Bruised Ego, Sore Knee, but the GOOD news is...

[0vationdave]

The bad:
Took a ride south of me today, stopped for gas, no biggie. But in some slow parking lot maneuvering, my new boot was a little late getting off the ground in a slow left-hand turn and got caught under my left side bag protector on my month-old Vaquero. DOH!

Off balance, I dropped it. What an idiot.

The good:
1 - There was no damage to the bike (really). The same protector that helped me go down also protected the left side of the bike very well, as my visions of a scraped up bag danced though my head, I was happy to see they did their job and keep things unscathed.

2 - The purpose of my trip was to go down and see Chuckster to have him mock up a trailer hitch for the Vaquero. Which we did, and it should result in a nice clean design with easy mounting. But I will let him explain more of that.

So if your interested in a Vaquero hitch for a reasonable price, give him a shout, hopefully the hitch production will be getting underway soon. But I am sure he would like some early orders. I will provide pictures as soon as the first one gets mounted on my bike.

Dave

[Old Bear]

A bunch of riders have been bitten by the rear guard. You learn to either pick up your feet quickly or have a wide stance. As you said though, the good news is that it works very well! Glad you are both okay!

[Silent Sam]

Shortly after buying My Big Assed Bike...I decided to take the first long ride I had tried in about 35 years...

Over in Ely, Nevada, I pulled out of McDonalds (I had a huge Camping-Pack loaded on the bike)....As I made the turn into the hiway..my right foot got jammed under the bike...and I actually RAN OVER My Own Foot with the rear tire...
..I have a 36 inch "inseam"...and was nearly pulled down..but due to the length of my leg I managed to keep the bike up-right....with a lot of erratic swerving...But I limped for a month !

[0vationdave]

Thanks guys, good to know I am not alone! I have done this about 3 or 4 times since I've had this bike, but I was always in running shoes. Never had a issue with my Suzuki (no guards). But with my new boots on, that was apparently not flexible enough to allow me to get my foot out in time. Not sure how I went down on my left and hurt my right knee, but it has been reminding all night what a dork I am. I think I learned my lesson.

[BigRed]

I've had a couple of close calls with the read guard. I am glad that you and your bike are OK.

[HwyRider]

The rear guards on the 1700 Nomad are different and don't present a problem but I have been clipped a couple of times by the passenger floorboards when they're down.

[Pitchinguy]

Yup, had a couple close calls w/the passenger floorboards myself. Gotta watch those things! Can't let your feet drag behind!

[Roy1965]

I had the same happen on my Stratoliner couple years ago. Bag guard caught my right foot and rolled it backward under the bag in a sharp right hand turn. Thought I broke my foot and about 2 hours later back at the motel pulled off my boot to find all my toe's top and bottom- instep and the back of my heel black and blue along with lots of swelling. Nothing broken and all was good about a week later.

[highwayman2011]

Yes watch those passenger floorboards.

[cnc]

Yeah same sort of thing happened to me on about the second day of owning the Nomad. It was not an issue with my previous bike. Sort of got the top of the back part of my boot caught under the bag guard as I took off and bent my foot back. I didn't go down but man what a surprise and I had a sore ankle for about a week. Since then I always lift my leg in an sweeping outward forward motion, which is pretty much second nature these days.

[sly]

Same here with the rear floor boards..... and since then I put extenders on them so the better half would be more comfy! Well, it hurts the first time :cry:

[George]

Yup did the same thing on my voyager in a lazy left turn out of a parking lot, hurt like a bugger for a few days above my heal. Its amazing how a little pain makes you remember :tup:

[Devin W]

Hate to hear that happened to you. Glad to hear that I'm not the only one that has managed to do this. Also glad to hear that you and the bike are OK.

I did it once right after getting the bike and pulled all the bars since I didn't like the look (in chrome). After the parking lot hit and run I had them powder coated and reinstalled them and on the first run out of my driveway managed to do it. Definitely tight quarters.

[old dog]

I thought it was just me. It gets your attention.