[lilleyen]

Picture a dropped Burg 650.
Perish the thought!! Ugh!

But, what if.....

I have read the technique, turn your back to the beast, pull the downside handle bar close, put one hand on the grab rails, and lift with your butt and back and legs, don't over push or you will go over onto the other side, because it get much lighter as you come up etc.


We all know the 650 weighs 524 Lbs, dry weight.
(well, you do now)

What I'm wondering is this.
When (if ever) we have to lift our machine like this, does anyone actually know how much weight we are lifting this way at the beginning of the lft?

I suspect it's a fraction of the total weight, but what fraction :?:
I'm told even a small woman can do this if done properly, so that's a clue.
Course' my wife is a very strong little woman. :lol:

 

[billmeek]

There's no easy way to know other than measure it. Since the weight of the Burgman is lower than on most bikes, the amount of force required to lift it is less than another bike of equal weight.

 

[Randy]

I guess the biggest factor is how top heave the bike is, our scooters are not that top heave but I feel sure you will life over 85 % on a scooter.
Picture a 4 foot long broom handle attached to a 16 lb. bowling ball , one end would be easy compared to the other.yet your still lifting the same weight.
Perhaps one of our resident math wizards can figure it out for us.

 

[Bill Trammell]

This is basically the same technique used to lift a 900lb GoldWing. (or any big street bike) Don't know actually how much weight you are lifting for a Burgy but you are using the BIG leg muscles and not the back. Works Great!!

 

[mupp]

I used to ride BMW's at work, and our Health and Safety nannies made us do a whole day's course on "Static Handling" so that we wouldn't sue the boss when we hurt our backs :roll:
We had to practice putting it on and off the stand, pushing it about etc, and picking it up if it fell over.
Firstly they told us - don't. That was the catch22 - "we've told you not to try and pick it up, so you can't blame us".
But then they showed us the way "in an emergency".

Tie the front brake on with a strap around the lever (he used his wristwatch) and then sit down with your back to the bike. Grab rear frame somewhere with one hand, and handlebar with other hand, then inch yourself upwards and into the bike, back towards the bike if that makes sense. It actually worked, but I seem to remember I had bigger thighs in those days.


Dave

Edit - Doh. I've just re-read your post and that's exactly the way you do it too. I'll shut up and go back to my room.



Dave again

 

[Randy]

Lifting a bike,
http://www.msgroup.org/DISCUSS.asp ----Number 75

 

[lilleyen]

snipped
Tie the front brake on with a strap around the lever (he used his wristwatch) and then sit down with your back to the bike. Grab rear frame somewhere with one hand, and handlebar with other hand, then inch yourself upwards and into the bike, back towards the bike if that makes sense. It actually worked, but I seem to remember I had bigger thighs in those days.


Dave

Edit - Doh. I've just re-read your post and that's exactly the way you do it too. I'll shut up and go back to my room.
Dave again

No, no, you made a contribution here.
I forgot about the brake thing.

If you are picking up from either side apply whichever brake you can reach to keep the thing from rolling away from you as you come up.
Parking brake or brake levers, whatever.
Thanks for reminding me Dave. :wink:

P.S.
If it's on it's right side, extending the side stand before you lift it, is good insurance against a left side flop over too :lol:

 

[JD]

According to the Ride Like A Pro video's by Jim"Motorman" Palladino, you are lifting the actual weight of the bike. He demonstrates several ways to do this also.

 

[Robert]

You're not lifting the actual weight of the bike unless you lift it off the ground at some point. The actual lifting force required is going to depend on where you grab it (how much leverage do you have). You also want to use momentum when righting it. Lay a large plastic soda bottle on it's side and then right it by holding the cap. You don't use as much force as if you were picking it up.
The heaviest bike I've ever righted by myself is a 1980 KZ1300 (700lbs?), and I know I can't dead lift over 300lbs. Also - I didn't put my back to it. I just stood next to the bike and gripped both handlebars and both brakes. I straightened the handlebars, then I lifted by pushing on both bars untill I had it standing next to me.

 

[Randy]

Good article on lifting a bike ,worth a read.
I guess a scooter should be easier

http://www.motorcyclesafety.state.mn.us ... _lift.html

 

[Dutch]

I was concerned about the weight of the scooter when I bought the 650. I took mine out on my lawn and laided it down nice and easy. Then proceeded to pick up the scoot. I turned the front tire in a downward direction and used my legs with my back toward the scoot and lifted. Wasn't difficult at all. I was on the left side when I was lifting. I had the side stand down on the right side. Just in case the scoot got away from me at the top. Very simple to do.

 

[billmeek]

I had the side stand down on the right side.

Urrmmm... maybe you have the right and left backwards??? :?

 

[Brian]

According to the Ride Like A Pro video's by Jim"Motorman" Palladino, you are lifting the actual weight of the bike. He demonstrates several ways to do this also.

If he did, in fact, say that then he needs to retake his junior high school math and science classes.

My fully fueled and loaded AN650 weighs about 607 pounds. I have layed down and picked up a fully fueled 650, and can state for a fact that I was not lifting anywhere near 607 pounds. Of course, because I understand the principle of the lever I already knew that.

 

[Lapine Rider]

<blush>.

I have picked up my Burgman 400 three times from the pavement. Not being very bright, and not forseeing much trouble, each time I simply bent over and picked the thing up. No problem! It wasn't even a strain, really. I didn't even know there _was_ a special way to pick up a bike, until I read about it weeks later on the 'net. The only problem I had was the second time, when the scoot came up so freely and easily that I overbalanced and pushed it all the way over and down on the other side before I could react. I was so angry at myself that I literally do not even remember the third time.

I _like_ having such a light bike, overall.

IMO, if someone's bike goes over and they are not either much smaller than average or elderly or handicapped or somesuch, then they'll be able to pick it up using the methods described in this thread. Certainly, they'll be able to pick it up with a single bystander/helper. If I can essentially "snatch and grab" a 400, I don't think the 650 will prove an impossible burden for the better-informed.


Lapine Rider

(Who is moderately strong, but _damned_ clumsy.)

 

[Stormsteed]

Never mind.

 

[Robert]

I think you'll be using the most energy to lift it from the point of contact of something other than the tires, and you could "ball park" measure that. Get a couple of people together and put a large scale down on the ground - and then lean the bike over untill the closest body part lays on it (be carefull not to scratch or crush anything delicate). That won't account for the leverage that you will get by gripping the handrails or handlebars (the further from the tires - the more leverage you get), but it will give you a weight you know you are lifting less than. Now of course - if your bike falls over and is leaning down a hill - then that will take more energy... If you do it - then I'm sure everyone would be interested in the results.

 

[Sails]

I had two incidents of laying the bike down and having to pick it up. One was that I didn't get the side stand down all the way and thought that it was down and kind of layed the bike down on the left side. Second one was going into a very large pot hole in a parking lot at very low speed and looking the other way, this caused the bike to come to an instant stop and I got caught with my feet up and didn't quite make it down in time. Layed it down on the right side.
Picking the bike up was pretty easy. I used the standard lift method and it came right up. As to how many pounds, more than 10 and less than 1000. I watched a short, small woman do a demo at the Montreal show last weekend and she was lifting a Beamer, I think, and her whole point was that she used short steps and shuffled her feet to get the bike up.
In my case, I think that the problem was more the embrassment of not watching what I was doing or where I was going, the bike only recieve very minor scratches and since I did both sides they sort of match.
I think that I had more trouble figuring out how to get it on the center stand than picking it up!

 

[Dutch]

Sorry I did get the right and left mixed up. Opps!

 

[Brian]

If anyone wants to get an exact lifting weight, here's one way:

With an assistant to stabalize things for safety's sake, put a bathroom-type scale on the ground and weigh yourself.

Then, place the scale so you can stand on it while lifting the bike. Here is where the "safety man" is needed, to hold the scale from slipping on the ground and the lifter's feet from slipping on the scale.

Subtract the lifter's weight from the "while lifting" weight to get the "apparent weight lifted."