Today I had the most dangerous ride of my life. It was the usual daily commute, the same 13 miles I ride to the office, nothing new. The only extra factor in the mix was a broken side stand on my KTM Supermoto. The problem started to develop about a month ago and peaked during our Baja trip (trip report is pending completion). The problem boils down to the fact that the side stand is slightly cracked at the top part where it attaches to the bike. And also the screw that holds it attached to the frame got lost in the last day of our Baja adventure. I made it home safely that day and ordered a new stand and screw. I was riding the Futura since then. The parts came in earlier this week. So Motodisiac and I planned to fix the stand today. That is why after a few weeks of its hibernation I dusted off my KTM and set off to the office to take it to Motodisiac’s shop after work. Boy what ajoy ride that became.

The side stand has a magnetic sensor that sends a signal if the stand is out or not. Due to the fact that the screw was lost and some home grown solutions were made it became really hard to please the side stand’s sensor. Often times regardless of the stand not being out it still thinks the bike’s on the stand and tries to shut down the engine. That is what I was battling throughout my lane splitting 13 mile commute earlier today. I almost stalled countless times. And stalling while splitting lanes at 40-50 mph is not pleasant and potentially really dangerous. The way I kept the bike alive was by putting the heel of my left boot on the side stand and trying adjust its position so the bike does not stall.

I made it safely to the office and will have to battle another 2-3 miles of street commute to Motodisiac’s shop. All I can say is that I won’t even wish this to my enemy. I’ve never been this nervous on a bike in my life. And hope I’d never have to be ever again.

P.S. This is my friend applying a home grown solution to the side stand problem at our pit stop on our way back from Baja

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Motorcycles, Street, Riding, Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.