Just like waiting to get that first scratch on your new car, the first dump of your new motorcycle is a time-honored tradition. I joined the club this morning with my 2012 Suzuki 650 V-strom.
I rode to the office, parked in a level spot, put my feet down, turned off the bike, put the sidestand down, and grabbed the bars to dismount. All of this I have done hundreds of times. As I was dismounting, the sidestand folded up and I and the bike went down on the left side. Fortunately, with the tool tube mounted on the crashbars and the rear saddlebags, the bike was high enough from the ground to not trap my leg. I scooted out from under and picked up the bike. The tooltube bottom mounting bracket broke, but it and the rear bags saved everything else from any ground contact or damage. I even have a spare tool tube at home to replace the broken one. The back of my left leg is killing me right now, where I walked the bike upright, and I have a minor scrape on my right ankle.
This could have been much worse and more expensive to fix. My theory of keeping the rear soft bags on all the time and mounting a tool tube to each side of the crashbars to absorb a tip over and elevate the bike from the ground seems to have really paid off.
