OK...so you might remember that last week I had the run-in with the hot-head here at work and the next day I had a flat on the rear end. It turns out that the valve stem had torn away from the tube way down inside the rim, so...conspiracy theory solved, and the verdict is: innocent, but still an idiot! (the hot-head)

Anyway, the rear tire was toast, so it was time to get a new one anyway. I decided to save myself the cash of having the SHOP remove the rear wheel, and I started to do it myself. I haven't invested yet in one of the fancy MC jacks, but I DO have the home-made 2X8-and-pipe set-up. It works great for oil-changes, brake work, deep cleaning, etc....but that deep rear fender's just too much to get a rear wheel past without lifting the bike a little higher.

Well...I borrowed my brother's automotive floor-jack.....

It didn't take long to realize that once the bike is high enough to get the wheel out from under the fender, it's pretty wobbly on that jack!!! By that point I had the rear axle out, the belt off, but didn't have the wheel clear of the bike yet

When she went over, I thought for just a minute about trying to catch her, then my smarter brain kicked in (too late right???). She fell against a cabinet unit in my garage, and caught before falling all the way over. I thought for sure I'd smashed the mirrror, cracked the windshield, and broken off the front master-cylinder.

The end-result?...three tiny white paint scuffs from the cabinet, and had to re-tighten the mirror lock-nut...that's all.

I feel SO lucky!!! And I showed my wife the MC Jack that I want for my 40th in a couple weeks!!! Oh yeah....we got out on the planned ride Saturday and Sunday...280 miles, 2-up, and no issues!!!

DKLAZ

Tuff bike and lucky guy! An unbeatable combo!

I bought the Craftsman(Yellow)jack before I had to learn a lesson like your's . I'm glad there was not any major breakage.

Sometimes it is absolutely amazing how little damage is done when a bike goes down, even when moving!

Clifford

Whew! That was close...

I've got the red Sears jack and it's been worth its weight in gold these past few years. Next one will be yellow.

Dklaz
Did you invent any new cuss words as this was happening?

Love the story! Here is why:

my Roadie always is on a jack as the garage is so tight the car won't fit unless the bike is upright and not on the side stand. I'm so paranoid of it falling over that I even strap it to the wall in case of earthquake. So what does boy genius do? I am lowering it down to go riding and neglect to put the sidestand down, which of course is on the other side of the bike from me and is the way the bike fell.

Lucky for me I had put on foot pegs and luckier yet they held. I grabbed the handlebar and basically finished easing it down on the peg. Then stood there like an idiot trying to figure out how to get to the other side of the bike without letting go as I just knew it would go on over if I let go since it was resting on the wheels and foot peg only. Guess it pissed me off enough that I one-handed it (yeah one-handed it) back upright. I couldn't do that again in a million years but a nice dose of stupidity and adrenalin made it right. My jack now has in three places in big letters written with a Shaprie "KICKSTAND??

DKLAZ you do know about taking those two fender bolts out so you can tilt the rear of the fender up, right?
I jack the rear up about 10 in., flip up the fender and roll the wheel out, sorta.

whoaaa.... That sounds like a nightmare!

I put the motorcycle on a 4x4 which sits on a 6x6... each side of the jack and lowered onto them... When removing the rear wheel you would have to play with that of course and one way would be to shim under the rear wheel itself while the motorcycle was resting on the wood. This would include tilting the fender to accomplish the task of getting the rear wheel off.

Anyway one of several ways to go about it I suppose.

p.s. good thinking not to try to catch it.