One of the reasons I bought the Honda ST1300 over the Yamaha FJR or other choices is the fact that if it falls over, there is seldome any damage. It is designed with tipover protection, and so that if the mirror gets hit, it will normally pop off.
It is also very easy to pick up. I can pick it up no problem. If you drop it on the right side it is a 3 step process to pick it up. 1.Put the sidestand out. 2.Lift the bike. 3.Put the bike on the sidestand.
The other day I was in a gas station, leaving the pump. I had just spent an lot of time talking to a guy on a new Goldwing, so I was pretty distracted. As I was leaving, there was a pickup truck backing out of a spot. I balanced the bike with my feet on the pegs, waiting to be sure he was going to stop. When I saw that he did stop, I went to leave. Unfortunately, I had it in 2nd or maybe 3rd gear. When I tried to go, I stalled the bike. Better to just let it lie down on it's side than to try to save it, once you get past a certain point.
So, as the bike was laying there, all these people were coming to my aide. I yelled out, "Don't worry, I GOT THIS"
I lifted the bike up fast, with my butt on the seat, my hands on the handlebar and passenger hand hold, using my legs to lift the bike. Up, and onto the sidestand. Unfortunately I forgot step 1. In all the commotion I forgot to put the sidestand out. I lifted the bike, up and OVER, with me and all my weight on the seat and no way to stop it. My extra weight caused the bike to go farther than it should have, hitting the mirror and the clutch lever. Would have made a great video. The plastic housing around the mirror was cracked, the clutch lever bent, and the mirror glass broken.
I ordered the parts that day, only cost about $240 for everything including the painted parts. Only took 3 days to get it. All in all a non-event. I did try to cut mirror glass to fit, but I tried that with a very worn glass cutter and tried doing it freehand. The first try was not even close and it developed a crack. The second try was a little big. I ground it down to almost the correct size, then I knocked it off the bench and broke it. I should have taken the time to make a proper template, get a proper glass cutter and do it right the first time.
This is my Honda ST1300. Cost me $6,000 and I have put over 100,000 miles on it without any major issues. Those black plastic wings on the side of the engine cover metal crash bars.
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The Broken Glass
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The bent lever
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A small crack, I could have left it, but why bother
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This is where the mirror housing snaps into. Normally it pops off with no damage, but this was not a normal fall
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A couple of new scratches on the side cases. A little dirt and no one will ever notice.
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This is what the mirror housing is supposed to look like
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Yeah, like I can cut that freehand.
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Came fairly close, but there was a crack
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Came out much closer, but I dropped it before I finished grinding it.
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No belt sander, so used a grinder with sandpaper to reshape the second one. ALMOST worked.
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