Knowledge

At the very least a bike on its side can be embarrassing, but it's more embarrassing if you can't pick it up...we show you how

Here's how to pick up your bike without injuring yourself if you have accidentally dropped it.

There are any number of reasons why a motorcycle can end up lying on its side: an accident or rider malfunction are the obvious ones, but there is also the side or centre stand digging into the ground scenario, or for those with an off-road bent it could just be a series of circumstances. However, for whatever reason

there it is, on its side, hopefully the incident happened well away from prying eyes - though I can recall dropping a bike, on a Friday evening in the summer, outside a pub with what seemed like the whole population of Consett watching, and it is amazing the surge of strength available in such circumstances ...

Ok, the bike is on its side, you've picked yourself up, dusted offthe gravel and are uninjured and ready to wrestle the machine to its wheels. First thing, don't just grab hold of the bike and heave away as a motorcycle is a very heavy object and if you don't tackle the lifting correctly you can cause problems for yourself. There are hundreds of thousands of words written on the subject of injuries caused by lifting heavy objects incorrectly, but how do you pick

a motorcycle up safely and without wraxing your back?

Here's a quick pictorial guide. But just in case it's not clear, our little feature here was staged for the camera, which is why the rider is helmetless, so no actual accident occurred and our demonstrator was completely uninjured.

Successfully picked up, the bike is on its centre stand, there is little visible damage and our rider awaits a round of applause ... and is still waiting ... www.mslmagazine.co.uk

...and the reason for having the bike in gear is if you're on a slope there is a danger the whole lot could roll away and put you back where you started.

Let's face it, we've all been there and it isn't always our fault, especially if the road conditions are tricky.

Hopefully the damage to the bike will be minimal and easily overcome, but now is also the time to assessthe situation.

Before starting to lift the bike, make sure the bars are turned to opposite lock and that it is in gear.

It is actually quite simple to lift using this method as with the opposite lock the wheel becomes a fulcrum.

Of course, as the bike nears vertical, don't go too far and push it over the other way.

With a firm grip on the bar, use the power of your legs to lift the weight.

First task, pick yourself up and check for injuries...and embarrassment.

Yes,it's on its side...oops.