Wind...beware of storm covers acting as sails...

[robert]

I came back from my parents house the other day and found the bike laying on its side :(

Now, it was either caused by some knob head pushing it over, or the wind. I had a storm cover over the bike and figure that the windy conditions could have turned the cover in to a bit of a sail giving sufficient lift to topple it over.

In any case, the damage to the bike was substantial enough in that its ended up with a smashed wing mirror, pitted and scratched up side fairing, badly pitted engine vents, broken pannier stabiliser, scratched up pannier outside cover, broken indicator, cracked cockpit housing,

I'm sure I'm not the first and won't be the last but outside of locking it up in a garage (I don't have one of those (yet!)) I'm not sure what else you could reasonably do outside of not using a storm cover!

So a cautionary tale folks, strong winds may have the ability to blow your beloved machine over, especially if covered with a storm cover thing. I can't prove it was the wind of course, as I can't prove it was some errant a hole but I do live in a reasonably nice neighbourhood so prefer to believe the former :D

Oh well, lesson learned :)

 

[threeup]

Hard cheese Sounds expensive

Speaking to a friend earlier, he described the recent Dragon Rally - a lot of bikes were blown over that weekend

Was yours on the centre stand or the side stand?

If the side stand, was it left in gear? At the rally, bikes left leaning towards the wind and not in gear were the ones blown over. Leaning away from the wind and in gear they were OK
I realise that is not helpful if you are away for a while and the wind changes!

[robert]

Side stand - not in gear, but full lock on...

Yes indeed, the wind does change!

I'm over my initial "grrrrr" now and am resigned to having it taken away and getting it repaired. Was surprised at the damage from it simply toppling over though...

Oh well!

[gfxmonkey]

Bugger! Sorry to hear that. A lesson to us all me thinks.

[Tommo]

I can imagine your feelings when finding the bike on it's side and all the damage.

The gale force winds this past week have been horrendous with widespread damage, I had to park the cars well away from the house for fear of flying debris. 

[cropbiker]

Hi Robert... That is a real shame... But it is only a thing and things can be repaired. Soon it will be back, good as new! It is why we have insurance after all! Hope the buggers don't haggle any over sorting it for you!

[robert]

Originally Posted by gfxmonkey

Bugger! Sorry to hear that. A lesson to us all me thinks.

Thanks, we live and learn!

Originally Posted by Tommo

I can imagine your feelings when finding the bike on it's side and all the damage.

The gale force winds this past week have been horrendous with widespread damage, I had to park the cars well away from the house for fear of flying debris.

Yes, I was not best pleased to say the least!

In context, it's small beer when I think of how some folks have struggled here in the UK what with floods and loss of life. I arrived back in the UK on the Wednesday of last week, the landing wasn't the most most comfortable I ever had  I must say! 

Originally Posted by cropbiker

Hi Robert... That is a real shame... But it is only a thing and things can be repaired. Soon it will be back, good as new! It is why we have insurance after all! Hope the buggers don't haggle any over sorting it for you!

Absolutely :) Fingers crossed - it's all good with them so far, as you say it's what insurance is for after all.

 My GF (who's abroad at the moment) said "just as well, keeps you off the thing while the weather's bad" 

[terrytriumphgt1050]

Feel for you mate, my Sprint fell over on soft ground and that crunching sound makes you feel sick.