is a bit like lifting a heavy box of the ground and you can train this in the gym. Keep your back straight and lift with your legs. The difficult bit is where your legs are fully extended and you need your upper body to lift it vertical. It's only a little bit, but that's when you really notice how much stronger your legs are over your upper body. I usually lean into it and push it to vertical hoping I can stop before it passes vertical and it drops the other way.

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